Our {YWiB SFU} Stories…2011-2012 Recap

Throughout this dynamic YWiB SFU 2011-12 term, we have created many new stories. This last post of the year is to reflect upon positive new visions we have set forth through the YWiB SFU experience. Below is a collection of blog posts from our very own members and guest speakers to recap this term’s memories. {Launch Party} We started our year with great success at the Shoot for the Stars Launch Party. YWiB SFU was recognized recently at the Beedie School of Business, BASS Awards, by winning the Event of the Year! Angela Jung of Yellowrainbootz participated and broadcasted our event on her very own channel.

Check out her broadcast at yellowrainbootz.com/2011/09/ywib-sfu-launch-party.html.

{Wine & Dine Social} The Wine & Dine Social was the first of many events that were held and it was the premier event where members got to mingle and meet each other for the very first time. Over some great wine and food pairings presented by Katelynne Katona, our expert Sommelier for the night, and Browns Social House, members had a fun and relaxing evening networking with each other. Winnie Ko, one of our members, blogged about this event, calling it “Fine, Fresh, and Fierce”.

Read more of what she had to say about the event at winnieheart.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/fine-fresh-fierce-we-got-it-on-lock.

{My Social Network} My Social Network brought together a fine panel of the Lower Mainland’s social media gurus: Rick Chung, an independent broadcast journalist, Beverly Pomeroy, the CEO of Global Currents, and Grace Lanuza from Mosaic Experiential Marketing. They talked about building and maintaing a personal and professional brand and facilitating relationships online.

Visit Rick Chung’s website to see what he has to say about personal branding online: www.rickchung.com/2011/11/young-women-in-business-ywib-sfu.html www.rickchung.com/2011/10/build-personal-brand-online.html.

{Graduate} The Graduate workshop brought together a group of stellar speakers: Maureen McKinnon, owner of McKinnon Consulting Group, Catherine Rocheleau, CEO of Ignite Leadership International, and Chelle Morgan, author of the fashion blog, Discovering Elegance to provide our members with job seeking expertise and style tips to give their prospective employers the first impression that they are looking for. Catherine Rocheleau has written an article on how to ignite a great first impression by starting with some SPARK, which can be found on her blog. Chelle Morgan shares her experience as a speaker at the event on her blog site.

{The Pursuit of Happiness} The Pursuit of Happiness workshop featured Gina Chong of Butter Studios, Monika Hibbs of The Doctor’s Closet, and Loretta Cella from The Passion Foundation, women who spoke of how to pursue ones’ passion for a career. Our member Megan te Boekhurst  shared some of the knowledge that she received from the event. From Loretta’s speech, a tip she learned is that “people who flourish in life find three to five positives in every challenge they face.” Elizabeth Rosalyn The also learned from Loretta that “the pursuit of happiness is a life-long journey, which you can make worthwhile by approaching life's opportunities with a winning combination of vulnerability, confidence, and positivity.”

Read more about the tips Megan Te Boekhurst learned on her blog at meganteboekhorst.com/2012/02/19/the-pursuit-of-happiness-a-workshop-on-passion-presented-by-ywibsfu.

More of what Elizabeth gained from the speakers can be found on her blog at onceuponadreamer.blogspot.ca/2012/02/pursuit-of-happiness.html.

{International Women’s Day}

"I know I'm doing what I love because when I'm doing it, time doesn't exist." - Anna Rice on following your dreams

The International Women’s Day YWiB SFU conference brought together an elite panel of strong and empowering women leaders from the industry. Speakers shared their stories regarding personal experiences as a woman in their industry and how to stay true to yourself in today's world. It was an inspirational day for those who attended the event. Michaela Klassen, from the IWD 2012 Organizing Committee - Marketing & Communications, has collected a series of quotes from Twitter of the special day on Storify.com.

And last, we would like share the experiences from our programs: SOUL Mentorship, Project GIVE, and Philanthropy.

{SOUL Mentorship} The SOUL Mentorship Program (Supporting Our University Leaders) has successfully paired 32 mentees this year with highly esteemed professionals.  Mentees were involved in monthly meetings, job shadowing, resume and cover letter building, mock interviews, and discussions on how to get the most out of higher education. SOUL has also been featured on the front page of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences web page.

The article can be found here: fass.sfu.ca/ywib. 

{Project GIVE}

The Project GIVE Program (Generating Innovative Visions of Entrepreneurship) has provided the YWiB SFU members with the opportunity at creating their own social entrepreneurship projects through seminars and mentor sessions. This year we had teams creating projects ranging from the Community Box harnessing the idea of collaborative consumption, S.C.R.A.P. making sustainable creations through recycled art projects, to Mothers Helping Mothers exchanging volunteering hours for free childcare.

In particular, two of the Project GIVE participants, Emily Louie and Janice Jonathan founded Prudence Co-operative. The Prudence Co-operative works with existing pre-employment and resource centers for recovering women in the Lower Mainland to provide opportunities for women who face barriers to employment. They have been awarded runner-up in the recent SFU Student Entrepreneur of the Year competition, the team plans to continue the growth and success of the Prudence Co-operative.

To find out more about the Prudence Co-operative, visit their blog at prudencecommunity.wordpress.com.

{Philanthropy- Holiday Smile Drive with GVCSS} The Philanthropy program, a new addition to YWIB SFU, has made a big impact in the community. During the 2011/2012 holiday season, our members participated in the Holiday Smile Drive with Greater Vancouver Community Service Society (GVCSS) in collecting toothbrushes and toothpastes for the Care Package Drive.  We would like to thank our team of compassionate YWiB SFU girls who volunteered to assemble and deliver 400 Care Packages and our generous donors who dropped toothbrushes and toothpastes at our collection boxes, thus making the Vancouver Downtown Eastside a little brighter!

To read more about this project, see the cover story that Greater Vancouver Community Services Society wrote about us in their Winter 2011 newsletter:  gvcss.bc.ca/docs/nl_winter_2011.pdf?LanguageID=EN-US.