On September 25-28, OWIT Ottawa had the honour of hosting the OWIT International Annual Fall Board Meeting. OWIT International governs 28 chapters globally. The directors of the executive board and representative directors from the chapters meet bi-annually. These meetings have been held in the United States since the 1990s.
The Ottawa conference included chapterrepresentatives from Washington, Peru, Nairobi, New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Tampa and Toronto. Other chapters attended via teleconference. Notably, the attendance of Peruvian and Kenyan delegates was made possible by the generous funding of the Trade Facilitation Office Canada (TFO).
The executive board meeting was held at McMillan LLP on Friday, followed by a sold-out International Networking Event at the Chateau Laurier. The audience consisted of delegates and international trade professionals in the Ottawa community. Speakers included Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora; Brian Mitchell, Executive Director of TFO; Astrid Pregel, Executive Director for Canada, WEConnect International; and, Karen Bland, President of OWIT-International. Monica Podgorny, Co-VP Events with OWIT-Ottawa served as the master of ceremonies for the reception.
Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development announced Canada’s support for a private sector oriented trade initiative that will help build the capacity of small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries to pursue export opportunities in Canada. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development sent out this media release directly after the networking event on Friday.
Saturday consisted of a closed OWIT Directors meeting and round table discussion with TFO. The weekend included social events at Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen, Vittoria Trattoria, and Social, and a scenic hike in Gatineau on Sunday. OWIT-Ottawa received very positive responses from all participants throughout the weekend. Thank you to all who attended!
Take a look at our photo album from the September 26 event! Thank you to Tracy Steiner for her wonderful photography.
These events could not have been possible without the support of our incredible sponsors:
TFO Canada
McMillan LLP
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Export Development Canada
Bridgehead