WOLF CONFERENCE BRINGS TOGETHER THE WOMEN OF LUMBER AND FORESTRY

Chris Allinotte, WRLA

It is a fact of the Lumber and Building Materials Industry that there are way more men than women in related careers. It’s something that WRLA has been working to help our members address in a variety of ways, and something we’re going to be devoting even more resources to in the coming year.

But what about the amazing women who are already here? For them, it can sometimes seem a little lonely, being the only woman in an office, on a job site, or on a manufacturing line—to give just a few examples.

For Lauren and Kaitlyn Chimko, who both work at Dakeryn Industries, this wasn’t just an issue to be dealt with—it was an opportunity to create something special.

“An email went around from Jodie Porter (Taiga Building Products) on International Women’s Day,” Kaitlyn recalls. “We were frustrated by how spread out the women are in the industry and that opportunities to visit face-to-face were few and far between.”

Together they decided to build an opportunity to bring these women together in the same room to network, build community, and learn best practices both from their peers and industry experts. So, in 2019, Women of Lumber and Forestry, or WOLF, was born.

Rolling up their sleeves, Kaitlyn and Lauren made over 200 phone calls to potential attendees and sponsors. Ultimately 27 women attended from across Canada and the US. It was important for the organizers to include women from all aspects of the industry, while still providing value back to the companies sending their employees to participate. The final guest list included workers at every level and position from major mills, wholesale distributors, remanufacturers, and contractor retail yards. The ladies who attended help positions that ranged from CEOs, VPs, and mid-level managers, to lumber sales, purchasing, support, and more.

Kaitlyn and Lauren acknowledge the incredible support they received from their employer, Dakeryn, who became the event’s founding sponsor and host for the conference.

After their wildly successful first event, COVID reared its persistent head and the conference had to be cancelled in 2020. Restrictions were lessening in some places by the end of 2021, but getting tighter in others, so the event was still a go, but its growth as an industry event seemed to have been stifled before it really got going.

This year’s event put those fears to rest, as 48 women— double the previous events’ count—flew into North Vancouver to take their place at WOLF 2022!

Each year’s conference has dedicated education sessions that provide professional development for the attendees, as well as providing access to inspirational and thoughtful speakers.