An Abbotsford woman has been named as a recipient of the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.
Barbara Mowat was honoured in the category of "Connecting the Community."
She is the president of Impact Communications Ltd. and GroYourBiz, as well as the 1993 Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year recipient, 2010 recipient of the Governor General's Award and a 2011 recipient of the Order of Abbotsford.
Mowat is highly regarded as a specialist in Canadian trade and business development.
She founded the Home Business Report and UniquelyCanada.com, an e-commerce initiative to access the global marketplace.
Mowat's work has assisted entrepreneurs and has facilitated trade throughout Canada, Southeast Asia, the USA, South America, Europe, Afghanistan, India and Africa.
She also sits on a number of boards and committees focused on promoting business development.
Mowat believes strongly in changing the lives of women and families by bringing them both economic and social empowerment.
"This is a universal goal for all women, no matter where they live in the world," she says.
The YWCA Metro Vancouver's Women of Distinction Awards were presented Tuesday in Vancouver. More than 80 women were nominated in 10 categories. All were eligible for the Connecting the Community Award, where they selected a YWCA program area in which they were interested and used social media to promote votes.
Mowat was the nominee with the most votes, and received $10,000 from Scotiabank for the YWCA program area of her choice.