Heather Gamble

From renting her first church sanctuary in 2011 to speak on women’s empowerment, to now leading a national community of premium women entrepreneurs, Heather Gamble has become one of Canada’s leading champions for women’s advancement through entrepreneurship.

Her mission is to drive systemic change by building strong, mutually beneficial partnerships between female entrepreneurs in STEM and large industry players. Today, less than 1% of corporate supply chains procure from women-led businesses. By developing innovative go-to-market models that connect women entrepreneurs with major industry buyers, Heather aims to break down long-standing barriers and unlock new opportunities for innovation across sectors.

To advance this mission, Heather founded Women on the Move Inc., Canada’s leading business accelerator for women entrepreneurs ready to scale. Since 2015, Women on the Move has trained, coached, and advised over 1,000 female founders. Out of this work, Heather launched the Artemis Project, the world’s first global business initiative linking women entrepreneurs with the mining industry. Co-founded by Heather, Artemis is a social enterprise that champions Gender Responsive Procurement in mining. Through a full suite of services and solutions, Artemis supports mining companies in integrating more diverse and underrepresented suppliers into their value chains.

Once again, the numbers speak volumes: fewer than 1% of supply chain contracts go to women-led businesses. The Artemis model is designed to shift that paradigm—accelerating innovation in mid- to large-tier mining companies while dismantling systemic procurement barriers. Heather’s visionary work has not gone unnoticed. She was named one of the Globe and Mail’s Top 50 Changemakers in Canada (2021) and recognized as a Top 100 Inspirational International Woman in Mining (2022). Today, Artemis includes 70+ women-led businesses across Canada and is supported by forward-thinking mining partners including Eldorado Gold, Rio Tinto, IAMGOLD, New Gold, and others. Together, they are working toward a bold vision: $10 million in procurement with women-led businesses in mining by 2027.