The Stratford chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) have a special four-guest panel in store to help celebrate International Women’s Day at their breakfast Saturday, Mar. 8.
The theme of the event, Breaking Barriers – Stories of Progress, will be emphasized by their panel; joining CFUW Stratford for the event will be Halyna Padalko, a research fellow from the Balsillie School of International Affairs; Mary Hofstetter, a Member of the Order of Canada; Pamela Jeffery, founder of both the Women’s Executive Network and the Canadian Board Diversity Council; and panel moderator (as well as CFUW Stratford member) Deanna Horton, a Distinguished Fellow from the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
Cambria Ravenhill, chapter president and co-chair of the event, is excited for what the speakers will be bringing to the event with their wide ranges of experience but also how each of their areas of specialty have relevance with current world events.
“Deanna has had a career in the diplomatic corps for Canada, having been in Japan and Germany, and she ended up being our ambassador to Vietnam but also worked very closely in Washington,” she said. “She was part of the original NAFTA negotiations, so she brought her friends with her for this event. Mary doesn’t need much introduction to Stratford because she used to be the Stratford Festival’s general manager. She’s had all kinds of positions, including now being on the board at Sheridan College and her Order of Canada for her contributions to arts and culture.”
Ravenhill detailed Jeffery’s accomplishments in the business world, citing her decades of work helping make things better for women in both business and in politics.
“She has been there, wanting to improve women in business specifically but now she’s really focusing on women in politics as well,” Ravenhill said. “But our keynote speaker, Halyna Padalko, is a communications expert from Ukraine and she’s working as a research fellow in Waterloo. Her expertise is in AI and misinformation, which is massively interesting itself, but she’s also talking about three women who still live in Ukraine and what it’s like for them there. She finds inspiring people who are resilient in the face of threats and war.”
Ravenhill and fellow chair, Wendy McNaughton, are excited about attendees being able to absorb the knowledge and wisdom from all four speakers. Since they all have relevant experience with what’s going on in the world now, McNaughton is hoping the audience will feel a sense of inspiration after hearing them talk.
“I’m hoping that people are inspired by this and look at how Halyna is standing up to the bullies,” she said. “I want them to understand that we’re talking about breaking barriers and celebrating stories of progress.”
Ravenhill couldn’t agree more.
“We’re seeing women’s rights in the United States being squashed after decades of fighting for them, and we’re seeing that toxicity in the space and politics for women,” she said. “In 1975 when they did the ‘Year of the Woman’, all women really wanted was a seat at the table. Now, 50 years later, women have that seat but now because it’s so toxic some women don’t want to sit there but they still want to stay in the game.”
What both women hope is the overall take-away from this panel discussion is something as simple as togetherness.
“There’s difficult economic environments that are happening right now and it can be a giant stressor for everybody, and we just want people to come away feeling uplifted and that they’ve learned something,” Ravenhill said. “There’s a sense that you can keep going and with a community event like this, a whole lot of networking and hanging out with structure can happen because we have quite a few organizations that have been sponsors for us. There’s just a lot of interest that we kind of need, frankly. And it’s not just for women – it’s for everybody.”
Tickets for the event – hosted at the Best Western Plus Arden Park Hotel at 8:30 a.m. on March 8 – can be found on Ticketscene.ca.