Vancouver Power 50

Influential Woman in Business Award

Community Leadership Award

Queen’s Jubilee Medal

BASS Award

Awarded for outstanding contributions by a volunteer

Big Sisters Big Heart

Appointed to the Order of British Columbia - 2016

Order of British Columbia

CEO of the Year

Women’s Executive Network’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women - 2008

WXN Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women

Honorary Doctorate of Laws

Power 50 2016: VanMag’s Ranking of the Year’s Most Powerful People

Vancouver Magazine's Power 50 2016

The Vancouver Board of Trade Board of Directors : Past-Chair

The Board of the Canadian Paediatric Society : Public Member

The Vancouver Board of Trade Governance and Nominating Committee : Chair

The Vancouver Board of Trade HR and Compensation Committee : Chair

The Canadian Council on Social Determinants of Health (CCSDH) - Healthy Child Development Task Group

The City of Vancouver’s Healthy City for All Leadership Table

The Honorary Advisory Board of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland

The Organizing Committee for the National Retreat for Women

The Scientific Advisory Board of the Women’s Health Research Institute

Annual speaker at the Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC) ‘Get on Board’ Education Program in Vancouver

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.”

Non-Profit Leadership

Social Housing

Transition Housing

Homeless Shelters

Group Homes

YWCA Metro Vancouver Leadership

Income splitting 'moral failure' for excluding single parents: YWCA

Profile: Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, CEO, Century Plaza Hotel and Spa

One way to support Canadian families this campaign? Make life easier for single moms

Vancouver Board of Trade elects women majority to board, first major Canadian business organization to do so

Chief Executive Officer

Janet Austin, CEO of the YWCA Metro Vancouver, who is responsible for one BC’s largest and most diversified non-profit organizations, speaks at the Be The Village Vancouver 2014: ‪HeartMind‬ Summit. She gets the opportunity to have the Dalai Lama answer her questions about the role of mothers and fathers in early childhood development.

The Dalai Lama and Janet Austin: The Role of Mothers and Fathers

YWCA Metro Vancouver CEO Janet Austin was inducted into the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade's prestigious Council of Governors on April 11, 2016. In this video, business and community leaders reflect on her legacy of leadership, which has spanned dozens of community organizations in Greater Vancouver and British Columbia.

Honouring YWCA Metro Vancouver CEO Janet Austin

YWCA CEO Janet Austin's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge!

Description: As CEO of the Vancouver YWCA, Janet Austin has overall responsibility for one of BC's largest and most diversified non-profit organizations, offering services for 60,000 people annually in more than 30 locations throughout Metro Vancouver.  The YWCA is an entrepreneurial non-profit with more than 63% of annual revenues self-generated through related business activities-including a 155 room YWCA Hotel and a state-of-the-art downtown-based Health and Wellness centre and fundraising.

Up for Debate BC April 11 forum, Janet Austin

Janet Austin speaks about As You Like It Media

Janet Austen CEO - YWCA Metro Vancouver

Janet Austin, CEO YMCA Vancouver, talks about the positive effects of volunteerism.

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