ATHENA Leadership Award: Renee Daudlin-Iacobelli

The recipient of the 2023 ATHENA Leadership award, sponsored by BELL, understands what it means to strive toward the highest levels of professional accomplishments, excel in her chosen field and devote time and energy to her community in a meaningful way — all while opening paths so that other women may follow.

Renee Daudlin-Iacobelli is what ATHENA Leadership is all about.

Raised in the small village of Wheatley, she was the youngest of three children born to Pete and Carolyn Daudlin. Her mother was a schoolteacher while her father worked in the commercial fishing industry. Know as a ‘gazelle’ on the track and field team, throughout her school years Renee played pretty much every sport and was active in numerous clubs and volunteer activities, learning early lessons about teamwork, competition and perseverance.

After earning an honours sociology degree from the University of Western Ontario, Renee returned home to begin her career at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). She worked fulltime and continued her studies to complete an Art Therapy Diploma (1994) and Masters of Education (Adult Education and Counselling, 2001).

In 1998, she left the WSIB to begin a journey in consulting and entrepreneurship. Renee was the last person to have earned the now-retired Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor Designation and one of the first among a limited number of professionals in Canada to attain the Canadian Certified Vocational Evaluators designation.

In 1992, she married Richard Iacobelli and together they have just celebrated 30 years of marriage. Richard, Renee and their two beautiful daughters – Hannah, 23, and Lexy, 20 -- live in Leamington. Like her father, Hannah is a mechanical engineer while Lexy is studying architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Sponsored by Bell

Community involvement and volunteerism were early loves that Renee learned from her mother who gave so much of her own time to our community. It was here that she learned kindness, giving to others in need, and doing what she can to make the world a better place for everyone.

In high school, Renee was already spending lunch hours volunteering as a literacy tutor to adults who were new to Canada and while in university, she provided respite care to families. In early adulthood, she volunteered for the thenDistrict Health Council’s Women’s Health Services Task Force and at the same time served as the very first Women’s Director for the Windsor-Essex Learning and Adjustment Board.

After completing these roles and while her daughters were young, she coached girls’ minor baseball for 10 years, mentored the First Robotics team for five years, served as a professional member on the Leamington Accessibilities Committee, was a founding volunteer for the grassroots movement ‘Its ok to not be ok’ and served as a mentor for young women entering the workforce.

An active member of the community, Renee has been part of the Rotary Club of Leamington and is involved in several local projects to improve the lives of the women and youth in our community. She has also held leadership positions on numerous boards including South Essex Community Council, Windsor-Essex Employment Group, Leamington Chamber of Commerce and Leamington Minor Baseball Board.

Extending her talents past our community Renee has held, and/or currently occupies, leadership roles within her professional associations which include the National Vocational Rehabilitation Association and the Canadian Association of Vocational and Work Adjustment Professionals. In addition to Renee’s extensive community involvement, she has been a leader for women in business as well.

Together with her husband, they own three thriving companies. Their first company, incorporated in 2007, is Lexhan Investments, a consulting and investment company proudly named after their daughters, Lexy and Hannah. In 2009, they started Liquid Capital Midwest, a commercial financing company. And their third company, Insight Advantage, was incorporated in 2011.

Today, Insight Advantage is a national fullservice employment, training and vocational rehabilitation company. With seven offices across Ontario and consultants across Canada, they hold federal, provincial and municipal contracts providing employment support, corporate training and assessment services. In addition to the services that they provide nationally, their Windsor, Leamington and Chatham offices also operate as approved private career colleges under the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Renee is quick to point out that Insight Advantage owes its success to its employees and collaborates with local community partners such as the Windsor-Essex Employment Group, Workforce

Windsor-Essex and Leamington District Chamber of Commerce, to name just a few. Together with agencies like these, Insight Advantage has advocated, and created work opportunities, for persons with disabilities across our community.

Mirroring Renee’s life, at Insight they believe in making an impact on their clients and the community. In doing so, they have sponsored and delivered more than 100 Mental Health First Aid training sessions to the Windsor-Essex region and have designed and delivered projects aimed at helping individuals overcome barriers to employment.

“To be selected by, and to join such a prestigious group of women who have received this Award previously makes me feel so special,” Renee says of being named the 2023 ATHENA Leadership Award recipient. “It encourages me to continue to keep reaching higher and give more. To my family, my Insight Advantage team, my friends, my customers, my clients, and to the ATHENA committee…all of you have enriched my life and have helped to make my journey memorable. For this, I thank you!”

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