KEEPING THE PRESSURE ON
Q&A with Hannah Bell, executive director of the P.E.I. Women’s Business Association
Gentle pressure relentlessly applied.
That’s the motto Hannah Bell lives by as she pushes for change on the Island.
Bell has served as the executive director of the P.E.I. Women’s Business Association since 2012.
Originally from London, England, Bell came to the Island with her family when she was young. She joined the association after completing an EMBA (Executive Master of Business Administration) focussing on innovative management from UPEI. Besides an EMBA, she also has a technical certificate in telecommunications engineering from the United Kingdom.
Bell worked for the federal government, but wanted to follow the same path as family members before her in the nonprofit and community sector. Given her skill set and passion, Bell explains that the best role for her was an executive director position.
“I knew it was a job I should be doing.”
Since joining the PEIWBA, Bell has become a strong advocate and leader for women entrepreneurs and business professionals on the Island.
Bell spoke with the Guardian this week to talk about the association, the challenges and success stories of women business professionals on the Island.
Q: What is the P.E.I. Women’s Business Association’s mandate?
A: Next year is our 25th anniversary. The primary mandate has remained effectively the same – to support and inspire and empower women in business. What that actually means in terms of who the client is has changed a little bit. But that is the core because from 25 years ago to today, we’re still talking about some of the same challenges, which is that women are not on equal space in terms of job parity, opportunities or supports for the kind of businesses they start or while they’re employed with an employer.
Q: Explain some of the challenges facing women entrepreneurs or women working in business.
A: As in many other rural or dispersed economies, women are less likely to be in positions of management or supervisory roles or able to progress within their companies because of the limitations around them in terms of the other roles they may have in their households, for instance, caregiving. We also see women are in the less traditional sectors that tend to be highest paying. So, where we have a very big focus on information technology, tech, bioscience, green energy, aerospace – obviously, there are women there but the numbers really have not moved a lot, sometimes as low as 20 per cent or less. There are systemic barriers that just put walls up in front of women that are much more difficult for them to overcome individually – access to childcare, flexible working hours, reliable transportation. Women are less likely to take on risk. More often than not, women will not aggressively grow a company because if they lose their company, if they lose their investment, they lose their house.
Q: With those challenges in mind, what are some of the ways the PEIBWA helps women in business?
A: Advocacy and education. So, we’re a voice that says ‘hey, did you know.’ And, that can be as simple as a very powerful campaign that we did with Telling Our Stories, where we said this is what women in business look like. These are amazing stories and you need to know about them. That’s how do you affect systemic change (you) change the conversation. The support piece we have, we’re always limited by funds, but what we can do is a large amount of education. So, skills training, whether that’s direct workshops or workshops and training opportunities through partners. We’re very good at developing strategic partnerships. The other thing is creating unique opportunities for women to connect with each other. Because one of our big pieces is that we know when women get together and support each other, amazing things happen.
Q: And, this weekend the association is hosting Camp Dynamo. What are participants (especially first-time participants) expected to take away from the event?
A: It’s the first time that they’ve actually had a chance to think about why they do what they do. Because often, when we start businesses, there may be an idea and you go off and get going. But, you’re so busy working in it (and) trying to hold everything together (with) 16-hour days, you can be driving that for ages and not have that chance to just (say): ‘Why am I doing what I’m doing? Which bits of this do I need to think about?’ We heard over and over from participants that was a revelation – that they actually had this chunk of time and, not only just to have that thought themselves, but to have other people and other conversations, whether it was facilitated training or sitting on a deck with a cup of coffee, to be able to follow some thoughts or narratives or problem solving that they never have really invested in before. And, the digital detox is a big part of that (and) not distracted by what’s going on with Facebook. I saw a lot of real pivot moments come out from that and I expect that will happen again this year.