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AUSTRALIA: Rising star Gatsi named Victoria chamber’s ‘member of the year’
AUSTRALIA: James Gatsi is a rising star in Victoria.
The CEO of CL Web Developers is a 2018 University of Victoria graduate who was elected to the board of the 1,400-member Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce in 2022 and serves as the vice-chair on the chamber’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advancement Committee.
Gatsi’s immediate, positive impact on the chamber and the community led the chamber to name him ‘2024 member of the year.’
The chamber also praised Gatsi as a passionate and pragmatic voice in helping the chamber achieve its vision of being the region’s most diverse and influential business association.
“When I was first introduced to James, I could see the incredible leadership potential he could bring to our organization,” said chamber CEO Bruce Williams.
“His effort to promote the chamber and contribute to conversations that create real change have been pivotal to our success since he joined us.”
Originally from Zimbabwe, Gatsi took political science at UVic before working for the university in IT and then starting his own business — CL Web Developers — which has a diverse and inclusive staff.
“The chamber’s work to assist emerging entrepreneurs and future leaders, as well as the actions taken on Indigenous reconciliation and the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are something we can all be proud of,” said Gatsi.
“It hasn’t been easy for many businesses still working to recover from the pandemic during difficult economic times, but by working together we are building resilience that will sustain and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs in the years to come.”
Gatsi is also the chamber board’s liaison for the Emerge Committee, the group that puts on bi-monthly networking events and runs a mentoring program.
“James brings a practical and entrepreneurial lens to the big issues we’re working to address as the voice of business in Greater Victoria,” said chamber chair Kris Wirk.
The announcement of Gatsi as ‘2024 member of the year’ is one of two awards revealed before while nominations are collected for the 12 categories of the 2024 Greater Victoria Business Awards.
The recipient of the Chamber Award of Distinction, which honours a chamber member for outstanding leadership and innovation, will be announced sometime next month.