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.
Prix
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 distributed in late February 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.
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 distributed in late February 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.