We saw an overwhelming response to Works for Women in March with over 5,000 #BeBoldForChange wristbands distributed, 3,000 views of the initiative on LinkedIn, and 2,000 views on worksforwomen.org, to name just a few. Thank you. 

We are proud to say Works for Women has begun a grassroots movement to change the number of women in leadership roles and make Alberta a better place for women to work. Again, thank you to everyone who participated in starting this positive momentum. If you have not yet joined the #WorksForWomenAB movement, we encourage you to join the community and invite at least three others in your network to join the community as well. 

Each month we’ll continue to initiate new workplace challenges that aim to spark dialogue, build awareness, and inspire action.  We are so excited to share our challenge for the month of April. 

The April Challenge

In March we asked you to start the #WorksForWomenAB conversation. This month we are asking you to continue the dialogue. 

Based on Catalyst research, we know that the language we use in the workplace can have a huge impact on women’s advancement. Words reflect workplace culture and have the potential to reinforce negative gender stereotypes. Your challenge is to assess the impact of the words you use in the workplace and ensure you are not using common words that can hinder women’s opportunities for advancement. Simply put, we are asking you to Flip the Script. Flip the Script is a simple way to help you navigate the words you can use on a day-to-day basis to ensure you aren’t unintentionally using language that may reinforce gender stereotypes. We encourage you to follow these three simple actions to continue to help drive change:

1. Create awareness by continuing to spark dialogue about what Works for Women in your workplace
   
2. Be conscious of the words you use and identify language that may reinforce gender stereotypes
   
3. Broaden the reach and share ways in which you personally Flip the Script on social media and use the hashtags: #WorksForWomenAB #BeBoldForChange 

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Thank you for helping to spark dialogue, build awareness, and inspire action. We are reminded that change does not happen overnight, but by uniting our community we can take direct action to impact change. On behalf of Works for Women, thank you for helping us drive change in Alberta.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Today is the day to take action to support International Women’s Day around the globe and also to create awareness for #WorksForWomenAB. To join this community, you can show your support by:

1. Wearing purple and/or the #BeBoldForChange wristband
   
2. Snapping a photo wearing the #BeBoldForChange wristband
   
3. Posting it on social media and tag a friend, using the hashtags: #WorksForWomenAB #IWD2017 #BeBoldForChange

Remember to also reach out to your networks, and encourage their participation as well – you don’t need a purple wristband to share the message to #BeBoldForChange and support #WorksForWomenAB. Individuals without a wristband can show additional support by wearing purple and use the hashtag #WorksForWomenAB to also spread the message and help create a community of individuals who want to drive action.

Thank you for helping spark dialogue, build awareness, and inspire action. Change will not happen overnight, but by uniting our community, we can take direct action to impact change. Each month we will continue to initiate a new workplace challenge to continue the momentum created today. We are so excited to have you as part of this community and we can’t wait to drive action with you!
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On behalf of the ​Works for Women Alberta Team – thank you. Let's drive change together.

We're excited to share an initiative that I’ve been working on called Works for Women. What started as a conversation around why we aren’t seeing more women in leadership roles, has sparked interest from our nine committed members to enable change in our community to find out why and how we can help impact a visible change. 

Based on an annual report titled  The Best and Worst Places to be a Woman in Canada 2016 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Edmonton and Calgary are ranked near the bottom of the list, 22nd and 23rd, respectively, out of the 25 largest cities in Canada. Our committee thinks we can do better and hope that you are inspired to see change in our workplace as well. To start, we wanted to create awareness and what better way than any to create that awareness than on International Women's Day (March 8th). By being part of this initiative, you are not only showing your support for women, but also starting a conversation around how we can start to make Alberta a better place for women to work. Change will not happen overnight, but by uniting our community, we can take direct action to impact change.

Our ask for March 8th:

1.     Create awareness on March 8 by wearing purple and/or the #BeBoldForChange wristband 
2.     Snap a photo of you wearing your #BeBoldForChange wristband and share it on social media
3.     Broaden the reach and use the hashtags: #WorksForWomenAB #IWD2017 #BeBoldForChange up to March 8th.

Through the amazing support of University of Alberta’s Executive Education, we have 5,000 purple wristbands (the international women’s day colour) with the hashtag #BeBoldForChange (the 2017 hashtag) that we want to distribute across Alberta. If you are interested in receiving a free wristband you can drop by the University of Alberta Executive Education office: 2-006 Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave. before March 8th to pick one up. You are also welcome to take a package of 20 wristbands with you as well to distribute in your workplace, employee resource group, and/or network, to spread the message more broadly.

We also encourage you to join the #WorksForWomenAB Community. Each month we’ll initiate a new workplace challenge that aims to spark dialogue, build awareness, and inspire action. We’ll also connect you to resources, experts, and a supportive community designed to empower you to accelerate progress for women in your workplace. Stay tuned for an event later this year to build on the dialogue we start on March 8th.
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Can’t wait for you to be part of #WorksForWomenAB!