[Executive Recruitment] Ready for your best year yet?

YWiB SFU is excited to recruit for the 2013/2014 Executive Team! We are looking for individuals who are dynamic and dedicated in helping us continue our success. We invite you to grow with us as you experience personal growth, professional networking, and leadership development in this budding organization. All SFU students are welcome to apply.

Important Dates

March 25	Applications open
April 7	Applications due
April 10	Shortlisted candidates invited for a CandiDATE
April 12 to 22	CandiDATEs take place
April 23	Executive Team selected & emailed
April 24	Executive Team welcomed at the YWiB SFU 2013 Wrap-Up Party

Next year, we will operate under a slightly different structure. Please see below for our new organizational chart and description of roles.

Click here for a detailed description of all the roles, how to apply, and all other information.

Open positions:

Director of Media & Design | Become the expert Brand Manager of the team! Responsible for maintaining YWiB SFU’s brand. Unleash your creativity by designing print ads, developing promotional materials, and creating content. Lead a team of 1-2 Coordinators in delivering YWiB SFU’s media and design needs.

Director of Finance | Become a Financial Management expert! Put your accounting and financial organizational skills to the test. Forecast budgets and create reports with the SFU team and YWiB Finance Director to ensure cost-effectiveness of the organization.

Director of Corporate Relations | Strengthen your interpersonal and promotional skills through YWiB SFU! Work with the larger YWiB Corporate Relations Team in recruiting corporate sponsorships, partnerships, and memberships.

Director of Public Relations | Communications extraordinaire and Social Media Guru. Press releases and tweeting are your forte! Manage communication channels and strategic marketing development.

Director of Member Relations | Become the internal glue of our network! Responsible for member communications and member development, you are the key liaison between the team and YWiB SFU members.

Director of Administration | For the fabulously organized! Help keep team organization in check when it comes to all administrative work. Work with each member of the executive team to ensure proper documentation and distribution. Work closely with President and Vice President to learn the in’s and out’s of running a team.

Director of Philanthropy | Work with other great causes and non-profits by coordinating promotional campaigns, volunteer work and supporting the logistics of community events or drives. Lead a team of 1-2 Coordinators to meet the needs of this portfolio as it enters its 3rd year.

Co-Director of Events | Become a Logistics Guru! Workshops, speaker series, panel sessions taken to another level as you integrate your passion and creativity in providing valuable events to our members.

Co-Director of SOUL | Spearhead the SOUL (Supporting Our University Leaders) Mentorship Program in its 4th year. Sharpen your project management and network development skills while encouraging relationship building between students and professionals.

Co-Director of GIVE | Create social good in the community! Inspire young women to pay it forward by leading Project GIVE: Social Entrepreneurship Program in its 4th year. Widen your horizon in program development and professional networking.

IWD OC Chair | Our newest position! Become a Logistics Guru. Recruit and lead a dynamic team to plan YWiB SFU’s annual pillar event – the International Women’s Day Conference in early March. Integrate ideas and suggestions to provide a valuable experience to Conference delegates.

If you have any questions about the application process or the description of roles, please contact the incoming President for the 2013/2014 year, Rosa Tang, via email or phone call. We look forward to receiving your application! Sincerely,

Rosa Tang Incoming President rosa@ywib.ca 778-996-2345

[Top Shop] IWD Inspiration!

With less than a week until our third annual International Women's Day conference, the YWiB SFU team is eagerly finalizing details, including our outfits for they day! We are very excited to have partnered up with some especially talented fashionistas over at Top Shop on this one-of-a-kind mood board, designed especially for YWiB SFU and IWD!

The board borrows from TOPSHOP's trend entitled Debutante, which is all about ladylike dressing.  Think Princess Kate and the character Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl if they were into mixing patterns.  Florals and jacquard are recurring patterns in this trend.  We are loving the patterned trousers, structured tops and bold blazers! You can read more about the Debutante trend here: http://bit.ly/YcjBeG.

As if this wasn't enough excitement already, we are pleased to announce our next member social will be a personal shopping experience at Top Shop! More details are on the way, but for now save the date - Sunday, March 24th!

Which trend will you be rocking on Sunday, March 10th? Will it be a pair printed trousers, or perhaps a bright blazer? Either way, we are looking forward to seeing you there, looking fabulous and inspired by our mood board! You can grab your tickets for IWD here.

[IWD 2013] Young Women in Biology and Biochemistry

Lynne Quarmby is a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at SFU. She chairs the departmental seminar committee, peer reviews manuscripts and grants (currently serving on a CIHR review panel), travels to conferences and to give seminars, and teaches undergrad and grad classes. Her passion for teaching with a view of sharing her excitement about science was recognized when Lynne was a recipient for the 2011 Teaching Excellence Awards . Lynne's love for teaching science extends beyond the university classroom  her essays can be found in the Nonfiction pages of the on-line literary magazine, Numéro Cinq and her blog, The Crux as a means of engaging a bigger audience. Lynne was also named to Vancouver Sun's 100 Women of Influence list. Hear Lynne's story at our third annual International Women's Day conference on Sunday, March 10th at SFU Woodwards.

my name | Lynne Quarmby

my company | Simon Fraser University

childhood ambition | To be a figure skater or a marine biologist.

retreat | The Wilderness

wildest dream | To be a visual artist

keeps me up at night | Doesn’t happen much anymore – there are some benefits to getting

older and wiser

how I give back | I do a great deal of service to my department, university and community.

perfect day | There are many different flavors of perfect day

first job | Waitress at Smitty’s Pancake House

[IWD 2013] Our Brilliant Hostess!

Friends, followers, and YWiB supporters, please give a warm welcome to the host of IWD 2013 - Dawn Chubai! Celebrating 9 years on Breakfast Television, Dawn’s current role as a “Live Eye” Host has her doing everything from rapelling down a 20 storey building in a latex Catsuit, to flying with the Snowbirds, as well as cooking with some of the best chefs in the Lower Mainland. The Vancouver Canucks have also recently brought Dawn on as one of the in-arena hosts!

An established Jazz Vocalist (winning an ARIA award in 1999 for her debut CD, “New Chapters for an Old Book”) Dawn also performs with the Legendary Dal Richards and has had the honour of performing at the Orpheum with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Bramwell Tovey.

In addition to morning television and the stage, Dawn can often be spotted in several television productions and feature films including Mission Impossible 4, Twilight: Eclipse and Robert Redford’s latest film, The Company You Keep

Hear Dawn's story at our third annual International Women's Day conference on Sunday, March 10th at SFU Woodwards. 

my name  |  Dawn Chubai (pronounced Chew-bay)

my company  |  I work for Breakfast Television on City, but I also offer many independent services, so I consider myself a company too!

childhood ambition  |  to perform

fondest memory  |  performing concerts in my backyard for the neighbours, mom would prepare refreshments

retreat |  Black Rock Resort in Ucluelet

wildest dream  |  to perform at Carnegie Hall

proudest moment  |  interviewing Ted Rogers for BT (one of his last before his death) and him saying "you're a star" - I was thrilled - I mean, it's his name on the sign!

biggest challenge  |  saying no is difficult for me.

keeps me up at night  |  thinking about what to do next with my life.

how I give back  |  I support as many charities as humanly possible. Sometimes it's a donation of money, but more often than not, it's a donation of my time and talents. This often adds up to hundreds of hours a year.

perfect day  |  Saturday, up at 7am, coffee with my husband of 8 years, hot yoga at Chopra yoga at 9, and then go home for a nap. After that....as long as I am not officially committed to anything, I consider it relaxing!

first job  |  bussing tables

favourite quote  |  "If a decision beyond your control has been made, and it's not to be changed...you can change your attitude, or you can leave...but you ALWAYS have a choice." it's my own quote, and I learned it from experience.

inspiration | People who live their life in service to others and who's primary goal is happiness.

[IWD 2013] Cynthia Roney - Recovering CEO

Introducing our third panelist, Cynthia Roney! Cynthia is the founder and CEO of Executive Passage, an executive coaching and business consulting company. She is a certified executive coach with over 25 years of experience and a history of mentorship and dedication to women's advancement. Cynthia is experienced working in large corporations as well as early stage start-ups.  Her industry experience focused on medical devices and life sciences working for Baxter, Physio-Control (acquired by Medtronic), Xillix Technologies Corp., PneuVation Medical and Neovasc.  At Xillix, Cynthia joined as Marketing Director advancing to VP Business Development, then President, CEO and Board Director, raising $55M venture capital and leading her company through full medical device commercialization--from concept drawing, engineering development, international clinical trials to FDA PMA approval and launch into the global market.

As a recovering CEO with a desire to pay it forward and help others succeed especially women, Cynthia graduated from Royal Roads University as a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) and became certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation.  In addition to working with her business and executive clients, Cynthia is Chair of the YWCA Metro Vancouver Women of Distinction Awards, a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a CEO mentor for BC Excels (LifeSciences BC), and she is a mentor/coach/facilitator for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), Women’s Enterprise Centre (WEC), Women's Executive Network (WXN), Minerva Foundation, Professional Women’s Network (PWN) and Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC) ‘Get on Board’ program aimed at helping women advance to leadership and Board of Director responsibilities.  Cynthia has written articles for Business in Vancouver, and she is a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Women's Leadership Circle, Chamber of Commerce and Southlands Riding Club.

In her personal life, Cynthia leads an active family life.  Married for 25 years to her remarkable husband Michael and their 3 grown children (Connor, Brandon, Taylor), Cynthia is a passionate equestrian and former owner of an international showjumper/ dressage horse, Piko's Executive Passage.  She is also an accomplished long distance runner with 4 marathons completed (Vancouver x2 and Portland x2) with more to come.

Hear Cynthia's story at our third annual International Women's Day conference on Sunday, March 10th. Tickets can be purchased here. 

[IWD 2013] Ish Jhaj and Shooting for Hope

Officially, YWiB stands for Young Women in Business. However, the team at YWiB SFU are proud to say that our B stands for much, much more. With that, we would like to introduce Ish Jhaj, one of our keynote speakers at IWD 2013. Ish Jhaj is the founder of Shooting for Hope, an organization that travels to India to run soccer camps for underprivileged girls. Ish is a SFU Kinesiology graduate, currently pursuing her post-graduate studies and an avid soccer player. For Ish, soccer is much more than a sport; it is a vehicle for bringing people together.

Shooting for Hope has the vision of giving young girls from rural communities a chance to enhance their lives through the beautiful game of soccer. They believe in encouraging young girls to be active in sports from early on, and see the benefits this can bring to their adults. The program aspires to build confidence in young girls and teach them with a little bit of work, you really can achieve your dreams. Learn more about Shooting for Hope here.

You can purchase your tickets for our third annual International Women's Day conference here.

my name  |  Ish Jhaj

my company  |  Shooting for Hope

childhood ambition  |  To use soccer to change my life and others

fondest memory  |  Playing in our back yard with my brothers on our farm, and trying to be a boy

wildest dream  |  To pack up and move to a foreign country and start Shooting for Hope

proudest moment  |  The first day of our soccer camps and seeing how happy the girls were

keeps me up at night  |  A good book and occasionally knitting

perfect day  |  Must have a good cup of coffee, nutritious breakfast, watch the news, solid workout, play soccer outdoors, need a nap, hang out with my family, make dinner, and relax while watching a good movie

favourite quote  |  You must be the change you want to see in the world - Mahatma Gandhi

inspiration | My parents

[IWD 2013] Introducing... The Jardines!

The YWiB SFU team is very excited to welcome The Jardines to our International Women’s Day conference! The Jardines will perform during the morning of our event, and are sure start our event on the right note, and definitely get the crowd going! The Jardines, with their "go big or go home" attitude, are an 8 piece contemporary country pop/roots act fronted by mother/daughter songwriting duo Cherelle and Ajaye Jardine. Their story has a fairy tale start, but would soon evolve into the reality of an 8 piece band with 2 albums in 2 years.

Cherelle was getting ready to record her 5th solo cd when she casually asked Ajaye, (a budding singer/songwriter), if she would like to create a project together -­ a mother/daughter band called The Jardines. At an age when most teenagers would balk at joining forces with one of their parents, Ajaye said yes... and the Jardines concept was a reality, songs were composed and Canada's hottest mother/daughter act was born, yielding a delicious mixture of street smarts and innocence. Their life experiences are meshed together, giving fans an ageless body of work to fall in love with.

You can learn more about The Jardines on their website, or check out their YouTube channel to get a preview of their performance at IWD!

You can purchase tickets for IWD here. 

my name  |  Cherelle and Ajaye Jardine

my company  |  The Jardines

childhood ambition  |   Cherelle – singing, songwriting, performing  Ajaye – acting, singing, performing

fondest memory  |  the fun times we had recording our first cd and videos

wildest dream  |  Opening for a big act like Lady Antebellum or Keith Urban

proudest moment  |  Performing at the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in Richmond at the Ozone and releasing our 1^st cd there

how we give back  |  We perform for community fundraisers

perfect day  |  Wake up to a sun shining, lunch with friends, shopping, do a little writing and play a show with our band in the evening.

favourite quote  | “If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal.” John Lennon

[IWD 2013] Gaining Momentum

"Over time and distance, the equal rights of women have progressed. We celebrate the achievements of women while remaining vigilant and tenacious for further sustainable change. There is global momentum for championing women's equality." - InternationalWomensDay.com

International Women’s Day has been celebrated all over the world since the early 1900′s. The original focus was the movement towards equality and universal suffrage. It has since grown to become a day of celebration and recognition of women’s achievements in both developing and developed countries alike. On March 8th, events are held around the world to celebrate the advancements we have made, and raise awareness for what we still have yet to accomplish. Last year, events took place in over 100 countries. For more information on IWD, please check out the official website.

Every year, YWiB SFU hosts a one-day conference, offering a space for women of all faculties, industries and backgrounds to come together and discuss issues and achievements of women in Vancouver and around the world. Last year, we were proud to welcome over 150 delegates, 8 speakers, and 10 expo presenters to our signature event. This year, we are planning to top that.

The YWiB SFU executive team and the IWD 2013 organizing committee our proud to announce that this year's International Women's Day conference will be taking place on Sunday, March 10 at SFU Woodwards. We already have several exciting speaker, entertainer, and exhibtors confirmed, and we look forward to sharing them with you via this blog! Similar to last year, the conference will include key note speakers, a panel session, and an expo, exhibiting local non-profits and organizations dedicated to advancing the rights of women. However, building on the success of last year's event, there will be some exciting new changes and developments that we will share with you in the coming weeks.

Early bird tickets will be available to YWiB SFU members beginning Sunday, February 10. Tickets will go on sale to the general public, including SFU and other university students, beginning Sunday, February 17. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements, including some crazy contests and on campus activities leading up to International Women's Day!

Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to stay up to date with all speaker announcements, ticket information, and other exciting conference updates!

    

[2013] Looking Back Before Looking Forward

Fall of 2012 was an amazing time for us at YWiB SFU. There were many accomplishments, many learning experiences, and there is much to be proud of. As our Spring semester begins, the team has been reflecting on our favourite moments from last semester:

• First and foremost, our Launch Party! Throughout the evening, over 250 ladies (and a few gentlemen) mingled, laughed, and learned all about YWiB SFU! It was a great event, and the whole team was very proud of everything we accomplished. The success of this event is no doubt responsible for the increase in membership applications we received this year - we were proud to welcome nearly 120 new YWiB members to our family! Read more about Launch Party here.
• Another highlight for the team was our very first workshop of the year, Impression Management. Though we have held other (equally impressive) events since then, the first one of the year is always special. It was great to see everything come together, after a summer of planning, and to enjoy how well we work together as a team. We are so grateful to our awesome speakers, Margaret Page and Anda Prunianu, without whom this workshop would not have left such a wonderful impression! Read more about Impression Management here.
• One of our largest philanthropy events of the semester, our Find Your Passion workshop, tops the list for many. Our friend and a great supporter of YWiB, Loretta Cella, graciously donated her time for a two day workshop with a select group of our members. Throughout the workshop, attendees were encouraged to set goals, self-reflect, and take responsibility for themselves. It was an eye-opening and valuable experience for all who attended! Read more about Find Your Passion here.

While we are proud of all of our events and socials, these are just a sample of those that stuck out for us.  Other highlights include our Wine Social, second workshop on Workplace Harmony, Education Generation's Birthday Fiesta, and our Holiday Dinner!

As we reflect on 2012, we also look ahead to some of the amazing things we have planned for the upcoming semester! Some of these (which are sure to be highlights!) include:

• Project GIVE's upcoming collaboration with Social Entrepreneurship SFU for Business Plans 101! Featuring a couple of really inspiring speakers, this is definitely an event not to be missed for all of our future entrepreneurs! You can RSVP here.
• Our first workshop of 2013, Holistic Living! Focusing on a holistic lifestyle, including physical, emotional, and mental health, our impressive list of presenters are sure to teach as all something new! RSVP for our workshop here.
• Planning is officially underway for our 2013 International Women's Day Conference! Our team is working hard to make this year our best yet. The conference will be occurring on Saturday, March 9, with more information coming your way soon. To stay up to date on all IWD related updates, follow us on Twitter @YWiBsfu and like us on Facebook at YWiB SFU.

Regardless of what 2013 brings, we know that between our sister chapters and our members, we are in good hands. We can't wait to see what the next year brings - what are you most looking forward to in 2013?

[Find Your Passion] Jenny's Experience

One of our dedicated members, Jenny Wong, participated in the two-day Find Your Passion workshop in November. Here is a personal account on her experience:

Around mid-November, I attended the first of two-day series Find Your Passion workshop presented by two-time TEDx speaker and founder of Passion Foundation, Loretta Cella. On both days, I gained something precious: a new perspective. I was introduced to angel cards that not only provided guidance but also excitement. At first, I thought my two cards, expansiveness and snake woman, contradicted each other as the former suggests more is better while the latter suggests less is more. But, with some afterthought, I came to see them as complementary to one another. The former suggests that I have more options than I know of right now in regards to doing fun yet continuously challenging work that I love post-graduation - with awesome people, no less - while the latter suggests shedding old layers of skin by saying no to the endless array of available opportunities and creating boundaries as I gradually resume taking 100% responsibility for my success.

At the end of the workshop, Loretta encouraged all of us to create a community engagement project which can range anywhere from a blog post to a YouTube video or even something offline. I’m super excited to see what projects come to life (fueled from passion!) in about six months.

The two perspectives I walked away with from this workshop are gold and applicable to many and for that, I am filled with gratitude. I’m also grateful for the YWiB girls I got to know and become accountability partners with for our personal goals going forward – whether at future YWiB events or through social media.

- Jenny