"She&Her aims to provide women with the resources they need to lead, succeed and collaborat

“Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance in the world to pursue your dreams” - Hillary Clinton, Concession Speech 2016

On average, only 5% of tech companies have female founders. Only 8% of Canadian tech companies have women on their board of directors, and 73% of boards have no female representation at all. These numbers prove that there is an uneven playing field in the tech industry, but what’s even more frightening is that it isn’t just tech. Why are these numbers alarming, and why should we advocate for change? With a larger focus on accelerating gender parity and having equal representation, our workplaces can ultimately flourish and function at a higher level of success.

How can young women aspire to be founders, CEOs, or General Managers if they don’t have female role models to look up to? We still see boards, executive level positions without equal representation, or women at all. A study done by KPMG found that 86% of women report that when they see more women in leadership, they are encouraged they can get there themselves. So, how do we change this? This is what prompted myself, and two other women from the Sudbury community to start She&Her. She&Her is an organization that aims to provide women with the resources they need to lead, succeed and collaborate with other female leaders. She&Her is a platform for women to motivate and empower a younger generation to aspire to lead, an opportunity to exchange resources, and a support system to encourage women to lead both personally and professionally. She&Her accomplishes this by hosting annual International Women’s Day events that celebrate women in the community, She&Her - Speaker Series that features a different woman in the community every Sunday, and our Bubbles&Biz series that focuses on topic specific themes where we bring in industry experts to discuss important topics relevant to future women leaders.

Personally, I have always been an advocate for women having a ‘seat at the table’. To me it’s a no- brainer... when you have more of a diverse workforce (whether it is on a board or executive level) you have better representation of the general public. For example, a board member who is a 60 year-old male, might not have the same values or opinions as a 25 year old female, so why should a 60 year-old male speak on behalf of an entire population? The answer is they shouldn’t. When this occurs, the story becomes very one-sided and often under-represents an entire gender.

This why we wanted to make a difference... Our goal at She&Her is to showcase and highlight some of the exceptional women in our community who might not have a seat at the table, have a voice to represent themselves, or think their story is worth telling. By showcasing these women, and what amazing things they’re accomplishing we are encouraging and exposing a younger generation to the opportunities that exist across many different industries and sectors.

When you’re recruiting your next board member, executive level position, or panelist look at it with a different lense. How diverse is your workplace? How many males vs. females do you have in positions of ‘power’? How culturally diverse is it? Do you have equal representation on your panel, in terms of gender, culture, demographics? When we have more advocates for change, we can reach our goal of gender parity and ultimately give every woman the opportunity to have a seat at the table.