The following article was written by Tessa McDonald, Celyna Yu, and Rachel Treffner. Tessa, Celyna, and Rachel recently represented the Asper School of Business at the 7th Annual Network of Empowered Women Conference (NEW) hosted by the University of Alberta in Lake Louise, Alberta.
Hello, fellow peers! Shown in the picture below, we are three women in Asper, Rachel (left), Celyna (middle), and Tessa (right), who had the honor to attend the 7th Annual Network of Empowered Women Conference in Lake Louise, Alberta late this March. The Network of Empowered Women (NEW) Conference engages students nationwide and provides opportunities for personal and professional growth, thoughtful conversation on female empowerment, and the chance to connect with and be inspired by remarkable leaders from a variety of different organizations. We had the pleasure of attending many workshops and keynote speeches surrounding this year’s theme of “Be Bold, Pursue Your Dreams”.
When we arrived our first day we had a fantastic dinner while listening to the keynote speakers, Catrin Owen and Kimberly Armstrong, who work for the City of Edmonton. During dinner they discussed various topics surrounding women in leadership. This included their chemical elements that makes them leaders, how to react during times of failure and how self doubt can plague women in the workforce. We were in awe of how well-spoken and inspiring these women were, and we knew right away this conference was going to be filled with powerful conversations and key takeaways.
The next morning we had the opportunity to attend a few workshops with corporate representatives in a more intimate setting to conduct strong two-way conversations and ask questions. We also were able to dive into more specific topics such as; Negotiations, Team Leadership, Risk-Taking and Personal Brand Management. The afternoon was packed with activities, including a career fair and roundtable discussions. Our schedule had the perfect balance of networking, keynotes, and socializing! We were able to enjoy the amazing weather in Lake Louise, go on hikes and take in everything the beautiful area had to offer.
The next day, we had more breakout sessions such as Being Bold, The Impact of the #MeTooMovement, and more. We were then lucky enough to listen to a panel from Husky Energy on being females in male dominated industries. It was incredible to hear about the different journeys each woman took and their advice to us. In the afternoon, we took part in an incredible inNEWvation challenge, where we created marketing plans for four separate companies. It was so great having our ideas heard by business leaders, and we can’t wait to see our ideas come to fruition! The final part of the conference was a Moulin Rouge gala with a keynote by Carolyn Graham from Canadian Western Bank. Carolyn discussed her journey to success and how she was able to balance her growing family with her growing leadership role in the organization. She provided many powerful insights on what it truly means to be in a leadership role and gave some tips that she used to feel confident in the boardroom. Some of our favourites were power posing before a meeting and dressing to feel empowered!
Thank you to the University of Alberta and the NEW Organizing Committee for the opportunity to meet some of the most energetic, educated, and inspiring women across Canada. We look forward to taking the experiences from the past weekend and continuing the conversation on female empowerment in all of our future endeavours!