B.C. women are being encouraged to take on business leadership roles with new funding from the federal government.
Rona Ambrose, minister for status of women, said Monday that the Vancouver-based Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women would receive $367,529 for its Women Leading the Way (WLW) program.
WLW is a three-year pilot project that will teach “women who want to lead” advanced leadership skills in a hands-on environment. The program will launch in January 2011 and is a part-time commitment for participants.
Ambrose said, "We are committed to helping women get more involved in politics and economics, and encouraging them to assume leadership and decision-making roles to empower themselves and contribute to society, as a whole.”
Ottawa funded the project through its Status of Women Canada program.
The government said funding for these types of projects has nearly doubled since 2006/07 to $19 million from $10.8 million.
Eleanor Guerrero-Campbell, executive director of the Minerva Foundation, said WLW will focus on four areas of leadership: awareness of self and others, mentorship, leadership skills development and government in political, economic and social change arenas via hands-on experience.
Said Guerrero-Campbell: "Through this project, we will build leadership capacity and skills among women, we will facilitate strategic partnerships for women and we will look at how women lead change as a way of learning from their examples.”