12 Mar 2020
#STEM4Every1, Girls in STEM, NEM2020, PEngDay, STEM Spark, Success, Women In STEM Conference

#Impact2020 STEM Career Fair for Girls postponed; Career Fair Preparation Webinar to be hosted instead

In light of the developing health concerns around COVID-19 (coronavirus), we have had to make the hard decision and postpone the #Impact2020 STEM Career Fair for Girls for the time being. 

The health and safety of our community, partners, volunteers, and attendees is our main priority and although this decision was a hard one to make, we found it that it is the best decision to follow through at this time considering that the virus was classified as a pandemic. 

We would like to thank all of our supporters, Scotiabank Digital Factory, Matrix 360, General Motors Canada, NEM Ontario and Shannon M Pole for the support with this so far and we look forward to re-group and plan this fair or an event like it, once the safety of our community will not be a concern.

On the bright side of things, we are still going to continue with the Career Fair Preparation webinar with Shannon M. Pole. We are hopeful that this too shall pass and the learning must go on as such, we will be facilitating the webinar to help prepare you for your career in STEM as it is our mandate to support you in your career journey. 

We are grateful to Shannon M. Pole Solutions for facilitating this webinar and to NEM Ontario for continuing to support us in making this hard choice. 

The details to attend the webinar are as follows: 

Date: March 14, 2020 

Time: 10:00 AM 

Link to join the webinar: https://zoom.us/j/964672637

Meeting ID: 964 672 637

One tap mobile
964672637# US Toll

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/atKVlNnL2

Please do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@hervolution.org should you have any questions about this at all. 

Regards, 

hEr VOLUTION’s #Imapct2020 Team 

 

04 Oct 2019
#STEM4Every1, Blog, CanWomenSTEM150, Girls in STEM, Media, STEM Spark, Women In STEM Conference

The Future of Work in STEM belongs to all diverse people and our future plan to help move it forward

Our work at hEr VOLUTION has always focused on making STEM more inclusive for not only the most vulnerable groups, but also giving a voice to the people who can help make this possible as well – you!

In our work, we get to meet with so many young women who are always wondering about their future.  There were many questions unanswered by us when we could not pinpoint Canadian role models in STEM or the numerous opportunities STEM has to offer for these young women. To change that, we gathered a crowdsourced campaign back in 2017 where you have nominated Canadian Women in STEM. Our goal was to find 150 women to use as role models and we were fortunate to highlight over 160. Thank you for that!  This campaign ignited an idea, for us to go further and bring some of these women to life over a one-day event. We successfully brought together 15 of these women who were diverse in their work and represented the future of our STEM fields. They talked about their journey to where they are today, where and how it all started for them and shared their advice with the young women on getting started and with advice for the STEM fields to become more inclusive and diverse. The conversation was raw and a community was built in the room that day. More

16 Dec 2018
#STEM4Every1, #STEMingUP, Awards, Girls in STEM, Media, Success, Summer Camps, Volunteers, Women In STEM Conference

hEr VOLUTION’s 2018 highlights and plans for 2019, how we inspire girls to embrace STEM careers

hEr VOLUTION was incorporated in 2013. Based in Toronto, Canada, hEr VOLUTION is the go to place for youth, particularly young women from underserved communities to come to in order to advance in 21st Century Skills. We exist to create opportunities for the next generation of women in STEM connecting them with leaders in the industry for career support. We listen to the needs of the community and that of the STEM industry to better help the next generation of underserved youth, with a focus on young women to enter STEM.

2018 Successes

More

22 Oct 2018
#STEM4Every1, Blog, Contest, Engineering, Girls in STEM, Math, Mathematics, Science, Space, STEM Spark, Success, Technology, Women In STEM Conference
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Why we need to continue to break barriers in the 21st Century

During our 2nd Annual Sold Out Canadian Women in STEM Conference, we brought together elite speakers from all walks of life who shared stories and strategies for breaking barriers and including women in STEM.

The attendees could not stop talking about how much they are enjoying the conference and how excited they are to be there. It is always so great to see that because of the support of our community, many students were able to take part in this yearly event. Like last year, we were able to include 40% of students attendants at the conference while some were speakers. It is imperative to have everyone at the table if we want to create change for the better.

When organizing events such as these, we always wonder if they are actually making an impact. Sometimes it is very hard to know unless people talk about it. Gladly, in our case, we had one student who was given a ticket to the conference in a contest she wan, express how she felt after the conference and because of it:

Thank you, Ashima for sharing your insight. Thank you for being open and for dreaming big. Thank you for being a part of the change. Thank you for breaking barriers and for being part of the solution and for including you and other women in STEM.

If you attended the conference on October 13, 2018, we would LOVE your feedback. We strive to always make it better a better experience and we would love to hear from you how to do that. Please take 5 minutes of your time to share your thoughts here.

 

11 Oct 2018
#STEM4Every1, CanWomenSTEM150, Engineering, Girls in STEM, LGBTQA+, Math, Media, Science, Space, STEM Spark, Success, Technology, Women In STEM Conference
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Why An Inclusive Education Must Be Fostered During International Day Of The Girl Child and Beyond

“Education is neither eastern nor western. Education is education and it’s the right of every human being.”
― Malala Yousafzai

 

International Day of the Girl Child is a day we cherish now more than ever. We know that many girls and young women are still not able to develop the skills they need to enter and advance in their future careers. When a young woman comes to us and says that she is happy to be able to join an all-girl program because she doesn’t feel comfortable in being in a room full of boys at her school, is the evidence we need that enforces the concept of why these days are needed. It is important for girls and young women to see themselves as the leaders of tomorrow. 

The International Day of the Girl Child reinforces that our programs, workshops, and events such as our annual Canadian Women in STEM Conference, are much needed to help girls and young women highlight the idea that they are capable of great things. 

Last year, around this time, when we run our conference it was only because we wanted to raise awareness on the amazing talent pool of women in Canada and towards some amazing women who were behind the curtains of their jobs and never seen for the impact they made to our society. It started with the numerous questions asked by diverse students and community stakeholders: Who out there is in STEM that looks like me or has achieved success despite challenges? What are the many opportunities in STEM that everyone talks about and why would I care to learn more about STEM? It is questions like these that drive us to create change in a meaningful way, to create opportunities for inclusion for the diverse communities that exist in this community of ours called Canada.

We are honoured to celebrate this day with pride, not only on October 11 but throughout the year by ensuring that we provide more opportunities for girls and young women to become the best version of themselves and proud participants in the future workforce. 

“Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.”― Oprah Winfrey

10 Oct 2018
#STEM4Every1, Blog, CanWomenSTEM150, Engineering, LGBTQA+, Math, Mathematics, Media, Science, STEM Spark, Success, Technology, Women In STEM Conference
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Chandran Fernando, Promoting STEM to Young Women & Girls by Breaking Down Barriers: Unleashing the Power of Inclusion

TORONTO, ON Canada – October 10, 2018 – Toronto based STEM advocacy organization,hEr VOLUTION, is proud to announce Chandran Fernando, Managing Partner at Matrix360, as Keynote at the annual Canadian Women in STEM conference – Breaking Down Barriers: Unleashing the Power of Inclusion, held on October 13, 2018. Matrix360 is an advisory platform whose mission is to elevate a new tone for business with a global and inclusive mindset. Matrix360 is to build sustainable and successful organizations that foster inclusive workplaces where people embrace their differences: gender, ethnicity, race, orientation, age, abilities, education and all backgrounds.

We believe that the solid mission that Matrix360 has followed for numerous years, “To create accessibility to opportunities for all, and encourage open thought processes that effectively puts the heart back into business.”, is exactly what needs to be highlighted during this conference, hence why we are delighted to have Mr. Fernando as the keynote at the conference.

“People are the heart of every business and organization. It is imperative that business leaders recognize the importance of diversity in the workplace as a value-add for business and not just a checkbox-a feel-good gesture.  Business leadership teams must reflect the communities it serves. We must systematically work together towards actionable solutions that not only provide access to opportunities but access to the leadership decision making tables and rooms. There must be a push for representation of all diverse people. It is time business leaders confront biases, prejudice and lack of awareness that impede fair representation in all platforms of leadership.  We must use our voice, mind, and heart to elevate our presence in leadership within Canada. The time is now to embrace the human experience.” says Chandran Fernando, Managing Partner at Matrix 360. More