Dr. Wendy Cukier wins CCDI’s Community Contributor of the Year Award

The Diversity Institute’s Dr. Wendy Cukier has once again been recognized for her work in diversity and inclusion by winning a 2020 Award of Success from the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI).

CCDI’s Awards of Success celebrate the individuals and companies championing diversity and inclusion in Canada.  Dr. Cukier received this year’s Community Contributor of the Year Award (Eastern Canada), which is given to a person who goes above and beyond to affect change in Canadian society as it relates to diversity and inclusion, or human rights and equity.

As the Founder and Director of the Diversity Institute at the Ted Rogers School, Dr. Cukier has led projects aimed at advancing diverse women in leadership and promoting the participation of underrepresented groups in the workforce and in entrepreneurship. She has helped organizations become more inclusive through programs such as DiversityLeads, which tracks the progress, impediments and evidenced-based strategies for promoting diversity. The results helped inform Canada’s new comply or explain legislation (Bill C-25) designed to advance women on boards.

In addition, Dr. Cukier leads the new Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) – a network of organizations aimed at developing an inclusive innovation ecosystem. She also recently received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant to examine the barriers that women and diverse groups face within Canada’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.