Young musicians get surprise visitors
The province is recognizing Saskatchewan entrepreneurs and change makers to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday as part of a Canada-wide campaign to highlight and profile women who have made a difference through the hashtag #Becauseofyou.
“Today we recognize a few women in our province who are pushing boundaries and expanding the spaces and places where women can be seen and succeed,” Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Tina Beaudry-mellor said in a government news release.
“When our girls look out to try to find examples of who they want to be, it is important that they see a range of options available to them and that they’re not limited by traditional gender roles,” she added.
This year, the province highlighted the following women in achieving that goal:
■ Shana Pasapa — A martial artist originally from White Bear First Nation and the founder and CEO of Power Our Women, which teaches self-defence techniques to women and girls.
■ Pilots Carly St. Onge and Tammie Kulyk, paramedic Jen Rondeau and flight nurse Crystal Lybeck — They form the first all-female flight crew in the Saskatchewan Air Ambulance’s 73 year history.
■ Michelle Zatlyn — Co-founder of the web security company Cloudflare. From Prince Albert, she was the first Saskatchewan woman to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
■ Laura Budd — Education co-ordinator for Moose Jaw Pride and an advocate for transgender rights.
■ Ashley Nemeth — Visually impaired since birth, she’s the spokesperson for the CNIB and publisher of the blog, Blind Moving On.
■ Zarqa Nawaz — A Regina-based author, journalist, speaker and filmmaker who created the CBC series Little Mosque on the Prairie, which is based on her experiences as a Muslim woman in Saskatchewan.
■ Kim Keller and Lesley Rae-kelly — Farmers and founding members of the Do More Agriculture Foundation that advocates to erase the stigma around mental health and farm stress for the agricultural community.
■ Tatiana Maslany — The Regina born TV and movie actress was the first Canadian woman to win an Emmy in a major dramatic category for a Canadian TV series.
“All of these Saskatchewan women, and so many more, are helping fuel the dreams of women and girls in our province through the art of the possible,” Beaudry-mellor said.