Toronto-based Women in Capital Markets recognized Joanne O’Hea and Michelle Khalili as its 2011 winners for its WCM Awards, held at a luncheon in Toronto on Tuesday.

In its second year, the WCM Rising Star Award went to O’Hea, vice president of equity agency trading, with Toronto-based RBC Capital Markets Inc. The award is given to a female in the early stages of her career that has motivated and inspired other females in financial services.

The WCM Award for Leadership went to Khalili, managing director, equity capital markets, wholesale banking at Toronto-based CIBC. The leadership award recognizes a senior executive, who has contributed personal and professional resources to advancing women in Capital Markets. It was awarded to Khalili for her dedication to recruiting, supporting and training other women in the field.

Nominated by fellow colleagues and managers, these two women had gone beyond the call of duty to promote females within their day to day roles, but also donated their personal time to the WCM mandate as well, says Martha Fell, president and CEO of WCM. “These wards, given to two deserving women, recognize…the type of inspiration, dedication and commitment that is needed to help women advance in the Canadian Capital Markets.”

Having joined RBC Capital Markets in 2007, O’Hea was one of the founding members of RBC Captial Markets’ RWomen, the firm’s worldwide internal forum, which provides its female employees with career development and mentorship opportunities. O’Hea has also acted as a WCM high school liaison, where she participates in arranging job shadowing opportunities in financial services for female high school students.

Khalili joined the equity capital markets Group of CIBC in April 2000. Over the past eight years, she has been involved in a number of female development initiatives. She is co-chair of Philanthropy for 100 Women in Hedge Funds in Toronto, a New York-based non-profit organization, which brings together over 10,000 professionals in the alternative investment space around the world. Having been a member of WCM since 1995, Khalili received the 2008 Kingsbridge Women in Capital Markets Career Coaching Award.

WCM is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to furthering the development of women leaders in Financial Services, as well as advocating for greater diversity in the industry.

This year, the title sponsor of the event was Toronto-based Ernst & Young LLP.