Media

Adapting your community outreach to a digital platform is a must nowadays.

If I were a fly on the wall to my own chat with Heather Odendaal (CEO and Founder of the WNORTH Conference), I would have a chuckle. See the picture right above this post? That is Heather and me (the author of this post) talking virtually about a virtual event which covers topics on how to work in a virtual world amidst COVID-19. That is a tongue twister, go on try saying that three times quickly.

The point is, our world is clearly facing a pretty scary collective experience and it’s impressive to see people like Heather rally and quickly adapt; something we have all had to do. Heather is an accomplished entrepreneur, a driven sales executive for a Fortune 500 company, an active community member, and founder of the WNORTH Conference. She started the conference in spring 2015 because she herself was not finding a leadership event that catered specifically towards mid-management level women who are on a path to senior executive positions. Read More

The positive impact of an event can reach far beyond its attendees, says co-founder of female leadership conference WNORTH.

Heather Odendaal is the co-founder and CEO of WNORTH, a global community of women aiming for or already part of senior leadership. It’s annual conference is held in Whistler, Canada. 

At a time where everything is changing at a rapid pace, so many conversations that I have been having lately have been around the next chapter. “What will my legacy be? How will we create change in a way that impacts generations to come?” Read More

In the 2020 BizBash Best Canada issue, we named the top 250 event professionals in Canada. Here’s a spotlight on one of them.

Why a leadership conference just for women?
We created WNorth to address an underserved need for leadership development to encourage more women to step into senior executive leadership roles. Women are seeking community among other driven and ambitious women and there are unique challenges that they face on their journey to C-suite. Read More

BlueShore Financial Credit Union member and WNORTH CEO Heather Odendaal is expanding her global online networking platform in order to guide women along the executive path.

Published November 7, 2018
By Alexandra Gill – Enterprise Magazine
Photo: Heather Odendaal

It wasn’t your typical breakaway session. On a chilly night this past April, in the ski-resort municipality of Whistler, BC, about 70 attendees from the three-day WNORTH Conference for mid-career women on the senior-executive-leadership track convened at the outdoor Scandinave Spa.

They splashed through waterfalls, floated under the stars and networked in wood-burning saunas. Keynote speaker Halla Tomasdottir, an entrepreneur and former presidential candidate in Iceland who co-founded the the investment firm Audur Capital — guided by feminine values — held court in a steaming hot tub, doling out advice on everything from how to generate high-level support for equal-pay legislation to the difference between raising sons and daughters. Then she challenged the women to a cold-water plunge. “Let’s pretend we’re men and see how long we last,” Tomasdottir joked. Read More

Whistler’s business community is flush with women leaders — but what hurdles have they crossed to get there?

We’re witnessing a watershed moment. There’s been a tidal wave of conversation, heated debates, and marching in the streets, pushing the subject of gender equality to the forefront of our current cultural moment. Some believe these discussions have only pulled us further apart, while others see it as a call to arms, a rallying cry. Either way, we have to decide whether this wave is going to wash over us, leaving only small fragments in its wake, or if it will alter our social landscape forever. With women coming forward and sharing their stories like never before, of stunning abuses of power, of systemic barriers to entry, of unfair and unequal business practices, we need to be ready to listen, and then we need to be ready to act. With all that we’re being told, what will we do next?

When Whistler’s Heather Odendaal couldn’t find a conference specifically geared to women on or aspiring to senior executive leadership tracks, she created one herself. Bringing together successful career women from a wide range of sectors for a chance to learn from and inspire each other, WNORTH was born.

WNORTH, an annual women’s leadership conference, will hold its third forum in Whistler from April 19 to 21 with a panel of female business leaders for keynote addresses and workshops.

Tracey Riley, managing partner, assurance at PwC Canada, will address the conference on how women’s perspectives improve the bottom line.

Pique caught up with Riley via email in advance of the conference to find out about the changing role for women in business. Read More

When Whistler’s Heather Odendaal couldn’t find a conference that brought together ambitious career women aspiring to senior executive roles and women who were looking for an opportunity to network and hear from successful leaders, she created her own.

In 2015, this savvy entrepreneur and sales executive for a Fortune 500 wine company founded WNORTH Conference, a one-day event that attracted 120 attendees. Read More