Business Advisor

Who We Are

Founded in 1889, YWCA Hamilton is known as one of Hamilton’s original social innovators and works from a feminist, anti‑racist, and anti‑oppressive framework. We are dedicated to strengthening women’s and girls’ voices, broadening their choices, building dynamic leadership and providing essential services that promote safe, inclusive and equitable communities.

At YWCA Hamilton, we are intentional about fostering a workplace culture that values positive physical and emotional well‑being through our values of Intersectional Feminism, People Centered, Belonging, Responsibility, and Partnerships. We invest in our employees so that we can bring our values into the communities in which we live. We offer our employees:

• On‑the‑job training and professional development opportunities
• Childcare discounts
• Opportunities to get involved in our community
• A competitive total rewards package

If you’re passionate about making a positive impact in the lives of women, children, and families every day, we would love for you to join our team!

Job Code: 1-MWE-2025

Department:
Centre of Innovation

Reports to:

Business Advisory Manager, Power Up

Location:

Hamilton, ON

Hours of Work: 37.5 hours / week

Contract

Start Date:

TBD

Contract End Date:
March 31st, 2026

Posting Date:
December 3rd, 2025

Responsible for providing business skills training, personalized business advice and guidance, mentoring, practical business resources and innovative ways to support women and gender diverse entrepreneurs to develop the skills, mindset, financing and networks they need to realize their business potential and close gaps that are barriers to success. Assists women who want to establish and grow their businesses primarily in Hamilton, Halton, Burlington, Guelph, Niagara, Kitchener‑Waterloo and Cambridge, and the rest of Southwestern Ontario virtually.

• Consults with clients/participants to help entrepreneurs prepare their business plans, identify rules and regulations that could impact their business, understand government and private sector programs that apply to their business, provide support to access grants and other lending resources and advise clients to start or scale up their own small business;
• Performs intakes and assessments with potential entrepreneurs;
• Works with Manager to develop & update curriculum to respond to new research, best practices, trends and advancements in business and the entrepreneurship sector;
• Provides coaching and advice on all activities related to business start‑up and expansion;
• Documents issues, challenges and any special cases, making recommendations to Manager;
• Facilitates and arranges subject matter experts for training of clients/participants and networking;
• Coordinates webinars and online spaces for teaching and networking with participants;
• Engages with program partners and community stakeholders (e.g., accountants, lawyers, Insurance Bureau of Canada, financial institutions, Innovation programs, etc.);
• Supports YWCA Hamilton spaces and online platforms for entrepreneurs to launch or expand their business (e.g., e‑commerce site, Business Out of the Box);
• Performs administrative functions including documentation, filing, data entry, participant trackers;
• Outreach to service providers, banks and other funding organizations to support entrepreneurs to secure funding to start their own business;
• Promotes and markets the Entrepreneurial Programs; working with the Business Advisory Manager, Power Up and Economic Development;
• Reviews and evaluates results and recommendations from participants and stakeholders; shares program outcomes with Manager and stakeholders;
• Nurtures and maintains relationships with community stakeholders and leverages existing external programs to expand opportunities for participants to develop their businesses;
• Connects and assists in building strong and positive relationships with participants in a cohesive and respectful environment;
• Works with limited pieces of client confidential data and ensures that such data is stored in accordance with YWCA policies;
• Maintains accurate records/statistics and evaluation information related to the…