Mosaic: Women of Inspiration Virtual Celebration a success for girls in Wood Buffalo Region

Fort McMurray (March 16) — Over 300 attendees joined Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta (Girls Inc.) in celebrating and awarding five local women at its MOSAIC: Women of Inspiration Virtual Celebration presented by Bouchier on March 8, 2021. While honouring these women, the organization also raised $65,000 in net proceeds – increased from $45,000 last year.

Regina Oppon, Victoria Brown, Rachel Ivey, Chithra Udayashaukar, and Shreeya Patel were each honoured at the virtual celebration. They join 77 other women who have been nominated since the launch of the program in 2012 with Syncrude. 

On the evening of International Women’s Day 2021, the event featured social profit entrepreneur Farah Mohamed who is the former CEO of the Malala Fund and is the founder of G(irls)20. Mohamed shared her stories which span all across the world and answered questions from attendees. 

“Bouchier is extremely proud of the Girls Inc. team for the successful implementation of this year’s virtual celebration. This year has been challenging for our social profit sector making it difficult to host the special events that are so instrumental to their fundraising and friend-raising efforts. It was exciting to share the event and platform with people from all over the world as they supported their friends and/or loved ones who were nominated as one of the five Women of Inspiration. Congratulations to all 5 nominees, their work is inspiring and we look forward to their future successes.”, says Leanne Hawco, Community Relations and Communications Specialist, Bouchier.

To accompany MOSAIC: Women of Inspiration Virtual Celebration, Women of Inspiration Celebrating Tomorrow offered a youth-specific mentoring event for girls aged 6-18 on March 12, 2021. The event featured youth mentor and Fort McMurray student Maryam Tsegaye, who is the first Canadian to win the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. 72 girls, who had the opportunity to learn about Maryam’s journey and ask questions, registered for the event.

“Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta thanks all sponsors, local businesses, donors, volunteers and advocates who helped make this event another historical success. Executing this virtual event was just like creating a ‘mosaic’, and there were many layers of different kinds of ‘glue’ used in this process – from sense of uncertainty to sense of empowerment. 

One of the core values that Girls Inc. stands for is to ‘take positive risks’. Together with the stories of five nominees, Farah and Maryam, we demonstrated how purposeful this action could be through this event. We could not have done this without our supporters who believe in what we do from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Florida, Seattle, Texas, Japan and Pakistan. 

We might be in the same storm, but not on the same boat. We don’t know what comes next. But this event reaffirmed what we are fighting for  — to work towards a diverse, equitable and inclusive society where all girls can thrive as agents of change and future leaders”, says Nanase Tonda, Executive Director, Girls Inc. of Northern Alberta.

All proceeds raised during the event will be reinvested to help Girls Inc. deliver free programming to girls 6-18 across the Wood Buffalo region. 

Last year, we shattered glass ceilings, obstacles, barriers and stereotypes.This year, we put those pieces back together to envision a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society. 

You can find videos from the event, as well as from our Women of Inspiration on our YouTube channel:

https://www.facebook.com/girlsincofnab/posts/5228961573840875