File F30 - Producing Influential Leaders

Host: CCWESTT – 11TH National Conference for the Advancement of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology
Location: Calgary, AB
Valerie Overend's Role: Trades consultant for WinSETT/CCWESTT, SIAST WITT Facilitator

With Calgary being in close proximity to Saskatchewan, Overend worked hard to encourage SIAST to play a major role at this pan-Canadian conference. Ultimately SIAST became a Silver sponsor and afforded her the time to co-ordinate a stream of workshops focussing on trades and apprenticeship. This was a first for CCWESTT and was very successful. SIAST sponsored a handful of students – 2 from each of 4 campuses; one from a trades program and one a technology program. Overend was able to find sponsorship and coordinated participation of several TTO women from SK. Almost every Saskatchewan woman was involved in a presentation role! She worked also with women from across Canada, and ensured that Aboriginal issues and initiatives were well-represented.
The conference itself was a huge success. Prior to the conference, there was a one-day strategic planning session organized by WinSETT, with attendance limited by invitation to women in leadership positions from across the country, myself included.