The Orillia chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) hosted an International Women’s Day celebration at Creative Nomad Studios on Wednesday evening.
Event organizer Heather Lewis says the Orillia CFUW, which has 108 members, believes in advocacy, rights for women, and improvement in education for women. In Orillia, they have organized events since 1974 and, over that time, have raised almost $400,000 in scholarships for young women pursuing post-secondary education.
While the club has celebrated International Women’s Day with its members for the past two years on Zoom, Wednesday night marked the first time the event was opened up to the community.
The event featured a display of local artists who are members of CFUW and the Orillia & District Arts Council. It also featured some history about International Women’s Day, a panel of guest speakers, and a tribute to women of significance.
“Women haven’t had the same rights as men,” Lewis said. “We are trying to get everybody equality, which fits the theme for International Women’s Day: embrace equity.”
Lewis says gender equality is a major issue today, especially in Orillia.
“Just look at the number of people here using the food bank,” she said. “The greatest percentage of them are women and certainly women of families.”
Around 94 people attended the event on Wednesday night, which left the organizers feeling “stoked.”
“We’ve never done anything like this before,” Lewis said. “We were hoping for around 80 people, so we are really excited.”
Lewis hopes the event will become an annual tradition for women who would like to gather and celebrate each other.
The panel of guest speakers included Dr. Linda Rodenburg, one of the founding faculty members at Lakehead University’s Orillia campus, Lorraine McRae, the head councillor for Chippewas of Rama First Nation, and Debbie Singh, the vice president of people strategy and chief human resources officer for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
Rodenburg said she was “super happy” to speak at Wednesday’s event.
“I think that what we are talking about as a community right now is how we can really lean into overcoming our biases to become an inclusive community,” she said. “In my role at Lakehead, I’ve been able to be holding space for others to take leadership roles in that.”
Rodenburg, who now serves as the acting principal of the Orillia campus, says International Women’s Day is a "great way" to recognize females both globally and locally.
“It’s important to recognize our strength and what we bring to our communities as leaders,” she said.
McRae says she "really appreciated" the opportunity to speak at the event.
“I think this day is really important,” she said. “Today is a day to think about all the women in our lives, our mothers, grandmothers, family, and all the mentors who have helped me along the way.”
McRae says it’s important to honour and pay tribute to the women in our lives, and around the world who have been trailblazers for others.
“A lot of women played such an amazing part in making change,” she said. “A lot of them aren’t even recognized at all for their incredible work.”
Singh says International Women’s Day is very close to her heart.
“Anything to do with women’s empowerment and building women up is everything to me,” she said. “Having the opportunity to share in this with other women is fantastic.”
For Singh, International Women’s Day isn’t just once a year.
“It’s not just a day, it’s not just a moment,” she said. “I think honouring women and the work they do is life’s work.”
Singh enjoyed talking to the audience about personal biases at the event.
“We all have it,” she said. “We need to understand it’s OK to have it, helping people ... to deal with some of the challenges around that.”
Singh hopes more female leaders will use the International Women’s Day platform to keep inspiring others.
