We’re proud to introduce the Top 15 finalists for the 2026 Capital Elle Business Impact Award. From rethinking how workplaces handle parental leave to helping communities prepare for disasters, these founders are building businesses that solve real problems. Their work shows why the Award is redefining what it means to support women entrepreneurs: by connecting them with the people, capital, and opportunities that can help them grow.
Thank you to every founder who shared her story with us, and to the Award Partners who help turn that support into real opportunities.
Why the Capital Elle Business Impact Award Matters
Women own roughly 40% of Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses, yet only about 2% of women-owned businesses surpass seven figures in annual revenue. We see that as a gap in access: the distance between a woman founder’s potential and her access to the decision-makers, capital, strategic relationships, and deals that can help her scale.
The Capital Elle Business Impact Award was created to bridge that gap through three forms of capital: Social Capital through strategic relationships and sponsorship, Growth Capital through funding and financial resources, and Acquisition Capital through opportunities to buy and grow businesses.
That’s what we mean by sponsorship over mentorship. A sponsor opens doors, makes introductions, and advocates for a founder in rooms where decisions are made. A single introduction can lead to a new market, a conversation with a funder, or the chance to acquire a business.
The Three Pillars of the Award
Strategic Connections (Social Capital)
For the founder who knows her next level is on the other side of an elevated network. This pillar is access to the right people, at the right time, for the right opportunity. The winner works with 8 to 10 national experts throughout 2027, curated specifically to open the doors that don't open on their own: introductions, tables, rooms, the professionals every growing business needs but can't always reach.
Growth Capital
For the founder who knows her next level is on the other side of an external capital raise. This isn't a Series A pitch. It's the real mix every business actually needs to fund its next stage: grants, bank financing, private investment, and the people who know how to combine them. Grant writers, capital specialists, financial modelers, and lawyers work with the winner to build that plan.
Acquisition Opportunities
For the founder ready to grow through acquisition, whether that's buying her first business or expanding an existing one. Very few women are exposed to acquisition, ownership transitions, or the advisors who make them possible. This pillar changes that, connecting winners with the people who understand how to buy, structure, and grow through acquisition.
Introducing the 2026 Top 15 Finalists
Meet the five finalists in each Award path and get to know the businesses they’re building.
Pillar 1 | Social Capital
Sponsors and strategic relationships that open doors to decision-makers, partners, and new markets.
Ashley Harrison | The Ashley Harrison
Website: www.theashleyharrison.com
Ashley Harrison is the Founder and CEO of The Ashley Harrison Inc., a Status First Nations, woman-owned consultancy based in Ontario. As a Fractional Director of Operations, OBM and Certified AI Strategist, she helps women founders build the systems, teams and operations that let their businesses grow without burning them out. Her approach is calm, practical and human: no panic, all disco.
Beth Wanner | Mother Cover
Website: www.mothercoveragency.com
Beth Wanner is the Founder and CEO of Mother Cover, a company helping organizations across the U.S. and Canada ensure seamless coverage during parental leave through experienced interim and fractional talent, protecting both business continuity and careers. A former tech executive, she launched Mother Cover after her own experience of being terminated at 8-months pregnant exposed critical gaps in how workplaces support parents. She has become a vocal advocate for women and parents in the workplace, focused on changing how leave is handled operationally, not just in policy.
Jane Helman | Warmür
Website: www.bewarmur.com
Jane Helman is the founder and CEO of Warmür, the world’s first office chair blanket. She invented it in 2021 after one too many days freezing at her desk in Ontario, and has grown it from a single prototype into a brand that ships to eight countries and sells through Staples.ca, Uncommon Goods and Amazon. A Shopify alum, Jane leads every part of the business, from product design and women-owned manufacturing to retail and corporate gifting partnerships.
Lisa Simone Richards | Pearl Spark Pages
Website: www.pearlsparkpages.com
Lisa Simone Richards is the co-founder and CEO of Pearl Spark Pages, a confidence-fuelled stationery brand for women entrepreneurs.
After 20 years in PR helping women-led startups get visible, Lisa realized she faced the very challenge she’d coached so many founders through: imposter syndrome.
She created the Female Founders Journal to help women turn self-doubt into self-belief and see themselves the way the world already does: capable and confident.
Soodeh Farokhi | NexScale™
Website: www.nexscale.ai
Soodeh Farokhi, PhD, is a 3x founder and B2B SaaS product executive with nearly two decades of building and scaling AI SaaS products. After scaling a VC-backed startup and leading product at a growth-stage SaaS company, she founded NexScale to help fitness and wellness businesses keep their members and power human longevity. A working mom of two and a community builder for women in tech, she builds with intention, guided by her belief that "the future is better than we think."
Pillar 2 | Growth Capital
Access to funding, financial resources, and expertise to help founders finance their next stage of growth.
Carol Zou | Claymoo
Website: www.claymoo.com
Carol Zou is the co-founder and creative behind Claymoo. After years of chronic eye pain, she went looking for a creative outlet away from screens and found foam clay. She started Claymoo to bring the craft to more people. Today she designs every kit, including officially licensed Harry Potter and The Powerpuff Girls lines, and narrates every step-by-step video tutorial. She has a background in accounting and financial management. Carol also pitched Claymoo on Season 21 of CBC's Dragons' Den!
Darcy Boucher | Bowda Creative Co. & Mother Founder Movement
Website: www.bowdacreative.com, www.motherfoundermvmt.com
Darcy Boucher is the founder and CEO of Bowda Creative Co., a full-service boutique marketing agency established in 2013 that helps Canadian businesses, brands, and nonprofits with branding, design, web, social, and more. She’s also the founder of the Mother Founder Movement, Bowda’s social impact initiative for women building businesses while raising children, and author of the children’s book Mom’s Business Baby. She lives in Ottawa with her husband, two young sons, and two rescue dogs.
Jacqueline Labelle | Emberglow Glamping
Website: www.EmberglowGlamping.ca
Jackie is an entrepreneur, community connector, and passionate mental health advocate. With a background in real estate, design, and public speaking, she has always been drawn to bringing people together and creating places that leave a lasting impression. As founder of Emberglow Glamping, Jackie is turning a shared family dream into a destination that celebrates connection, community, and the restorative power of nature. She believes the most impactful businesses are led with heart and purpose.
Kristyn Carriere | 7 Summits Snacks
Website: www.sevensummitssnacks.com
Kristyn Carriere is the Co-Founder and CEO of 7 Summits Snacks, the women-owned functional chocolate brand she founded in Edmonton with her sister Leanna, both endurance athletes. A chocolate scientist with a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Alberta, she brings a decade of chocolate R&D experience from "Big Chocolate." Kristyn leads operations and brand growth, and is a proud mom to her son Isaac, who has Down syndrome and joins her on the entrepreneurial journey.
Lindsay Housman | Hettas
Website: www.hettas.com
Lindsay Housman is the founder and CEO of Hettas, a Vancouver-based, female-specific performance running shoe brand. After 20+ years as a Chartered Accountant leading strategy at global retail companies, she developed significant foot pain in her 40s and learned most athletic footwear is designed and tested on men. She launched Hettas to change that, and for her twin daughters, to help bring equity to sport for girls and women.
Pillar 3 | Acquisition Capital
Access to deals, relationships, and expertise that can help founders buy a business or expand through acquisition.
Anora Weste | WMS Bookkeeping
Website: www.wmsbookkeeping.com
Anora Weste helps service-based business owners across Canada understand their numbers and make smarter decisions with them. She’s the founder of WMS Bookkeeping, an Ontario-based bookkeeping and accounting firm, and brings 10+ years in accounting and management consulting plus an MBA in business strategy and operations. She leads the WMS team and is actively exploring acquisition as another vehicle for building wealth.
Erin Ryan | Flowers By Michael
Website: www.flowersbymichaelbc.ca
Erin Ryan is a 37-year-old mom of three from the Maritimes, now living in Vancouver, BC. She first worked in a flower shop as a teenager. After corporate work and social media in her twenties, she bought Flowers By Michael, a Coal Harbour flower shop, on October 30, 2026, with her life savings, from a retiring couple. She now runs the shop as its owner-operator.
Melissa Armbruster | Tiny Empire Bookkeeping
Website: www.tinyempirebookkeeping.com
Melissa founded Tiny Empire Bookkeeping to help women entrepreneurs use their numbers to get their time back and spot ways to make more money. Raised on coffee and small business, she went from doing dishes in her dad's café to managing its team of 20. After streamlining operations for global tech companies and selling a business, she spotted a gap: old-school bookkeeping is built for tax time, not growth. Her mission: help entrepreneurs get out of the grind and build businesses around their life.
Michelle Gibson | Gibson & Associates
Website: www.gibsoncounselling.ca
Gibson & Associates is a women-led psychotherapy practice with offices in London, Barrie, and Toronto, Ontario. Founded by Michelle Gibson, the team of Registered Social Workers supports people of all ages, with particular experience in trauma-focused therapies. The practice prioritizes accessible care through free and reduced-fee sessions, a right-fit guarantee, and a student clinician intern program.
Rebecca Innes | RIC Disaster Management Ltd.
Website: www.ricdisastermanagement.com
For nearly 20 years, Rebecca Innes has helped communities and businesses prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and crises. She founded RIC Disaster Management in 2019, bringing a holistic, human-centred approach to building resilience across Western Canada.
At RIC, we believe readiness is resilience. Rebecca and her women-led team combine technical expertise with personalized support, helping clients move from uncertainty to clear action and lasting resilience.
What Happens Next
The three winners of the 2026 Capital Elle Business Impact Award, one from each path, will be announced on December 2, 2026.
In the meantime, follow The Elleiance Network on Instagram for finalist features and Award updates.
Celebrating Canadian Women Who Build Boldly
These finalists show what growth can look like in practice: designing running shoes around women’s needs, helping more people access psychotherapy, or carrying a neighbourhood flower shop into its next chapter. Each founder brings her own vision for how her business can serve the people who count on it.
When more women founders have access to the right people, capital, and deals, they have more choices about how they build wealth, scale, acquire, and eventually exit on their own terms. That’s the future this Award is working toward.
Congratulations to our Top 15. We’re proud to share what you’ve built and excited to see what you do next.
Want to Get Involved as a Future Award Partner?
Award Partners help founders access the relationships, expertise, and opportunities that can change what’s possible for their businesses. If you’d like to support a future Award, subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming details!
