Bio: Darrien McWatters “Dee”,

Darrien was born in Vancouver, BC, in May 1974, and has resided on the unceded, ancestral and traditional lands of the syilx people in the town of Summerland, BC since 1979. Her father, Harry McWatters was a BC wine industry pioneer known as “grandfather of the British Columbia Wine Industry”, and Darrien herself has worked in the wine industry in many operational management roles from 1994 to 2024. Dee chose to follow her passion for inclusion in 2024, completing a certificate program from UBC in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and to develop her own consulting business in EDI and 2SLGTBQIA advocacy. She focusses her consulting to small businesses and sports organizations, as well as is a keynote speaker.

Dee came out to herself as a transgender female on September 4, 2017, and to the world in January 2018 and began the long road of transitioning to her authentic female form. She is a long-time hockey player, coach, and on ice official. Dee continues to play hockey in Kelowna and officiate with BC Hockey throughout the Okanagan.

Darrien is a member of the BC Hockey Equity, Diversity, Inclusion work group and has recently been appointed as the BC Hockey EDI Liaison. She has been an advisor for gender expression and diversity to Hockey Canada and is the current Vice President of Advocacy Canada, a 2SLGTBQIA+ advocacy group based in Kelowna, BC.

Always one to give back to community, Dee has volunteered in sports in her community and was also a firefighter in Summerland for over 20 years. She is a philanthropist, creating fundraisers to support 2SLGTBQIA identifying youth organizations and bursaries, and an advocate and activist for equity, diversity and inclusion, and the 2SLGTBQIA+ community.