2025 was an incredible year for Youth Ottawa! After joining the board in early January and discovering the need for event planning assistance with the year’s Sponsored events, I was honoured to step-in and help the team with the Mayor’s Golf Tournament and the 21 Under 21 Awards Gala. The changes in funding added the additional challenge of keeping an already small event budget as tight as possible, so I called upon all my vendor contacts to keep costs down, while still creating exceptional and elevated events. Overall, we spent less, raised the bar, and created a fantastic blueprint for the years to come. Neither of these events would have been possible without our Sponsors and the teams behind the scenes.
2025 was an incredible year for Youth Ottawa! After joining the board in early January and discovering the need for event planning assistance with the year’s Sponsored events, I was honoured to step-in and help the team with the Mayor’s Golf Tournament and the 21 Under 21 Awards Gala. The changes in funding added the additional challenge of keeping an already small event budget as tight as possible, so I called upon all my vendor contacts to keep costs down, while still creating exceptional and elevated events. Overall, we spent less, raised the bar, and created a fantastic blueprint for the years to come. Neither of these events would have been possible without our Sponsors and the teams behind the scenes.
Last year was our first year hosting the Mayor’s Annual Golf Tournament at the Meadows Golf and Country Club, and we are so excited to work with their team again. With four nine-hole courses and a large reception room for dinner, we can significantly expand this tournament this year – get your team signed up now! The day kicked off with a welcome from CHEZ 106.1 morning show co-hosts Chris and Jamie from The Biggs & Barr Show, and a welcome from Mayor Mark Sutcliffe officially opening the 26th Annual Tournament. Throughout the day we ran a raffle with prizes from the Ottawa Senators, The Ottawa Black Jacks, Rugby Canada, Le Germain Hotels, Holiday Inn & Suites Kanata, The Meadows Golf and Country Club, and Yuk Yuk’s care of our gracious evening MC, Dylan Black. Mood Moss Flowers provided gorgeous golf-themed centrepieces, which acted as an additional gift to guests at the end of the evening. As always, our deepest gratitude to our phenomenal Sponsors for the day (we can’t wait to welcome you back this year):
The Grand Hall of the Museum of History served as the Gala’s new backdrop for 2025 – a phenomenal space that only requires small touches to complete the Celebration’s atmosphere. Mood Moss Flowers also participated in the Gala, enhancing the space with flawless centrepieces highlighting our sponsors on each table. With our Mocktail Hour sponsored by Holiday Inn & Suites Kanata, and Dinner Sponsored by Carleton University, we worked with My Catering Group, the fantastic private business currently responsible for in-house catering at the museum, to build an exquisitely customized menu for our guests which included a welcome Mocktail, canapés, and a three-course meal with wine for all guests. “From humble beginnings in 2012, founder [and 40-under 40 award winner] Derick Cotnam’s Stittsville home to one of Ottawa’s largest catering operations, My Catering Group is proud to be one of the city’s first choices for exceptional events” and for good reason: the meal was phenomenal!
The Grand Hall of the Museum of History served as the Gala’s new backdrop for 2025 – a phenomenal space that only requires small touches to complete the Celebration’s atmosphere. Mood Moss Flowers also participated in the Gala, enhancing the space with flawless centrepieces highlighting our sponsors on each table. With our Mocktail Hour sponsored by Holiday Inn & Suites Kanata, and Dinner Sponsored by Carleton University, we worked with My Catering Group, the fantastic private business currently responsible for in-house catering at the museum, to build an exquisitely customized menu for our guests which included a welcome Mocktail, canapés, and a three-course meal with wine for all guests. “From humble beginnings in 2012, founder [and 40-under 40 award winner] Derick Cotnam’s Stittsville home to one of Ottawa’s largest catering operations, My Catering Group is proud to be one of the city’s first choices for exceptional events” and for good reason: the meal was phenomenal!
Many thanks to Capital Choice Entertainment and the SelfEez Photo Booth for providing our Printed Photo Booth, sponsored by uOttawa: find your images here! Our Red Carpet Photo Opp, sponsored by United Way East Ontario and provided by Vision Event Rentals, was a highlight of the evening, providing the perfect backdrop for award winners, sponsors and guests alike! Looking for your photos from that evening? Feel free to pursue and use images from the 2025 gallery provided by One True Studio—feel free to share the photos, but remember to always credit the image and tag the event: @onetruestudio, #YouthOttawa, #21under21, #RBC
Finally, the awards, bursaries, and 2025 21 Under 21 Gala would not be possible without our incredible sponsors:
It is with deepest gratitude to everyone mentioned for their commitment, dedication, support and overall devotion to empowering the Youth of Ottawa—we are appreciative and humbled by your contributions and very much look forward to working with each of you in 2026, and the years to come!
This is the second year that the 21 under 21 awards (formerly the Spirit of the Capital awards) incorporated a Gala dinner, and we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the hard work of our partners who got the ball rolling last year: ITM Events created a wonderful atmosphere at the Rogers Center in downtown Ottawa with the help of Avant-Garde Designs décor. A massive shout-out to Enchanted Photo Booth for their participation in the 2024 Gala—they offered a 360-degree photo booth, and it was a huge hit—we are so grateful for their participation and are excited to find an opportunity to work with them again in the future!
This is the second year that the 21 under 21 awards (formerly the Spirit of the Capital awards) incorporated a Gala dinner, and we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the hard work of our partners who got the ball rolling last year: ITM Events created a wonderful atmosphere at the Rogers Center in downtown Ottawa with the help of Avant-Garde Designs décor. A massive shout-out to Enchanted Photobooth for their participation in the 2024 Gala—they offered a complementary 360-degree photo booth, and it was a huge hit—we are so grateful for their participation and are excited to find an opportunity to work with them again in the future!
A personal thank you from me to Youth Ottawa for trusting my services for your events.
I am honoured to have donated my Event Planning services in 2025, and to be a member of the Youth Ottawa Board of Directors. I’m very much looking forward to bringing the events to life again next year!
