The impetus for the “GirlPowerEffect” (created in January 2018) came about because of two key issues. The first being the USA Women’s March movements and secondly, using social media as a tool for activism.  Our small team of three (Professor Taima Moeke-Pickering (Laurentian University), Vice-President Equity, People & Culture Sheila Cote-Meek (York University), and Professor Ann Pegoraro (Guelph University) joined the Women’s March social movement to combat the rising tide of misogyny, white nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, classism and ageism (Women’s March Board, 2019).  The rise of social media activism inspired a new type of discourse on women that resulted in many Women led movements including the #MeToo and the #TimesUp noted as “the first intersectional feminist policy platform”. 

 

The second issue that inspired us to create this site was to encourage activism within our universities, with our peers, our research, teaching and our students.  We created this site to amplify women’s voices as a method to create change. Women and girls need to be in positions of leadership and power and at the table everywhere.