t en's day If I Were 23: Lessons to My Younger Self On March 9, Guelph Commerce Women in Business, in association with the Leadership & Organizational Management Student Association, hosted “If I Were 23: Lessons to My Younger Self,” in honour of International Women’s Day. The talk featured four female trailblazers in varying fields: Anne Sado, President of George Brown College; Sandra Ayala, Manager of Human Capital Consulting for Deloitte Canada; Saba Rehmani, Engagement Manager for Oliver Wyman; and Robin Tameshtit, Director of Kids & Teen Print for Indigo. The women shared their best advice to those ALYSSA OTTEMA/THE ONTARION approaching their impending “careers.” “Build relationships,” Sado told the audience, citing it as her biggest piece of advice. “The ability to build strong relationships [is] a driving force behind my success.” Citing research from the Catalyst organization, Sado also shared that “companies with the highest representation of women on their senior management teams experienced better financial performance.” “So, it’s been proven that women are good for business,” Sado quipped. Ayala’s biggest advice was to prepare for the “many ups and downs” of career and personal life, terming the downs to simply be “valleys of despair” for us to face and climb out of. “Forget your ego,” Ayala said of the best way to approach these hills and valleys of life. “Try to learn something different each year [and look for] a new challenge, always.” Rehmani, Skyping in from a layover at JFK International, encouraged the audience to “do the things that scare you,” be they more tangible fears, like heights, or more abstract in reaching for things throughout your career. “It’s going to be difficult and it’s going to be scary, but you’re going to have to do it, so it’s important to just face your fears,” Rehmani added. Tameshtit urged the audience to think as big as they like, noting that nothing is too silly to be part of your dream. “When someone asked me what my dream job was, I said ‘I’d love to work with Kermit the Frog,’” Tameshtit quipped. Concluding on a more serious tone, Tameshtit shared that, “at the end of the day, you have to answer to yourself,” suggesting a “sweet spot” between work and enjoyment, and asking each listener to “find something […] that speaks to your passions.”
#NotThere In a collaboration between the Clinton Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, women across New York – and across the globe on social media – disappeared on March 8. The No Ceilings initiative involved existing advertisements, posters, and media to cut their featured women in a campaign drawing attention to gender inequality. Conde Nast, Beats, iHeartMedia, Unilever, and Under Armour all participated, along with celebrities and political figures worldwide. The goal was to drive traffic to the Not There website, which features a detailed report on the international status of women. Not There hones in on troubling data regarding the women’s global issues. With interactive graphs and maps, the site confronts the reader with statistics: one in four girls is married before 18; only 32 per cent of girls have a protected right to secondary education; one in three women suffer sexual or physical violence; in 2015, some women are still withheld the right to vote. The campaign draws attention to the problems facing women and girls across the world. In India, for example, one in 30 girls will give birth under the age of 18, and 25.9 million child brides reside in the country. In Iraq, the UN reports an illiteracy rate of more than a quarter of females over 12. Although the nation just saw the election of Baghdad’s first female mayor – as well as the Middle East’s first female judge, government minister, and ambassador – only 14 per cent of women are part of the work force. “This symbolic act reflected what a new analysis of women and girls’ progress says about the state of gender equality,” the site declares: “We’re not there yet.”
MATTHEW AZEVEDO/THE ONTARION
International Women's Day event at U of G On March 6, the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED), in partnership with Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Guelph, held an event in honour International Women’s Day. Featuring guest speakers, an art and resource display, and a mid-day lunch, the event celebrated movement towards equality for all. The event, set up in the UC, featured speakers Dr. Sharada Srinivasan and Dr. Paloma Villegas. Dr. Srinivasan, the Canada Research Chair in Gender, Justice, and Development, presented a short lecture entitled “Daughters and gender transformation in India.” Her talk focused on the “Daughter deficit” and gendered experiences of violence and discrimination in India. Dr. Srinivasan also tackled broader issues, like female empowerment and activism. Dr. Villegas, a professor in the department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, gave a short presentation entitled “Mexican Migrants and precarious immigration status in Toronto.” The lecture engaged with immigration status in relation to gender-based violence, as well as trends of migration, illegal status, and a “world of internal borders.” The event also showcased organizations from across campus and the city. Resources were available from GRCGED, Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, OPIRG-Guelph for environmental and social justice, United for Equity, and Guelph’s HIV/Aids Resources and Community Healthy organization.