Women in Business Breakfast

Join the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce for The Difference Makers: Women in Business Breakfast on International Women's Day, March 8 from 7:30am-9:30am at the Water Tower Inn! The event will feature a panel discussion with local business and professional women from a variety of industries who will share experiences, success stories and advice to help inspire and support business women in Sault Ste. Marie. As well, the Athena Leadership Award will be presented at the event.

Panelists

Dianne Roach

Dianne is from Ketegaunseebee (Garden River First Nation) and a first-generation Survivor of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School system. She is the proud daughter of Shirley Roach-baa who was a Survivor of Shingwauk Indian Residential School. She is a wife and mother of three beautiful daughters who continue to inspire her in the work that she’s done and continues to do.

Dianne has worked in various positions throughout the Anishinaabe territory where her career began at Nog-da-win-da-min Family and Community Services as the Family Support Worker/Band Representative for Batchewana First Nation and then moved into the Coordinator of Prevention Services along the North Shore. She spent a total of seven years in this position and then moved her family to North Bay and began working as the first Child Welfare Coordinator for the Union of Ontario Indians/Anishinaabek Nation located in Nipissing First Nation. From there, she moved to Manitoulin Island and I was hired as the Executive Director of Kina Gbezhgomi Child and Family Services located in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve. She remained in this position for five years and then moved my family back home where she worked as the Education Manager for Ketegauseebee for thirteen years.  

She is very proud to say that her present role as the Director of Operations for Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig is her way of carrying on her mom’s legacy in ensuring that the next generation will learn the language, traditions and culture as this is what was taken away from all the Survivors of the Indian Residential School system. 

Marnie Stone

Marnie Stone is the owner of Stone's Office Supply, which has been in business for 96 years. She’s also now sharing her passion for the arts through founding The Art Hub at Spring in May of 2022, which consists of 10 working art studios and an art gallery showcasing local artists. Then in September of 2022, she opened a sister to the art hub called The Artesian, showcasing local authors, sculptures, fabric + wood artists.

Marnie is the creator of the Sault Women in Business group which is a powerful business network of women who meet monthly to support each other, cross-promote, and generally raise each other up. She is also a Rotarian, and is on the Board of 100 Women Who Care, who have been raising tens of thousands of dollars for local charities and organizations.

On top of her work at Stone's, The Art Hub at Spring and The Artesian, and in the community, Marnie is the mother of three children and she also has one grandchild.

As a testament to her community leadership and professional acumen, Marnie was honoured with the Athena award in 2009, received the diamond jubilee medal in 2012, was the downtown business of the year award recipient in 2017, received the Influential Women of Northern Ontario community trailblazer award in 2019, and most recently, in 2021 she was awarded the Skipper Manzzutti award for business achievement.

 Born and raised in the Sault, Marnie is known for her smile, positivity, and boundless energy.

Tammy Watts

Tammy Watts is a Certified Health Practitioner and a Certified Nutritional Consultant with over 25 years in the Natural Health Industry. 

Miss Watts is the co-owner of Northern Natural Health and Wellness in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as well as the owner of Root-a-VI inc. which is a supplement manufacturing company. 

Aurum Alive is the first supplement that Tammy has brought to market. Aurum Alive is a gut supplement that is changing the conversation about gut health. With over 20 years of research behind this product she can definitely call it “Gold For Your Gut” !

Health Canada has given her a NPN (Natural Product Number) along with many other claims guaranteeing the quality of this product goes further than just the gut. It can heal your body as a whole! 

Natalia Mclean

Natalia is the Vice President of Operations and Business Development at ATS  (Algoma Technology Services.)  She leads ATS’s operations and in-house project management discipline.  Natalia is a certified Project, Program and Change Management professional with over 15 years of experience leading complex and international projects in technology, banking, healthcare, and hospitality.

Through her use of lean project management and emphasis on results, Natalia has delivered over $145 million in benefits to client organizations.  Her previous clients include RBC, TD, Cancer Care Ontario, HOOPP, Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Greater Toronto Airports Authority (Toronto International Airport).  Natalia holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Australian Institute of Business, along with Project and Program certifications from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and is a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP).  In addition to her professional achievements, Natalia is also a proud mom of two daughters: Adrianna and Skai.


Keynote Speaker

Esther Zdolec

Esther re-joined OLG in January as Senior Vice President, People and Culture and is looking forward to moving back to Sault Ste. Marie. Esther started her career as a human resource professional with OLG, for almost 10 years including two years in the Sault when the OLG head office was first relocating from Toronto. In the interim, Esther has held progressively senior leadership and executive roles in financial services, outsourced facility management services, engineering, nuclear, and the broader public sector including most recently Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario. Esther returned to part-time studies at York University in 2020, recently completing her master’s degree in human resource management. Married with two adult children and a dog, Esther is an avid reader, enjoys binge-watching favourite series, likes to hike and otherwise spend time outdoors, never takes the short-cut when there’s an intriguing alternate route, and is a certified laughter yoga instructor.  



We invite event participants to bring gently used, professional clothing to the event as donations to Sault Ste. Marie Helping Hands. These donations will greatly assist those in need with entry, or re-entry, into the workforce. Donations are also being accepted at Northern Naturals.