News Release
TOTAL TRENCHLESS LTD’s JENNY STEPHENS Selected for Competitive EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ North America Class of 2021
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 08, 2021 – EY announced today that Jenny Stephens, CEO of Total Trenchless Ltd. – an Indigenous-female majority owned horizontal auger boring company is one of the women founders selected for the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ North America Class of 2021. The program, in its 14th year, identifies ambitious women entrepreneurs who are leading thriving organizations and provides the access, advisors and resources needed to scale their companies to their full potential and ultimately become leading market innovators. Program engagement offers participants executive education and introductions to the vast EY global entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as the Entrepreneurial Winning Women community worldwide.
“I’m thrilled to be amongst such a group of accomplished ladies and owe it to my team, including my husband – co-founder and President, Brett Stephens. It’s amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us all” – Jenny Stephens, CEO
This year’s class of women-led high-growth companies across the US and Canada span a variety of industries, with a particularly strong showing in companies offering sustainable and eco-friendly solutions. The companies are also concentrated on tech-driven solutions across industries ranging from higher education to executive coaching, food and beverage, health and wellness, and more. The judging panel for the Class of 2021 consisted of Beth Ferreira, General Partner at FirstMark Capital; Naomi Whittel, founder of Reservage Nutrition and best-selling author; David Liu, serial entrepreneur and advisor; and Lara O’Connor Hodgson, co-founder and CEO of Now Corp.
“We are proud to welcome another class of driven, strategic and ambitious founders into the EY entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Maranda Bruckner, Entrepreneurial Winning Women North America Program Lead, Ernst & Young LLP. “We are honored to have the opportunity to foster these entrepreneurs with resources, guidance and community to help them scale their businesses, support their missions and reach their goals.” The Class of 2021 will be officially recognized this week during the EY Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
The North America program targets women business owners who are founding CEOs of any US or Canadian privately held company that is 10 years old or younger. Company revenues typically range from at least $2m to as much as $30m annually.
“It is crucial that we focus on women business owners and encourage female entrepreneurship,” said EY Americas Solutions Leader Cheryl Grise, who also serves as the Entrepreneurial Winning Women North America Executive Sponsor. “The Winning Women program exemplifies how, when systemic barriers are removed, women-led businesses can reach their full potential and spur immediate and long-lasting impact across sectors and the globe. The successes women founders who are part of this community have built individually and with each other are numerous and impressive. We are proud to be part of their journey.”
On an ongoing basis, Entrepreneurial Winning Women take part in additional workshops, conferences and training sessions. They become part of the EY global community of more than 800 Entrepreneurial Winning Women in 49 countries and on every continent, forging connections with our vast community of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ alumni throughout the world. In a recent survey, when asked about the program’s impact on their success, 80% of Winning Women said it had a positive impact on their confidence and leadership to grow their businesses. Meanwhile, 66% said the program helped them grow and lead their team, and over half indicated the program impacted their willingness to take risks to scale their business.
“For more than 35 years, EY has been associated with great entrepreneurs worldwide,” said Lee Henderson, Americas EY Private Leader. “It is a privilege to be a part of these entrepreneurs’ business journeys. We believe opportunity available to any entrepreneur should be available to every entrepreneur, and the Entrepreneurial Winning Women program helps support our goal of closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship.”
Total Trenchless Ltd. is an Indigenous-female majority owned trenchless pipe installation company that is an emerging leader in the Western Canada market. It currently employs over 40 employees, has a fleet of advanced trenchless technology, and has worked on many notable projects including the TMX and Coastal Gaslink pipelines, West Calgary Ring Road, Calgary Green LRT, and Bonnybrook Water Waste Treatment plant.
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About EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™
The EY organization is committed to seeing women lead. EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ is a global program for successful women entrepreneurs whose businesses show more potential to scale. Through access to EY professionals and global EY networks throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem, pioneering women founders on every continent secure the resources, advice, operational know-how, contacts and community they need to unleash their ambitions, expand their companies to full potential and become the role models they never had. ey.com/winningwomen
About EY Private As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/private
