Three Award Winners Recognized at Digital Nova Scotia’s 4th Digital Diversity Awards – Digital Nova Scotia – Leading Digital Industry
Three Award Winners Recognized at Digital Nova Scotia’s 4th Digital Diversity Awards

June 4, 2019

Digital Diversity Awards 2019

HALIFAX, June 3, 2019 – Tonight, more than 140 people gathered to celebrate innovation, diversity champions and female leaders in tech.

Hosted in partnership with the Centre for Women in Business at Volta on June 3rd, the Digital Nova ScotiaDigital Diversity Awards highlight, recognize and profile female leaders and diversity champions in Nova Scotia’s ICT and digital tech community. By providing a stage to recognize and acknowledge change makers, these awards aim to inspire the current and future workforce.

A selection committee comprised of industry members reviewed and assessed nominations, and Digital Diversity Awards were presented to winners in the following categories:

  • Power IT Up: Next Generation Leadership
    Winner: Eilidh Lindsay-Sinclair, Director, Operations — CloudKettle
  • Women Leaders in the Digital Economy
    Winner: Kim Scarvelli, Owner — Trust Communications Inc.
  • Diversity Champion of the Year
    Winner: Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Computer Science

“Since the awards program was incepted four years ago, twelve female leaders and diversity champions have been celebrated for their contributions in Nova Scotia and beyond, and two of those winners went on to be recognized nationally. Women still account for less than 25% of our industry, which is why our awards continue to be relevant and important for our sector, community and overall economy,” says Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia, former President and CEO, Digital Nova Scotia. “Diversity benefits everyone and is an economic driver of competitiveness. Our winners have proven themselves to be vocal, impactful and proactive in changing the narrative around gender diversity and women in tech. As our global industry continues to rapidly grow, we need to continue to embrace diversity from both a societal and business perspective. A diverse workforce provides a wealth of knowledge and perspectives, and thereby accelerates and improves problem solving. It is well known that there are many reports and studies confirming the increase in profits and return of investment through diversity. Most importantly, both diversity and inclusion will allow us to tackle our sector’s largest challenge – access to talent.”

Digital Nova Scotia is extremely honoured to provide a platform to recognize female leaders and diversity champions as they continue to make waves and drive diversity in our sector. Through Digital Nova Scotia’s partnership with the Women in Communications and Technology (WCT), all award recipients will also be automatically vetted and nominated for WCT’s own national annual awards program held in 2020.

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Media Contact:
Caitlin Patterson             
Director of Marketing & Communications | Digital Nova Scotia
(902) 401-6699 | [email protected]

About Digital Nova Scotia
Digital Nova Scotia (DNS) is the industry association for Nova Scotia’s $2.5 billion ICT and digital technologies sector. Engaging industry stakeholders and over 130 members, we strive to connect our digital community through impactful programs, networking opportunities, industry events and innovative initiatives. DNS proudly supports business growth, skills development and capacity building, celebrates sector successes, facilitates connections between industry and talent, and drives the province’s digital economy. We are located in the beautiful downtown Halifax.

Our Winners

Power IT Up: Next Generation Leadership – Eilidh Lindsay-Sinclair
Eilidh is the Director of Operations at CloudKettle; a consultancy that specializes in optimizing Revenue Operations for B2B SaaS companies. While at CloudKettle, Eilidh has helped the company grow from two people to over a dozen employees, championed the company to become a 1% company, and built a recruitment program which includes a blind screening process for interview candidates. Eilidh is passionate about advancing opportunities for women in technology and developing stronger equity for women in STEM fields. Through her role at CloudKettle, Eilidh founded and now co-chairs Digital Skills for Women, a learning cohort aimed at increasing digital literacy. Eilidh is also a Techsploration mentor and spends much of her free time meeting and connecting with women looking to enter the IT/Technology field.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be the winner of Digital Nova Scotia’s “Power IT Up: Next Generation Leadership Award”!  A huge thank you to my co-chair Emily Gorman, and CloudKettle for making Digital Skills for Women what it is today. This past year has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to encourage women to step outside their comfort zones and pursue knowledge and opportunities seemingly beyond their reach. Having fallen into the technology space myself, I see and have felt some of the barriers women face when working in male-dominated sectors. The smart, dedicated, and passionate women I’ve have met through DS4W inspire me and make me hopeful for the future.” – Eilidh Lindsay-Sinclair, Director, Operations — CloudKettle

Women Leaders in the Digital Economy – Kim Scaravelli
Kim Scaravelli is a digital strategist, content creator, instructional designer, and owner of Trust Communications Inc. Working with corporations, non-profits, governments, and educational institutions across Canada, she has designed more than 300 online learning programs, and she provides digital strategy expertise to respected brands like Sport For Life Canada, Heart & Stroke Canada, and PCL Construction, to name a few. In 2016, Kim founded The Canadian Diversity Initiative, a social enterprise platform that presents online diversity and inclusion training from respected Canadian non-profits, including the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute, the Canadian LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, and Safety Services Canada. 

“I’m honoured to receive this award from Digital Nova Scotia. It is wonderful to be recognized for my work and to join the ranks of past award recipients, all of whom have pursued their passions while empowering others. Innovation thrives on diversity. When all voices are equally heard and equally valued, the stage is set for growth and success!” – Kim Scaravelli, Owner — Trust Communications

Diversity Champion of the Year – Dalhousie University Faculty of Computer Science
Founded in 1997, Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Computer Science is the premier research institution in Information Technology in Atlantic Canada. Their mission is to develop in their students the deep technical, problem-solving and leadership skills needed to create – or leverage – new computing technologies to empower people, organizations and society. Through their WeAreAllCS initiative, the Faculty of Computer Science united leaders from education, industry, government and the student body to increase the number of incoming female students by 144% in 2018.

“We feel honoured to receive recognition for the hard work made by our team in the Faculty of Computer Science with our WeAreAllCS campaign. In 2016 we had the bold idea that, with effort, we could double the number of women entering Computer Science in September 2018. Making such a substantive change did not happen overnight. Over the last two years, we developed new curriculum and course delivery methods, created new scholarship opportunities and peer mentorship programs, and hosted a national conference for women in technology. Our campaign addressed a complex challenge that required careful coordination alongside partners in industry and Nova Scotia’s K-12 system. We still have a long way to go to see a true gender balance in our classrooms and winning this Diversity Champion award further gives our WeAreAllCS campaign a platform to not only show our support for women in technology but to also inspire other institutions and industries to prioritize the attraction of female talent in the tech sector.” – Andrew Rau-Chaplin, Dean of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Computer Science