May Challenge: Empowering Female Leaders

On the heels of Mother’s Day this past weekend, we are certain that many of those in the Works for Women community were reminded of the strength of those that helped to raise us, worked tirelessly to make sure we could reach our full potential, and were there to support us in every effort of our journey, no matter what. Building off that energy, Works for Women is so excited to share our challenge for the month of May with you.

May Challenge - Empowering Female Leaders

In many of Alberta's workplaces, employees lack visible role models, at senior leadership levels who happen to be female, and as a result, our definitions of "leader" are often biased toward male. Research shows that almost two-thirds of women reported a lack of senior or visibly successful female role models as a major obstacle to their career advancement. While women are almost half of the labor force, they make up less than 7.2% of Board Directors of Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) issuers and only 7.9% of net earning officers. 

So, what can leaders do? Be intentional about appointing highly qualified women to your executive team, corporate board, C-suite, and/or CEO position. What can individuals do? Celebrate the female leaders who inspire us. On May 31st, the WorksForWomenAB Community invites you to celebrate the women in Alberta who inspire you! 

 To join the challenge, simply:

1.     Identify: Empower a female leader in Alberta by letting her know that she inspires you;
2.     Share: Share her picture, name and why she inspires you on social media;
3.     Connect: Broaden the reach by using the hashtags: #WorksForWomenAB #WomenCrushLeadership or #WCL.

Let’s continue to carryforward the April Challenge and ensure the language that we use on a day-to-day basis isn’t unintentionally reinforcing gender stereotypes, and let’s empower and celebrate the women we know by using words like ambitious, visionary, strong, resilient, powerful, aspiring, to articulate their strength as a leader in Alberta. Many suggest, you don't aspire to be what you can’t see – let’s change that landscape.
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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.