Breaking Barriers, Building Scale.  Jaffer, Menard-Shand, Zinaty

Breaking Barriers, Building Scale. Jaffer, Menard-Shand, Zinaty

From Chatter that Matters by Tony Chapman

March 29, 2026 · 38 min · Season 4 · Episode 284

About this episode

A conversation with three remarkable women discussing the challenges and achievements of women entrepreneurs in Canada.

To mark the end of International Women's Month, I host a conversation with three remarkable women. Shamira Jaffer, recipient of the 2023 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Innovation Award; Jennifer Menard-Shand, a three-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards; and Dr. Georgette Zinaty, President of WBE Canada and a passionate advocate for women-owned businesses. Together, we discuss the challenges women still face, the achievements they are making, and what Canada needs to do to support more women entrepreneurs in not only starting out but also scaling up. Because empowering more women to build businesses is not just the right thing to do, but also one of the smartest growth strategies our country can pursue. To learn more about WBE: https://wbecanada.ca/ To learn more about the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards: (Nominations are now open) https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/rbc-cwea/

People in this episode

Host: Tony Chapman

Guests: Shamira Jaffer, Jennifer Menard-Shand, Dr. Georgette Zinaty

Topics covered

  • women entrepreneurship
  • challenges faced by women
  • support for women-owned businesses
  • International Women's Month
  • business growth strategies

Keywords

  • women entrepreneurs
  • business challenges
  • Canada
  • empowerment
  • growth strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WBE Canada, RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards

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