Newsroom | Marisa Iacobucci

Howatson’s experience scaling companies and building high-performing global finance organizations will guide Vena through its next phase of growth We're pleased to announce that Melissa Howatson has joined Vena's executive team as chief financial officer, reporting to CEO Hunter Madeley. Howatson joins Vena at a pivotal moment in its growth trajectory. The company recently grew its global team to more than 700 employees and, despite economic headwinds, has achieved record performance over the course of 2022, propelled by industry-leading customer satisfaction ratings and new milestones in its ecosystem of strategic partners and engagements with global customers. In her new role, Howatson will help lead Vena through its next phase of growth, driving operational scale and agility in service of Vena’s ecosystem of customers, partners, employees and community. “Vena has grown tremendously in the past year, and we were looking for a finance leader who has successfully guided companies toward their next milestone,” said Madeley. “Melissa brings a great combination of scale-up and start-up experience, a strong financial and consulting background spanning industries such as edtech, ‘Big Four’ accounting and automotive and a proven history of building and leading high-performing global finance organizations. We are thrilled to have her join us on our journey.” Howatson joins Vena after almost a decade at D2L, a global learning technology company, where she served as CFO, was a member of the board of directors and led the completion of D2L’s initial public offering in 2021. Prior to D2L, she held finance leadership positions at Bend All Automotive, Qwalify and Primal. She obtained her CPA-CA designation while working in the assurance practice at KPMG. “Vena enables finance to evolve from being simply an aggregator of data to a strategic business partner that delivers insight and analysis to drive agility, resilience and stronger decision making. The time is right for finance teams to harness the power of Vena ..." —Melissa Howatson CFO at Vena "Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the value that finance teams can bring to the larger organization and the important role they can play in moving the business forward,” said Howatson. “Vena enables finance to evolve from being simply an aggregator of data to a strategic business partner that delivers insight and analysis to drive agility, resilience and stronger decision making. The time is right for finance teams to harness the power of Vena, and I’m excited to work with Hunter and the team to deliver the utmost value for our customers and guide Vena through its next phase of growth.” Come Grow With Us We’re hiring! Vena has offices in Toronto, Canada and in London, England. Visit our Careers page for current job openings or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to learn more about life at Vena.

Customer trust, corporate culture and a new employees milestone propel continued growth amid economic headwinds TORONTO – Dec. 1, 2022 – Vena, the Complete Planning platform loved by finance and trusted by business, approaches 2023 following a strong performance in its third quarter. The company continued to grow its employee base and engagements with global customers, introduced new product innovation, drove customer growth buoyed by consistently exceptional satisfaction scores and was lauded for its product and corporate culture. In November, Vena Solutions launched Vena with Microsoft Power BI Embedded. The integration enriches Vena’s Insights and Analysis solution with advanced data analytics and AI-powered business insights embedded directly into Vena’s cloud-based CPM platform, powering FP&A, extended planning and beyond. This integration represents the latest evolution of Vena's ongoing strategic collaboration with Microsoft and makes Vena the only Complete Planning platform with out-of-the-box, user-guided business intelligence for all. TrustRadius, the community-driven product reviews site, recognized Vena Complete Planning with a 2022 Best Software award, which celebrates products that support the evolution of self-serve buyers by sourcing and using customer reviews. The recognition came on the heels of Vena winning a TrustRadius Tech Cares award for the third consecutive year. The award recognizes technology companies that go above and beyond in supporting their employees and the communities they operate in. Additionally, Vena was named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2022 by Waterstone Human Capital. The award recognizes not only strong corporate culture but also looks at how culture has aided the organization to drive success. These achievements all complement a strong third quarter that saw Vena grow its global team to more than 700 employees, maintain exceptional growth in revenue and achieve industry-leading customer satisfaction ratings. “Vena’s exceptional performance despite global economic uncertainty is a testament to the trust our customers place in us, the value they realize from using our Complete Planning platform and the support of our partners and Venanites throughout the company,” said Vena CEO Hunter Madeley. “We are honored by the recognitions awarded to Vena for its products and, especially, its culture and people, and look forward to continued collaboration and partnership as we head into 2023.” Other highlights achieved in Q3 2022 include: A customer base that has increased by more than 300 new customers in 2022, sustained record customer satisfaction levels and accelerated growth as customers continue to put their trust in Vena to power their Plan To Grow™ in turbulent times. The addition of more than 30 new Partners this year, with Ujimatec, SolomonEdwards, Anatona and others joining Vena’s Partner Network in Q3. The launch of Vena Marketplace, a destination where finance and operations professionals can access integrations, solutions and services to Power their Plan To Grow. Continued employee growth despite ongoing economic turbulence with a 30+% increase in headcount year-over-year. Successful completion of SOC 1 and 2 Type II audits, which provide an independent assessment of how Vena’s cloud-based CPM platform achieves compliance controls and objectives based on criteria defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Additional recognition of Vena with awards from workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform Comparably. These awards included Best Company Happiness, Work-Life Balance, Perks & Benefits and Compensation. About Vena Vena is the only native Excel Complete Planning platform built for Microsoft 365 with Power BI Embedded. Vena transforms how business, finance and operations leaders Plan To Grow™ with the Vena Growth Engine, the SaaS platform and methodology that empowers and inspires your plans and guides your growth journey. Over 1,300 of the world’s leading companies power their growth with Vena. For more information, visit venasolutions.com. Media Contact Jonathan Paul Senior Director, Content & Communications, Vena jpaul@venacorp.com

Free workshops offer Microsoft Excel training, mentorship and encouragement for underrepresented youth Vena's Black Employee Resource Group, Melanite, is excited to announce its partnership with BlackMINT, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on inspiring Black youth to pursue careers in the tech sector. Together, they will be hosting and teaching a series of workshops on careers in technology, along with skills-based training on Microsoft Excel, the world’s most commonly used spreadsheet software. Black professionals are underrepresented in the technology industry. Black residents comprise 3.5% of the Canadian population but make up just 2.6% of the country’s technology professionals. BlackMINT’s Rising Star Platform is a clearinghouse for information about Black professionals and what it takes to succeed in different careers, including technology. Through its Black employee resource group, Melanite, Vena is hosting and sponsoring these workshops with BlackMINT to introduce high school students to career opportunities in tech as well as real-world skills that can be transferred to the workplace. Black professionals are underrepresented in the technology industry. Black residents comprise 3.5% of the Canadian population but make up just 2.6% of the country’s technology professionals. “Representation matters. We want to impact how students see themselves represented in tech through these sessions and imagine the possibilities for their future,” said Siobhan Mondesire, Vice President of Demand Generation and Co-chair of Melanite at Vena. “Existing systemic barriers have resulted in fewer Black students being encouraged—or even provided the option—to pursue tech careers. Addressing this at the root cause includes arming them with the knowledge and access to better understand what a career in tech looks like. It’s important we demystify the idea that the only jobs in tech are ones where you have to code.” "Representation matters. We want to impact how students see themselves represented in tech through these sessions and imagine the possibilities for their future.” —Siobhan Mondesire Vice President of Demand Generation and Co-chair of Melanite at Vena Tina Goulbournre, Vena's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Sponsor of Melanite, said: "We have deliberately built inclusion into our culture because we understand that diversity adds richness—inside and outside of our organization. We are proud of our track record and for being recognized as an industry leader that continuously strives to ensure we create a supportive environment where all feel included and have equal opportunity." Vena will host the free, daylong Excel workshops on Dec. 3 and Jan. 14 at its headquarters in the Liberty Village area of Toronto and virtually via video conference. Vena encourages teachers, counselors, coaches and others who work with youth to visit www.lifeatvena.com/excelerate-your-growth for more information they can share within their networks and communities.

Award from Waterstone Human Capital recognizes culture’s contribution to an organization’s business success Here at Vena, we're fortunate to know that our great team and culture all come down to our people. Every day, we're proud of the culture we're building together, but today, we're especially proud and honored to announce that we have been recognized for all our collective efforts in creating a winning culture at Vena. Vena was named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2022 by Waterstone Human Capital. The award recognizes not only strong corporate culture but also looks at how culture has aided the organization to drive success. "The 2022 award recipients demonstrate that putting culture at the center of strategy drives growth and accelerates performance. They actively craft high-performance cultures that drive extraordinary results and serve as an inspiration for others who want to do the same” says Marty Parker, president and CEO of Waterstone Human Capital and chair of the Canada’s Most Admired™ program. “At Waterstone, we believe corporate culture drives performance and that it’s an organization’s single greatest asset.” Vena’s CORE Values—Customer Trust, One Team, Respect and Authenticity and Execution Excellence—guide every decision and action taken across the organization. “We are truly appreciative of the feedback our employees provide in both internal surveys and employer rating sites, and are grateful to be rated highly by our amazing team. Our collective commitment to building a culture focused on personal and professional growth in the service of our customers stands out most for me,” said Tracey Mikita, Chief People Person at Vena. “From our formal learning and development programs, Vena employee resource group initiatives and our support of giving back to our communities, Vena is focused on cultivating, embracing and celebrating all aspects of our team.” In addition to being named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture winners, Vena also has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top Small and Medium Employers in 2022 and has earned eight Comparably awards based on employee feedback—Best Company Outlook, Best Company Perks & Benefits, Best Company Work-Life Balance, Best Company Compensation, Best Company Happiness, Best CEOs for Diversity, Best CEOs for Women and Best Marketing Teams. The company also has received awards for its financial planning and analysis platform from organizations including Gartner, TrustRadius and others. “We are truly appreciative of the feedback our employees provide in both internal surveys and employer rating sites, and are grateful to be rated highly by our amazing team. Our collective commitment to building a culture focused on personal and professional growth in the service of our customers stands out most for me.” —Tracey Mikita Chief People Person at Vena “From day one, we have continuously and consciously worked to build a positive workplace culture— and it’s humbling to be recognized among a short list of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures,” said Vena CEO Hunter Madeley. “We understand that a company built on collaboration, transparency and trust empowers everyone involved in the organization. We work to earn that trust every day—at every level of our organization—and it’s an honor to see that work recognized with awards like this one.” About Waterstone Human Capital: At Waterstone Human Capital, we inspire organizations to build high performance cultures. We’re a human capital management consulting firm specializing in retained executive search, cultural measurement and assessment, and leadership training and development. We have successfully helped hundreds of entrepreneurial-minded, high-growth organizations across North America recruit, measure, and train for fit. Waterstone is also the founder of the Canada’s Most Admired™Corporate Cultures and Canada’s Most Admired™CEO programs. These national programs annually recognize best-in-class Canadian organizations and CEOs, for fostering cultures that enhance performance and help sustain a competitive advantage. For more information, please visit waterstonehc.com or canadasmostadmired.com. Come Grow With Us We’re hiring! Vena has offices in Toronto, Canada and in London, England. Visit our Careers page for current job openings or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to learn more about life at Vena.

Vena’s cloud-based corporate performance management platform also earned a spot on the For Enterprise List and For Mid-Sized List Our customers have spoken and based on their top reviews, Vena has earned a badge for landing on the Overall TrustRadius Best Software List as well as the For Enterprise List and For Mid-Sized List. This recognition comes on the heels of Vena winning a TrustRadius Tech Cares Award for the third consecutive year. The TrustRadius Best Software List celebrates products that support the evolution of self-serve buyers by sourcing and using customer reviews. To make the list, products must have more than 40 reviews from the past year and have maintained a trScore of 7.5 or higher. These characteristics demonstrate a commitment to transparency, improvement and user insights. “Vena Solutions was selected for the 2022 Best Software List as best suited for mid-sized and enterprise businesses,” said Megan Headley, Vice President of Research at TrustRadius. “These awards are based directly on feedback from their customers. Vena’s customers at mid-sized and enterprise businesses praised the product's overall flexibility, easy-to-use drill-down capabilities and ability to automate workflows.” “Powerful agile planning and reporting in familiar Excel environment.” —Vena Verified User Top-Rated Reviews by Vena Users Vena helps finance teams analyze, gain insights and report on business performance to help organizations forecast, plan, budget and report on their key performance indicators. Vena Complete Planning automates planning processes across departments and systems in human resources, marketing and sales, each of which can benefit from enterprise performance management (EPM) for forecasting, budgeting and reporting, revenue planning, workforce planning, scenario analysis and beyond. Vena’s top-rated reviews and ratings on TrustRadius are a result of the insights shared by verified users. One user shared, “Vena is easy to use and maintain. All the stakeholders in the business love it. Vena is used in our day-to-day management of the business. It has allowed us to have full transparency of our business with one source of truth. We also use it for consolidating and reporting our financials internally and externally. Vena has made it much easier for forecasting, budgeting and modeling the business.” Other Vena users shared: “Used across the entire company for planning and reporting. Gives managers access to transaction detail and timely data. Quarterly forecasts have made planning agile and up to date based on operational changes.” “Vena has been a great platform for us to input all of our forecastings into one hub so that we can perform our consolidations. We also import our actual data into the Vena database, so we are now able to compare our financial results against our forecast and budgets to provide better analysis for our stakeholders.” “The integrations and data feeds have been managed with minimal training upfront. We have not needed to involve our IT department and that allows Accounting to manage the process on our terms and priority.” “Very happy with Vena and have not looked back.” —Vena Verified User Looking to share your own feedback? Please leave a review here. Empowering Your Plan To Grow™ “We’re always so grateful to our customers for sharing their feedback on TrustRadius. Their high rankings for Vena tell us that we are providing both the technology and operational methodology needed to set their businesses up for success,” said Hunter Madeley, CEO of Vena. “But we will always strive to be better in serving our mission of empowering our customers’ Plan To Grow™, creating market-leading products and solutions to inspire their work—across industries and markets—and guide their growth.” Earlier this year, Vena also received three TrustRadius Top Rated Awards in the Corporate Performance Management (CPM), Budgeting and Forecasting and Financial Close categories. Since 2016, the TrustRadius Awards have been the standard for unbiased recognition of B2B technology products based entirely on customer feedback. How are the world’s biggest brands powering their growth with Vena? Find out here.

Recognized for exceptional health and wellness initiatives, DEI programs and green workplace We're excited to share that Vena has been recognized for the third consecutive year with a TrustRadius Tech Cares award. The award acknowledges B2B technology companies that have gone above and beyond to support employees and communities during 2022. The TrustRadius Tech Cares award focuses on exceptional corporate social responsibility programs, including: Volunteerism Diversity, equity and inclusion Charitable donations and fundraising Workplace culture, including model support for in-office and remote employees Support for environmental sustainability “TrustRadius’ continued recognition of Vena’s inclusive and caring culture speaks volumes about the team at Vena, of whom I couldn’t be more proud,” said Hunter Madeley, CEO of Vena. “Our people drive our success, embodying Vena's core values in everything we do. We are fortunate to have a culture of incredibly diverse, inclusive and supportive team members who earn the trust of our customers, partners, communities—and each other—every day.” Vena has mindfully cultivated a culture of trust within the company and has established several programs to ensure an inclusive and equitable workplace. Some of the resources and policies established to support Venanites include: A hybrid work model that prioritizes location-flexible work arrangements to accommodate individual working preferences, whether an employee prefers to work in the office, fully remote or a combination of the two. An inclusive parental leave program that offers all new parents, regardless of gender, 20 weeks of parental leave top-up, with options to take advantage of a flexible return to work onboarding. An expanded benefits package that allows for immediate access to healthcare benefits, additional paid leave, child and senior care benefits, expanded mental health support as well as health and wellness initiatives in the workplace. These initiatives include Summer Fridays, where all Venanites are encouraged to wrap the workday early to get a head start on the weekend. The company also offers all employees a subscription to the meditation app Headspace and provides health and wellness spending accounts. An organizational focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) that encompasses a review of the language and tone of communications (both corporate and individual), bias-free hiring practices and inclusivity reviews to ensure every Venanite enjoys equal accommodation. Employee resource groups that support Vena’s diverse employee base, including Va11y (accessibility and inclusion), N4W (a network for women+), Melanite (for Black employees and allies), Spectrum (for 2SLGBTQIA+ employees and allies) and Mental Health (raising mental health awareness). These groups participate in a wide array of networking events, community outreach work, educational opportunities, support channels and more. Vena Cares is an additional ERG that works to help with the outreach of underserved communities, partnering with organizations, charities and companies on social impact initiatives. In 2021, these organizations included Second Harvest, Breakfast Club of Canada, Feeding America, The Trussell Trust, Black Health Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, St. Felix Centre and others. As a result, Vena has been recognized with a number of awards, including 12 Comparably Awards in 2021 (Best Company Culture, Best Company for Diversity, Best Company for Women, Best CEO, Best Company Perks & Benefits, Best Company Compensation, Best Company Happiness, Best Company Career Growth, Best Company Leadership, Best CEOs for Diversity, Best Team HR and Best Company Outlook). Vena also has received four Comparably Awards in 2022 (Best Company Outlook, Best Marketing Teams, Best CEOs for Women and Best CEOs for Diversity). Vena was also named one of Greater Toronto’s 2022 Top Employers by Mediacorp and one of Canada’s 2022 Top Small & Medium Employers. Additionally, Vena has expanded its green initiatives, to include a widespread recycling drive for depleted batteries, foil packaging and waste paper. Vena also donates office furniture, supplies and other items to employees or nonprofit organizations, and has worked with the landlord of its headquarters to initiate an electronics recycling program for used monitors, computers and peripherals that are no longer needed or out of date. “While the past two-plus years have placed a heightened awareness on community and inclusive workplaces, Vena was founded on the principles of trust, respect and authenticity,” said Shada McShannon, Director of People, Partners & DEI at Vena. “Being recognized by TrustRadius for the third consecutive year is a testament to every Venanite who supports our programs and community.” "While the past two-plus years have placed a heightened awareness on community and inclusive workplaces, Vena was founded on the principles of trust, respect and authenticity.” —Shada McShannon Director of People, Partners & DEI at Vena Vena Is a Fun Place To Work. Come Grow With Us. We’re hiring! Vena has offices in Toronto, Canada and London, England. Visit our Careers page for current job openings or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to learn more about life at Vena.

This October, Vena’s Mental Health employee-run resource group is dedicating the entire month to raising mental health awareness and cultivating support in our workplace. The theme for the month is, “Together for Mental Health at Vena.” This is the second consecutive year the employee-run resource group—what we call a Vena resource group (VRG) in our organization—is committed to amping up its ongoing efforts to promote mental health awareness and to raise our voices against stigma in a month-long campaign. “It is all of our responsibility to reduce the stigma of mental health conversations in the workplace every day. But we wanted to do more. Setting aside a month each year to highlight the importance of this work and to make it a top priority can make a huge impact on the overall health and happiness of employees—at work and at home,” says Jean Goldsmith, Mental Health Co-chair and Director, Learning & Development at Vena. "Setting aside a month each year to highlight the importance of this work and to make it a top priority can make a huge impact on the overall health and happiness of employees—at work and at home.” —Jean Goldsmith Mental Health Co-chair and Director, Learning & Development at Vena Mental Illness Awareness Week The month-long celebrations are in recognition of World Mental Health Day and Mental Illness Awareness Week. Each week will kick off with a Well-Being Monday, an opportunity for Venanites to start their week off with balance, calm and a healthy state of mind. Some planned activities include practicing gratitude, getting in the flow state (art explorations and bullet journalling) and stress relief tips for parents and kids. Mindfulness and Meditation Tuesdays will be devoted to the sharing of Headspace tips. This year, Vena was excited to offer our employees a subscription to Headspace, the digital mindfulness program that offers more personalized support, guidance, tools and access to mental health and wellness resources. The app also provides support for parents/caregivers and their children. (Learn more about our wellness-first workplace here.) Mid week, meditation sessions will be offered by Greg Jones, the Mental Health VRG’s other Co-chair and Director, Facilities at Vena. “We wanted to promote the idea that the workplace doesn’t have to be a place filled with anxiety and stress. With the right tools and support, it can be an ideal place for mindfulness and meditation. Finding time in your day to meditate at work helps reduce stress while boosting focus, energy and productivity,” says Greg. “We wanted to promote the idea that the workplace doesn’t have to be a place filled with anxiety and stress. With the right tools and support, it can be an ideal place for mindfulness and meditation." —Greg Jones Mental Health Co-chair and Director, Facilities at Vena Mental Health Professionals Each week will also feature various talks along with lunch and learn sessions given by health and wellness professionals working in different fields: Marie-Claire Conlin, Education Specialist, Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use (GGTU) at CAMH, will be hosting a talk on digital well-being and burnout. Dr. Merry Lin, Clinical Psychologist, Author and Podcaster will host a session on the seven forms of rest. Chris Coulter, Co-Executive Director, HowAreYouFeeling.org, will give a talk on helping kids understand their feelings as the key to a satisfying life. Meghan Lloyd, Registered Social Worker and experienced Psychotherapist, MA, MSW, RSW, will be hosting a talk on navigating transitions and anxiety. Image: Courtesy of Marie-Claire Conlin Mental Health and Laughter The Mental Health VRG is also excited to bring all Venanites together for an evening of fun and laughs as they present their second annual Virtual Comedy Night. Hosted by Marlena Kaesler and featuring guests, including Amy Yu, Gordon Hecht, Rush Kazi, Ada Nicolle, Andy Wong, Elizabeth Rasiuk, Matthew Ardill and headliner Marc Hallworth—all mental health advocates—the evening promises to delight the audience as the comedians share their own personal tales and struggles with mental health. “We want to remind everyone that it’s okay to laugh about mental health,” says Marlena Keasler. “Using humor to engage our audiences in discussions about mental health helps reduce the stigma.” Image: Courtesy of Rush Kazi Image: Courtesy of Amy Yu Image: Courtesy of Marc Hallworth Vena Is a Fun Place To Work. Come Grow With Us. We’re hiring! Vena has offices in Toronto, Canada and in London, England. Visit our Careers page for current job openings or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to learn more about life at Vena.

We strive to ensure ALL belong at Vena. We know how important it is. We live it and we feel it every day in our workplace, but when our employees tell us so, we know we’re right on track to making diversity, equity and inclusion a top priority across every level of our organization. We’re extremely thankful to our employees for their feedback and so pleased to announce that because of their ratings at Comparably, a leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform, our CEO Hunter Madeley has been named to Comparably’s 2022 annual lists for Best CEOs for Women and Best CEOs for Diversity. Hunter took the helm at Vena at the tail end of 2019 to continue his track record of leading transformational growth at some of the cloud’s most important companies. He was instrumental in guiding Vena forward with responsiveness, empathy and support for its employees, customers and community throughout the pandemic and continues to lead the company with a growth mindset. This includes helping Vena raise $300 million in Series C funding and strategically building Vena’s executive leadership team to power scale and industry-leading growth with the recent appointments of Le Huong Truong, Allison Munro and Hugh Cumming. Comparably’s 5th Annual list of Best CEOs for Women represents the top-ranked CEOs based on anonymous sentiment ratings from female employees on Comparably.com over a 12-month period (June 24, 2021 through June 24, 2022). Said Comparably CEO Jason Nazar, “The chief executives on this year’s list have fostered company cultures that embrace diversity and inclusion, as shown by the feedback from their female employees. The consensus is that these top-rated CEOs lead with empathy and emotional intelligence.” Comparably’s annual list of Best CEOs for Diversity represents the top-ranked CEOs based on anonymous sentiment ratings from BIPOC employees (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) on Comparably.com over the same 12-month period. According to Nazar, all CEOs on this year’s list understand that listening to and promoting the voices of all diverse employees is critical and implement equity and inclusion at the forefront of how they lead. “Every day, we strive to find ways to be better and to do better within our workplace, for our customers and in the community." —Hunter Madeley CEO, Vena “I’m proud to work with great people who support each other and hold one another accountable to living our Core Values—Customer Trust, One Team, Respect & Authenticity and Execution Excellence —here at Vena, and any recognition we receive is a direct result of our collective efforts,” says Vena CEO Hunter Madely. “Every day, we strive to find ways to be better and to do better within our workplace, for our customers and in the community. It is an honor to be recognized for these awards, but more than anything, they are a reflection of the culture and the company we are all building together.” In 2022, Vena also won Comparably Awards for Best Company Outlook and Best Marketing Teams. Read about it here. DEI at Vena Our One Team spirit and CORE values drive us to make a difference inside and outside of Vena and that starts with our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Vena. Our DEI efforts are focused around four pillars: Talent Attraction and Acquisition, Employee Experience, Leadership and Learning, and VRG and Community Impact. Our employees are engaged in our DEI efforts and value the strides that we’ve made in building a diverse, inclusive culture. We are just as committed to Making a Difference in our communities. To ensure equal rights and opportunities for everyone, and offer assistance to those suffering during challenging times, we partner with organizations, charities and companies with powerful social impact initiatives. We have come together to raise funds for organizations such as Second Harvest, Breakfast Club of Canada, Feeding America, The Trussell Trust, Black Health Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, St. Felix Centre and more through company-led initiatives and our Vena Cares employee resource group. This group inspires Venanties to positively impact causes that are meaningful to them. Vena Cares is just one of our seven employee-led and company-supported Vena Resource Groups (VRGs), each of which have a platform to join the conversations happening internally and externally—with company-provided best practice support guidelines and annual budgets to support them. Each group has an executive sponsor from our leadership team and receives ongoing support from Shada McShannon, our Director, People Partners & DEI. Our other VRGs include: Network for Women (N4W): Empowering women+ in the tech sector. Green Team: Promoting sustainable and environmentally responsible habits at Vena and beyond. Their efforts have led to Vena making more eco-friendly choices and have encouraged employees to make their own sustainable lifestyle choices. Va11y (our accessibility group): Acting as the voice of an accessible Vena by representing the needs of our customers, staff and collaborators. Mental Health VRG: Raising broader mental health awareness in an effort to normalize and destigmatize mental health conversations, reduce barriers to accessing health and empower Venanites to create a supportive work environment. This year, we were also delighted to celebrate the formation of two new VRGs: Melanite (for Black employees and allies): Open to all employees looking to learn, grow and contribute to a diverse, inclusive and supportive work environment. Spectrum: Dedicated to creating and nurturing a safe community for 2SLGBTQIA+ members and allies at Vena. All of our employees company-wide are also given time to volunteer each year and are encouraged to support an organization, charity or cause of their choice. We also recently introduced company-sponsored volunteer days to further support collaboration and team building. Vena wrapped up 2021 with Comparably Awards for Best Company Culture, Best Company for Diversity, Best Company for Women and Best CEO? Learn more here. Our Open Door Policy On Comparably, one of our Vena employees shared, “They value employees and always want to hear from us about our culture. They embrace an open door policy and they are approachable. They are always trying to ensure Vena is a supportive, inclusive and great place to work!” At Vena, we always encourage transparency and open communication in our workplace, even when it’s uncomfortable. When we act with our better, better, never best mentality, we are constantly striving for improvement across all areas of our organization. "They value employees and always want to hear from us about our culture. They embrace an open door policy and they are approachable. They are always trying to ensure Vena is a supportive, inclusive and great place to work!" —Anonymous Reviewer Comparably So how do we do this? We ask for feedback and we ask for it often, through surveys, at our Ask Me Anything open discussions at our weekly town halls and through our internal communication channels. And it doesn’t end there. Feedback isn’t just boxes to check. We take employee feedback seriously and act on it. For instance, based on employee feedback, we recently made changes to our Parental Leave Policy to make it more inclusive and equitable. Read all about it here. Come Grow With Us Vena is hiring! We are a hybrid remote-office workplace with offices in Toronto, Canada and London, England. Visit our newly launched Careers site for current job openings and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to learn more about life at Vena. Vena was named one of Greater Toronto’s 2022 Top Employers. Click here. About Comparably Comparably is a leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform with over 15 million anonymous employee ratings on 70,000 companies. With the most comprehensive data on large and SMB organizations in nearly 20 different workplace categories—based on gender, ethnicity, age, experience, industry, location, education —it is one of the most used SaaS platforms for employer branding and a trusted third party site for workplace culture and compensation. Click here for more information on Comparably’s studies and annual Best Places to Work & Best Brands Awards. For the full list of Comparably awards Vena won in 2021, click here.

Happy Pride! This month as we do every June, we proudly join communities across the world to recognize the contributions and impact 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals have had on history and present time. As we learn more about 2SLGBTQIA+ history and celebrate diversity, we push ourselves to consider how we can continuously uplift 2SLGBTQIA+ voices even further and contribute to creating a more inclusive society—in and outside of Vena. This year, we’re making a little history of our own by announcing the formation of our 2SLGBTQIA+ Vena Resource Group (VRG), Spectrum. “Our vision was to create and nurture a safe community for 2SLGBTQIA+ members at Vena,” said Tiffany Barron, Team Lead, Project Management at Vena and Spectrum Co-chair. “We plan to do that through bolstering visibility of 2SLGBTQIA+ Venanites, fostering allyship and sharing 2SLGBTQIA+ content on advocacy, current issues and history. We hope that as a VRG, we can do our part to make Vena a more diverse and inclusive workplace.” Spectrum Co-chair Tiffany Barron Through networking events, outreach work, educational resources, support channels and more, our Spectrum VRG will strive to create a safe space for 2SLGBTQIA+ employees. They also remain committed to highlighting current workplace and social issues that affect members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Throughout June, Spectrum will be kicking off Pride festivities by hosting a Pride Happy Hour and Queer Trivia event. They’re also hosting a Guest Speaker event with Sonali (Alyy) Patel, a world-renowned LGBTQ+ activist, scholar and trailblazer who has made monumental strides for queer South Asian women in the diaspora. “We understand the importance of building and maintaining an inclusive work environment at Vena,” said Shada McShannon, Director, People Partners & DEI at Vena. “We’re proud to support our Spectrum VRG who are taking active steps in making 2SLGBTQIA+ equality and inclusion a priority in our workplace all year round.” Whether an employee is a proud member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, an ally or someone who is interested in learning more, all Venanites are welcome to join our Spectrum VRG. Vena Consultant Rod Chavez Theo 🥰 How can you celebrate Pride at work all year long? Find out in this blog. Did you know? Vena one a Comparably Award for Best Company for Diversity last year and was named one of Canada’s 2022 Top Small and Medium Employers. For the full list of Comparably awards Vena won in 2021, click here. Come Grow With Us Vena is hiring. We are a hybrid remote-office workplace with offices in Toronto, Canada and London, United Kingdom. Visit our newly launched Careers site for current job openings and to learn more about life at Vena.

Green is the color of our logo, but we like to think that it is also becoming the color of our business. Thinking green comes naturally to many of us here at Vena. In fact, Vena’s workplace environment offers many opportunities for our employees to think, act and go green at work every day. Greg Jones, Director of Facilities at Vena, is passionate about implementing green initiatives at Vena. “We’re always looking for ways to take corrective action and to drive collective action throughout our organization,” he says. “Being aware of our environmental responsibility—individually and together—requires us to re-imagine how we run our business and to inspire our employees, customers, partners and communities to consider green-based alternatives and opportunities for growth.” So what are some of the ways we’re going green at Vena? From tracking our carbon emissions and making strides to reduce them, to embracing more natural light, opting for environmentally friendly office products, buying locally, recycling materials and more, let’s explore some of our ongoing initiatives and efforts that are making our workplace space more eco-friendly, efficient and healthier. Our Biophilic Design and Environment We take the well-being of our employees seriously at Vena and that’s why we’re constantly striving to create a workplace environment where they feel comfortable, safe and encouraged to work, concentrate, collaborate and recharge effectively. One of the ways we’re doing this is by bringing the outdoors indoors and implementing more biophilic elements in our design and work environments. Many of our meeting, workplace and quiet spaces have been designed specifically with the purpose of creating more access to natural light and views of the outdoors. Wherever we can, we have incorporated natural materials and colors, views of nature and other experiences of the natural world into our modern work environment. Plants in search of office homes at Vena Our Forest Plot room, for example, is a quiet room meant for reflection, self-care, revitalization and most importantly, no work. “We’re experimenting with using different scents and sounds, adding a forest mural and having an array of plants available in the space,” says Greg. Some employees use this room for meditation, relaxation, prayer, yoga, lactation or personal calls. Vena’s Forest Plot room Whenever we can and weather permitting, we often encourage our employees to go outdoors and use our rooftop space—Vena’s Sky Deck—for work, meetings, breaks or new this year, to take part in planting, maintaining or enjoying our communal garden. Plans are in the works to include five planter boxes on the deck to plant flowers and to harvest vegetables and herbs for Venanites to enjoy (in the office and to take home) as well as to distribute to local food banks and soup kitchens. Vena’s Sky Deck And let’s not forget our furry friends. We have bird and squirrel feeders situated around the perimeter of our building and have our own resident squirrel we’ve named “Venny.” Venny the Squirrel Reduce, Recycle, Reuse We’re always looking for ways to reduce landfill waste and to amp up our recycling efforts at Vena. Aside from situating recycling centers in prominent locations in our office, encouraging our staff to go paperless, reusing packing materials and boxes, opting for more recyclable and biodegradable office supplies and reducing food waste, below are some other ways Venanites are employing the 3 Rs of waste management at work. Electronics Recycling Drive From time to time, we have collections for large e-waste items and encourage our employees to bring in their unwanted monitors, desktops and any other large computer or electronic equipment. For Earth Week this year, we worked with our landlord who contracted ADL Process Electronic Recycling to provide us with onsite bins for these items. ADL determines which of the working components can be reused to build working computers for donation and then recycle the balance of the material at certified recycling centers. Batteries Ever wonder what to do with batteries? Regular alkaline, manganese and carbon-zinc batteries are not hazardous and can be disposed of in ordinary trash. But other single-use or rechargeable batteries are not. At Vena, we tell our employees to bring in all of their batteries and we’ll take care of the rest. It’s another item we’re happy to divert from landfills. Foil Packaging Another item we try to divert from landfills is foil packaging. Whether employees use foil packaging in our office or in their homes, we have special recycling bins for it at Vena and encourage everyone to bring in their packaging from home. Foil packaging bins at Vena Segregating Paper Towel Waste Paper towels are one of those surprise items you can compost in your green bin. Yes, even the paper towels employees use to clean up food or drink stains. To ensure our employees are disposing of paper towels properly, we also have green compost bins available in our washrooms for paper towels only. Donating Items to Employees, Charities or Not-for-Profit Organizations We often offer office furniture, supplies or items to employees before donating them to charities and not-for-profits, but sometimes these two align. For instance, we donated reams of paper to a not-for-profit youth organization, The Royal Canadian Air Cadets, where one of our employees does volunteer work. We were delighted to donate over 30 reams (15,000 sheets) to our employee and her Squadron. The organization used it to print online applications for new registrations along with many other needs. Upcycling Before recycling anything, our aim is to always reuse it, whether that's by us, our employees or through donations. One of the fun ways we’ve taken recycling to a whole new level is by upcycling used plastic gift cards into guitar picks for Venanites and their families. Upcycling plastic gift cards into guitar picks Supporting Green Vendors Ashton Mugabe, Facilities Project Manager at Vena, is always looking into vendors to learn more about their sustainability efforts to see if their vision aligns with ours in terms of environmental impact. One area of particular interest is working with companies that are mitigating the use of fossil fuels. Reducing Fossil Fuel Use One such partnership we formed is with a local shredding company, Carbon Neutral Shredding. The company performs all shredding, trucking, heating and power generation processes in a carbon-neutral manner. All of their processes rely on the use of waste vegetable oil (WVO). No oil that might otherwise be used for human consumption is burned. What does Carbon Neutral mean? Sun-Powered Shredding bins at Vena Coffee Cup Recycling Trial We are also working with Carbon Neutral Shredding to trial their innovative coffee cup recycling program, StackitNow. Cups are shredded and co-mingled with confidential office waste. The result is a satisfactory product that paper mills have no difficulty recycling into tissue products. All Venanites have to do when recycling their coffee cups is remove the plastic lids and stack their used and rinsed paper cups without food or other garbage. Coffee cup stacker at Vena Buy Fresh, Buy Local One of the ways we can encourage our employees to make better choices and empower them to take better care of themselves while at work includes offering them a healthy selection of foods and drinks. The mandate for our food program at Vena is to buy fresh, to buy local and to buy from people who are passionate about making food in our community. We offer a variety of alternative foods, provide all-natural pump additives to flavor water and cater to different dietary requirements such as vegan, celiac, low carb, dairy free and halal. Get Involved Thinking, acting and going green at Vena also means going outside of our workplace and realizing that a sustainable future also involves supporting environmental and social initiatives within our communities. Some examples include helping out wildlife and protecting public lands. Employees who choose to do so can use their paid volunteer day to lend a hand. We’ve held company-wide walking challenges to get our employees to spend time outdoors and have made donations to organizations such as WWF-Canada. Making Green Thinking and Doing an Everyday Part of Vena’s Company Culture Encouraging environmentally conscious practices at Vena helps our employees feel healthier, happier and more driven to thrive at work and in their personal lives as they extend these practices into their own homes. We are committed to including our employees in our green vision, asking them for their input and encouraging them to get engaged and involved. This has led to the formation of our Green Team, a group of dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to promote sustainable and environmentally responsible habits at Vena and beyond. Their efforts have led to making more eco-friendly choices within our office and encouraging employees to make more sustainable lifestyle choices at home. Their ongoing dialogue, awareness campaigns, challenges and sharing of resources and tips are showing us how small steps really do make big changes. Did you know? Vena was named one of Canada’s 2022 Top Small and Medium Employers? And last year, Vena won Comparably Awards for Best Company Culture, Best Company for Diversity, Best Company for Women, Best CEO and more. For the full list of Comparably awards Vena won in 2021, click here. Come Grow With Us Vena is hiring. We are a hybrid remote-office workplace with offices in Toronto, Canada and London, United Kingdom. Visit our newly launched Careers site for current job openings and to learn more about life at Vena.