Fort McMurray (March 24, 2022) — Over 450 guests (in-person and online), volunteers, women in business and gender equality advocates joined Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta (Girls Inc.) in celebrating six local women – representing five nominees – at its VOICES: Women of Inspiration Celebration presented by Bouchier on March 19, 2022. Virtual guests were from across Canada and as far as Germany and Pakistan. 

While honouring these women, the organization also raised nearly $70,000 in net proceeds – increased from $65,000 in 2020 and $45,000 in 2019. This total does not include the proceeds from the virtual silent auction which closes April 3 at 11:59PM.  All proceeds raised during the event will be reinvested to help Girls Inc. deliver barrier-/cost-free programming to girls 6-18 across the Wood Buffalo region. 

Dr. Samantha Clouthier & Dr. Jacinta Sullivan, Elder Lina Gallup, Jillian Martin, Sundas Shamshad and IJ Uche-Ezeala were each honoured at the celebration. They join 82 other women who have been nominated since the launch of the program in 2012 with Syncrude. 

Commemorating International Women’s Day, the event featured one of a kind storytelling from Anishinaabe artist, activist and television host Sarain Fox. Before sharing a powerful performance, Sarain shared personal stories about finding and using her voice to discover her own truth – leaving attendees feeling inspired and even leaving co-hosts speechless. 

Sarain’s performance was followed by a question and answer panel with the Women of Inspiration around how we can find, develop and use our voice individually and collectively to move towards a diverse, equitable and inclusive society where all girls can thrive to be agents of change.

“Congratulations to the nominees who were celebrated at this year’s Women of Inspiration event and congratulations to Girls Inc. and all involved for creating a beautiful event that celebrated and empowered women. The entire evening was fueled with girl power and was extremely inspiring for those who attended. It’s very motivating to be in a room with so many powerful women from our region.” Nicole Bourque Bouchier, CEO & Co-Owner, Bouchier

To accompany VOICES: Women of Inspiration Celebration, Women of Inspiration Celebrating Tomorrow offered a youth-specific workshop for over 700 students across the Wood Buffalo region. The event featured a special message from Sarain Fox followed by a youth panel discussion and in-class collaborative activity.

“One of the core values that Girls Inc. stands for is to ‘take positive risks’ – where girls are supported to challenge something new, uncertain, scary or even frustrating at times to achieve positive outcomes with a meaningful purpose. Together with our partners, nominees and Sarain Fox, we chose to take a risk in planning a safe and inclusive hybrid (in-person and online) event while public health restrictions were still in place. 

There were times when we thought we might not be able to make it. But we kept reminding ourselves as to ‘why we do what we do’ and remained committed to demonstrating what Girls Inc. is all about throughout the planning process as well as event design. We hope that we were able to create an inspirational and empowering space where guests were invited to think about how to find, develop, use and learn from one another’s voice towards diversity, equity, inclusion, safety and peace in this world and beyond. Let’s keep reflecting on where each of us stands in society and act on it.”  Nanase Tonda, Executive Director, Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta.

In 2020, we shattered barriers, stereotypes and glass ceilings. In 2021, we put those pieces back together to create a mosaic towards diversity, equity and inclusion. This year, we amplified one another’s voices represented in each piece of the mosaic.