CHAMPIONING SUCCESS
Female leaders hailed in book
The new book Canada 150 Women (Conversations with Leaders, Champions, and Luminaries) celebrates Canadian women while shining a light on the need for more support and equal representation for women in Canada.
Vancouver author Paulina Cameron, the former head of national organization Young Women in Business, took some time to answer a few questions.
Q Why this book now?
A Women have made tremendous progress in Canada, which is important to celebrate. There have also been numerous studies affirming that we still do have a long way to go to parity and equity. The need for this conversation is loud and clear. Women must be listened to, celebrated, and championed. Women have contributed significantly to shaping the last 150 years of Canada and I am encouraged by what the next 150 years will look like with more women in influential roles.
For many women in the book, it was also really important to highlight the conversation around the challenging aspects of Canada’s 150th, and to underscore the need for true reconciliation in our nation.
Q How did you go about compiling the list of women in the book?
A I had a list of 1,800 at one point. The approach was really broad. We researched awards like the Order of Canada, Top 100s, etc. We contacted key women across the country, in all different fields and asked them who do you admire?, who is your golden standard in this space? A lot of them are first in their field, but we kept in mind the organizations they founded, what they stand for, what they speak about, the message they send. We also kept in mind geography, background, age, stage. I worked with four amazing women to put it all together, but I could have easily written a book about 1,800 women.
Q Where you star-struck by any of these women? A: All of them! Each one of them is so impressive to me. I felt particularly grateful for women like Imogen Coe, Dean of Science at Ryerson University, or Faye Wightman, Executive Director of the Canadian Cancer Agency, who for the first time publicly shared significant personal stories, knowing that these stories could encourage others. I deeply admire them and am grateful for their courage.
Q Can you talk about the questions you asked? How did you pick them?
AI wanted to dive into more than just the highlight bios. I imagined having dinner or a drink with each one of them, and thought about what I’d want to hear from them about. I also wanted to know what they thought of where we were as a nation, and as women in this country. These are our leaders and their perspectives will shape our direction as a country.
Q Any big surprises in the answers you got?
A The common thread I found was in the women over the age of 50. They all said how surprised they were at how far women haven’t come. They talked about basic firsts like voting and female politicians, but they thought we would be much further along by this stage. They said they all thought time would do its thing, but we didn’t do enough with that time. There is a significant pay gap, and still a gender gap in many fields. Unless we continuously
do this work, we are not going to get anywhere. We need to be advocating for policy changes, and creating programs which support women. A new study showed less than 12 per cent of tech company employees are women. And of the fasting growing tech-based companies which have raised over $50 million in the last seven years — zero were led by females.
Q: With the Weinstein etc. stories are we at a watershed moment?
A: The headlines we are seeing these days are unprecedented and they are helping set the new bar and new standards for what is acceptable and what isn’t. Media and the public eye hold a new power that will impact how we move forward and there won’t be any going back from here.
Q What does the future look like?
A The future holds possibility, and we each can play a role in
creating the kind of communities and country we want to live in. I feel firmly that we cannot rest on our laurels though — the work of gender equity is not done yet and if we try to let time just do its thing, I’m not sure we will get there fast enough, if ever.
Q You are an entrepreneur, what advice can you give other women to help them succeed in business?
A Surrounding myself with incredibly wise, generous and supportive women has been critical to me. From informal breakfast clubs to more formal organizations, entrepreneurs are best served when they surround themselves with those that will help them succeed and ask for help in that. Some great organizations here in B.C. and Canada are: Women’s Enterprise Centre, Raise Collective, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Futurpreneur Canada, SheEO, #movethedial. Q What is the best advice another woman gave you?
A That you will never regret standing up for what you believe in.
Q What do you hope is the legacy of this project?
A I have benefited greatly from mentors and champions in my own life, whose stories have been a source of inspiration for me, and I hope to continue that gift through the legacy of this book. My goal with this book is for women and girls to see possibilities for themselves, and for all of us to see the narrative around what a “leader” looks like. What does a scientist look like? What does an astronaut look like? What does an arctic explorer look like? What does a business leader look like?
Q Do you have a personal credo?
A I try to, whenever I can, choose courage over comfort and to use my voice for impact.