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Established in 2009, the Women in Law Leadership (WILL) non-profit is rooted in supporting women’s leadership development, promoting advancement, and celebrating success. The WILL awards, established in 2011, have featured numerous University of Ģ����ý Faculty of Law alumni winners, with 24 in total recognized. 

Co-founders Sameera Sereda and Diane Pettie drew on their experience navigating a male-dominated field to establish this initiative aimed at advancing systemic change and creating space for women in the legal profession. 

“The awards were founded to celebrate the accomplishments of female lawyers at a time when this was not common. The founders had the foresight to want to recognize women in the legal profession and saw the importance of celebrating, promoting and advancing their female colleagues,” said Susan Billington, K.C., LLB’85, associate professor in the Faculty of Law and 2012 WILL Award winner. 

Of the five winners in 2025, three of them were UĢ����ý Law alumni, marking one of the Faculty’s winningest years to date:

2025 Leadership in the Profession (Government of In-House) winner: Jennifer Freund K.C. (LLB’07)

• Freund has spent her career doing work in governance, regulation, and policy. She currently works as Policy & Governance counsel at the Law Society of Alberta and holds the position of 2025-26 National Section President of the Canadian Bar Association – In-House Lawyers (CBA-IL). 

2025 Leadership in the Community winner: Wilma Shim K.C. (JD’10)

• Shim has a career that spans roles in government, human rights, sports law, education, and community involvement. Currently holding positions as an Alberta Human Rights Commissioner, Sessional Instructor at UĢ����ý Law and Kinesiology, a University Senator, and board member of various organizations. 

2025 Tomorrow’s Leader winner: Kay Johnson (JD’16)

• Over the past 10 years Johnson has practiced in a variety of settings including major firms, and is currently VP Legal at Flair Airlines, as well as a sessional instructor at UĢ����ý Law for the Corporate Externship program. 

UĢ����ý Alumni Winners from Previous Years:

Lifetime Achievement 

2017: The Honourable Patricia Rowbotham (LLB’81)

• Rowbotham’s judicial career began after being appointed to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in 1999. After eight years, she was appointed to the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. 

Leadership in the Profession – Private Practice

2023: Janice Buckingham K.C. (LLB’95)

• Buckingham is a partner of energy and natural gas resources at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Her work focuses on the development, merger, acquisition and divestiture of complex energy production, transportation and storage projects in Canada. 

2018: Wendy Best K.C. (LLB’79)

• Best has spent over 40 years at Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP where she is a partner who specializes in high-net-worth divorce, litigation, and negotiation. She also is a sought-after speaker, has worked as a board member for several organizations, and has published several papers. 

2017: Patricia P. Sealy K.C. (LLB’98)

• Sealy is a senior family lawyer at Daunais McKay & Harms, where she has been for nearly 20 years, and previously worked as a managing partner. Her focus is on reducing emotional impact and promoting family wellness. 

2015: Heather McKay K.C. (LLB’83) 

• McKay is a senior family lawyer and partner at Daunais McKay & Harms where she focuses on negotiating resolutions of complicated property and support matters. She has many endeavours aside from practicing, including being an instructor, speaker, panelist, and lecturer for several organizations.

2013: Valerie Prather (LLB’88)

• Prather is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution group where she specializes in professional negligence and medical malpractice defense. She also serves as an adjunct assistant professor at the Cummings School of Medicine at UĢ����ý, where she focuses on medical legal risk management.

2011: Maureen Killoran (LLB’94)

• Killoran is a partner and national co-chair at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, practicing out of both Vancouver and Ģ����ý offices and is the former managing partner of the Ģ����ý office. She is a seasoned trial and appeal lawyer with experience in commercial arbitrations (domestic and international) and other forms of dispute resolution.

Leadership in the Profession – In-house/Government 

2024: Jennifer Rees K.C. (LLB’00)

• Rees is currently practicing in special prosecutions at Alberta Justice and has been Crown counsel at Alberta Justice for over 20 years. 

2018: The Honourable G.M. Grace Auger (LLB’95)

• Auger has focused her career on treaty and Aboriginal rights issues, land claims, specific claims, and litigation. She was appointed as a judge to the Alberta Provincial Court of Canada in 2021. 

2011: Janice Odegaard K.C. (LLB’84)

• Odegaard spent much of her career as the senior vice president, general counsel, chief privacy officer, and corporate secretary at Suncor Energy from 1995-2019. 

Leadership in the Profession – Broader Roles

2021: Cori Ghitter K.C. (LLB’94)

• Ghitter worked many years for the Law Society of Alberta holding roles as director of professionalism and access, deputy executive director, and director of policy and education. She is currently the CEO of the Ron and Myrna Ghitter Foundation, a charitable foundation focused on human rights education, advocacy, and youth engagement in sports and the arts.

2016: Jennifer Koshan (LLB’88)

• Koshan has been a Professor at UĢ����ý Law for over 20 years. Specializing in constitutional law, equality rights, and gender-based violence, with a focus on legal reform and advocacy. As of 2023 she is also a Research Excellence Chair. 

2012: Susan V.R. Billington K.C. (LLB’85)

• Billington has had an expansive career holding various roles at the Law Society of Alberta, sitting on boards advocating for improvement to the justice system, and doing pro bono work. She has been a faculty member at the UĢ����ý Law since 2018, where she manages the clinical practice program at Student Legal Assistance (SLA). 

Leadership in the Community

2023: Khatera Haidery (JD’09)

• Haidery is a partner at Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP, where she specializes in family law with extensive experience in negotiation, mediation, and litigation. She also volunteers to assist the resettling of Afghan women judges at Pro Bono Law Alberta. 

2022: Meenu Ahluwalia (LLB’99)

• Ahluwalia has worked in both large and small firm settings and is currently legal counsel at Justice Canada. She has spent time on a variety of boards and is focused on reducing barriers for marginalized communities, mental health, addiction, and family violence support.

2019: Patricia L. Blocksom K.C. (LLB’82)

• Blocksom has been a partner at Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP since 1990 with a focus on family and estate law. She has also worked as an instructor for mediation training, is involved in human rights and poverty work, and has been recognized for her many contributions to equality in the Canadian legal community. 

2015: Donna Purcell K.C. (JD’88)

• Purcell is the founder and chief innovation officer at Donna Purcell QC Law where her focus is personal injury and fatalities, insurance, business, and employment law. She has done extensive work on the digital transformation of the legal system to improve access to justice and lawyer retention.

Tomorrow's Leader 

2024: Grace Ajele (JD’18)

• Ajele currently works as membership and compliance counsel for the Law Society of Alberta. Her career has centred around restorative justice and systemic change, with a focus on addressing gaps in legal services and supporting vulnerable communities. 

2021: Sarah V. Coderre (JD’11)

• Coderre is a partner and co-founder of Bow River Law LLP, where she focuses on employment, human rights, and labor law. She also does work with human rights issues with individuals and small employers. 

2015: The Honourable Chidinma Thompson (LLM’07)

• Thompson was appointed as a judge of Court of King's Bench of Alberta in 2023. Before becoming a judge, she was a partner at BLG, a sessional instructor at UĢ����ý Law, and did volunteer work with the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Pro Bono Law Alberta, and Ģ����ý Legal Guidance.

2012: The Honourable Melanie Gaston (LLB’01)

• Gaston was appointed to the Court of King's Bench of Alberta in Ģ����ý in 2023. Prior to this she was a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP specializing in commercial litigation, arbitration, energy, construction, insolvency, and securities.