Vanessa Crapsi-Krisiuk is Programs Administrator for the Digital Media Lab at the Canadian Film Centre

Vanessa is an Event Management (2015) alumna and proudly part of the women-led team of mentors, facilitators, change-makers, and experts designing and executing the Fifth Wave Initiative - Canada’s first feminist business accelerator program, specifically created for womxn-owned digital media enterprises.

Fifth Wave offers womxn entrepreneurs free mentorship and networking opportunities for bespoke business acceleration while weaving the feminist ideals of equity and fairness into traditional business practices and emphasizes a human-centric approach to business strategy. As Fifth Wave’s Programs Administrator, her job is to not only complete the typical administrative tasks required to run a business accelerator but to ensure that Fifth Wave’s values and mandates are carried out in all aspects of the program while fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse corporate and program culture where everyone can thrive. 

The Event Management program at Humber College taught Vanessa how to juggle large workloads, ask the right questions, manage clients and recognize the importance of creating a healthy environment where colleagues and teammates feel respected and heard. Listening, observing, coaching, and sticking up for diversity is what Fifth Wave does – but Humber College is where she first learned how.

Vanessa was introduced to the CFC Media Lab and the Fifth Wave Initiative by a Humber professor who knew that she was looking for a role in the industry that aligned with her values and with a team that genuinely cared about the purpose behind the project. 

“Applications to be part of the Fifth Wave Connect community are open now and I encourage any other woman-identified entrepreneurs in the digital media space to apply,” says Vanessa.

“When I started my career, being a woman business owner felt like I was in a competition, not a community. After years in the industry, I realized that while a lot of success begins because of who you know, most success only grows because of who you are. I entered Humber’s Event Management program with that mindset and feel very fortunate that the professors I met there not only agreed but helped me find a workplace that does so too.”