Wendy Powley Award 2025
The W. Powley Woman of Inspiration Award recognizes a self-identified female student enrolled in in a post secondary Computer Science program who, through leadership roles in clubs, women’s groups, community organizations, hackathons or other outreach events, has inspired young women to explore technology and/or to pursue careers in technology. Through their work, the successful candidate will have served as a role model for their peers or for the younger generation.
Nominators need to submit a 500 word essay outlining the student’s contributions and the impact of their work. Self nominations are allowed.
Award
The winner will receive a complimentary registration for the CSCAN-INFO-CAN Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing (CAN-CWiC) which includes shared accommodation and bus transportation on the CAN-CWIC buses if in bus zone. If the winner is outside the bus zone, they will receive up to $400 in travel expenses for economy travel to the conference (with receipts).
A trophy will be awarded to the winner.
The call for nominations is open and closes October 1, 2025. Nominations should be sent to Gina van Dalen, Executive Director CSCAN-INFO-CAN at gina_vandalen@cscan-infocan.ca by the deadline.
Judging
The judging will be conducted by the CAN-CWiC Steering Committee (see https://cscan-infocan.ca/celebration-of-women-in-computing/ under Governance)A trophy will be awarded to the winner.
The call for nominations is open and closes May 31. Nominations should be sent to Gina van Dalen, Executive Director CSCAN-INFO-CAN at gina_vandalen@cscan-infocan.ca by the deadline.
Criteria
A mark out of 3 will be given for each of the following:
- Contribution – has the applicant participated in numerous varied activities, or just a single activity? What is the breadth of the contribution?
- Impact – are they able to demonstrate a measurable impact of their work?
- Quality of application (flow, writing, grammar/spelling)
The W. Powley Woman of Inspiration Award is named after Associate Professor Wendy Powley, a dedicated advocate for Computer Science education, outreach, and inspiring young women to pursue careers in technology. Wendy Powley is the visionary founder of the CSCAN-INFO-CAN Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing, an annual conference fostering networking and learning opportunities for women passionate about technology from across Canada.