Janet Austin

Janet Austin is the CEO of the YWCA Metro Vancouver, one of the province’s largest non-profits, and the former Chair of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. Janet has reached the highest level of achievement in both the social and business sectors. She has guided the YWCA Metro Vancouver, which has a $28.3-million annual operating budget, through a number of transitions that has put the organization at the heart of the lives of tens of thousands of British Columbians using its services and programs and supporting their physical and mental well-being at more than 40 locations.

A champion of social change, Janet previously served as Director of Development Services for BC Housing and as Executive Director of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. She currently volunteers on various committees and boards including the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Big Sisters Honorary Advisory Board, and the City of Vancouver Healthy City for All Leadership Table.

Janet was named by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2008 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2013. She has received the Queen Elizabeth Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals and was appointed to the Order of BC in 2016.

Over the past decade, Janet has spearheaded community-focused initiatives at the YWCA, expanding its geographic and social reach in order to increase access to affordable housing for low-income single mothers and women leaving abusive relationships, supporting youth in foster care to transition to independence, and broadening services for marginalized women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Janet says:
“Work hard, step up, speak up and speak out about things that matter.”