Every year, the Outdoor Industry Women's Coalition recognizes two outstanding women in each industry for their leadership and dedication to mentoring female colleagues. OIWC is proud to announce the winners of the 2012 awards for the outdoor industry.
Pioneering Woman Award: Karen T'King, Key Account Sales Manager, PrAna
This award honors women in the outdoor industry who have furthered the vision of the OIWC by demonstrating an outstanding commitment to mentoring female colleagues.
Karen started in the outdoor industry 25 years ago as an Assistant Retail Store Manager for The North Face. She moved up through various positions, landing as the VP of Sales for Five Ten, and eight years ago began her current role at PrAna.
Her nomination reflected the epitome of a pioneering woman: "Karen is the first one to give credit, compliments and an opportunity for young women in the industry. She can see potential and is the first person to call attention to it and hand someone the reigns. Karen makes an impact wherever she works."
First Ascent Award: Liz Stahura, Senior Research Analyst & Account Executive, Leisure Trends Group
This award recognizes a woman new to the industry who demonstrates strong potential for leadership, and furthers the vision of OIWC by increasing visibility of talented young women at lower levels in an organization, thereby facilitating their leadership development on their journey to future leadership.
As one of the company’s lead analysts, Liz is responsible for identifying, writing to, and presenting actionable insights from the company’s retail sales tracking data and consumer research across multiple industries.
In her nomination, Liz was praised for being an inspiration on a daily basis. "She has strong leadership skills and works hard to keep developing them. She has an impact on Leisure Trends and on the industry as a whole."
OIWC Breakfast & Awards Presentation
Join OIWC as we recognize the accomplishments of these two women during the OIWC Breakfast & Awards Presentation. In addition to hearing from Karen and Liz, the Breakfast features keynote speaker Donna Carpenter, President of Burton, discussing, "Where are all the women? Why diversity is good for business."
The event is Saturday, January 21 from 7-9am at the Marriott, across from the Salt Palace. OIWC extends a huge thank you to the sponsors of the event: