For this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) and International Women’s Month, we want to highlight the stories of the successful women in finance and accounting who are working in Canada’s high growth companies and venture capital firms.
Women have traditionally been underrepresented in leadership roles in finance, at high-growth companies, and in the venture capital space. Data shows that having women in finance leadership positions led to better business outcomes, yet women are lagging behind in their representation.
Did you know?
- 50.3 % of Canadian women work as auditors, accountants, and investment professionals and they make $11,000 less than their male counterparts?
- In the US, women account for 50% of all full-time staff at CPA firms, but make up just 27% of Partners and Principals?
- 14% make up the CFO or SVP Finance roles in Canada’s 100 largest publicly traded corporations
- 15% hold leadership positions at Canadian and US VC firms despite 36% holding roles as venture analysts in. Only 13% of all partners and just under 9% of managing partners
- 85% of all money invested by Canadian VC funds go to companies with no female founders
- Only 10% of women own Canada’s high growth firms
As recruiters, we know there’s an amazing pool of talented women working in accounting and finance roles across the country. At Clarity Recruitment, our mission is to improve decision making in hiring and to remove the bias in our clients’ hiring decisions. Our goal is to support talented women and to be an ally throughout their careers by championing their career progression, development, and placements in Canada’s high-growth companies and ecosystem. We’re also proud to report that 50% of the Clarity leadership team is made up of women.
Read on to be inspired by these women’s growth and career journeys:
We spoke to Andrea Poptsis, VP Operations and Finance at Highline Beta about her roadmap to success, the lack of diversity in venture capital and how she incorporates this year’s IWD theme, #ChooseToChallenge into her daily life and career.
We spoke to Kelly Murphy, CPA, CMA, the CFO of Endless West, a VC backed startup that uses science to create its own blend of spirits, to discuss what has made her a successful CFO in the alcohol and beverage industry.
We spoke to Kim Murray, CPA,CA who recently left her successful finance career in the travel industry to take on an exciting voyage of her own in a portfolio career as a Fractional CFO!
Judy Kudla CA, CPA, CIA is an experienced risk & internal audit leader and a strategic problem solver and discusses incorporating the right person in high-growth companies.
We spoke to Stephanie Bird CPA, CA, CFO of Cloud DX, a digital wellness company, and discusses her journey as a global executive and her experience as an entrepreneur.
Clarity is a Finance and Accounting recruitment agency in Toronto and Vancouver offering Permanent, Project & Interim Staffing and Executive Search, with a focus in start-up and scale-up companies.
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