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Vancouver Island’s Dana Collins listed among Canada’s most powerful women

Forestry consultant making a name for bringing inclusion/diversity to the industry
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Dana Collins, Managing Director of The Juniper Collective, named to the 2021 list of Canada’s 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network (CNW Group/The Juniper Collective)

Black Creek’s Dana Collins has been included on a list of Canada’s most powerful women.

She is being recognized as one of 100 award winners by Women’s Executive Network for her work advocating for workforce diversity and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders.

“It is an honour,” Collins said, “As it is the first time somebody in the forestry sector has been recognized.”

She was quick to point out her achievements are due to the ground work of other women in the industry.

“I haven’t done this by myself –all of my mentors have been really powerful women in the sector. I’m pleased because I think this is going to shine a light on a critically important sector to the Canadian economy.”

Originally, from Toronto, Collins was raised by a family of educators.

She studied ecology and evolutionary biology for my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, and had taken a course on forest ecology.

“I found that it just brought the science that I’d been studying at a molecular level to a larger scale and brought out more practical solutions to the environmental movement,” she said.

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Her current role sees her serving as the Managing Director of the Juniper Collective – a forward-looking inclusion and diversity consultancy that partners with organizations in the forest sector to develop practical solutions for respectful and inclusive workplaces.

“”Inclusion begets innovation and I’m committed to making the forest sector more inclusive. Given women make up approximately 17 percent of the workforce, it’s imperative that we break down barriers, uplift under-represented voices, and encourage women to pursue rewarding careers in forestry,” Collins said.

In her previous role as the Executive Director of The Canadian Institute of Forestry, she lead a national initiative to support the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in Canada’s forest sector.

Collins was previously named as a recipient of The Prince of Wales Award for Sustainable Forest Management.

There are plenty of big issues forestry is facing at this juncture, among them – what to do with old growth forest, how to manage the affects of climate change, the northward migration of trees, and the increased frequency and intensity of fire season.

“There are major issues that our industry needs to tackle and there’s no one size fits all solution,” Collins said.

“But bringing some diverse ways of thinking can certainly help add a little more to the conversation.”

For more information on WXN and the Top 100 Awards please see https://wxnetwork.com/page/top100awards.



ronan.odoherty@campbellrivermirror.com

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