Community Engagement

 Community Engagement

Featured

 

CANADIAN DELEGATION

United Nation Commission on the Status of Women

 

WORKSHOP

Metropolis Conference

 

CONFERENCE

Immigrant Women in STEM

  • TGC was honoured to be part of the Canadian delegation at the sixty-seventh session of the United Nation Commission on the Status of Women. The theme for 2023 was: Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

    In an increasingly interconnected world, intersectional approaches are essential to promote gender equality and empower all women and girls in all their diversity. As a member of the Canadian delegation, TGC emphasized how women’s economic equity is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. This economic equity is reliant on women’s ability to fully participate in national and global labour markets. TGC believes that progress made for immigrant women in STEM will improve economic outcomes for all women in STEM.

  • In March 2023, we conducted a workshop at Metropolis Conference, which is by far the country’s largest annual gathering of immigrant service providers, policy makers and researchers. The presentation was titled Innovating Supports: Alternative Approaches to Labour Market Integration of Highly-Skilled Immigrant Women

    Workshop description: Did you know that immigrant women are twice as likely to be STEM-trained than Canadian-born women? Given ambitious new immigration targets, this timely workshop aims to present research that highlights the untapped economic potential of immigrant women in STEM including what we know about the talent pool they represent & the challenges they face. Learn about innovative strategies from TechGirls Canada’s 2022 pilot program Catalyst used to train immigrant women across Canada in new career advancement approaches that do not rely solely on resumes & job postings to help reduce immigrant women’s under/unemployment in STEM sectors and a brief international perspective on whether Canada can afford to underutilize its STEM talent going forward.

    The workshop was sold out and has generated a lot of interest from immigrant settlement agencies who would like to incorporate Catalyst into their training programs for highly skilled / STEM-trained immigrant women.

  • On January 24, 2023, TGC hosted Canada’s first ever Immigrant Women in STEM Conference. We brought together immigrant women in STEM, researchers, policy makers, academics, and representatives from government, immigrant settlement agencies, NGOs, and business associations for a day of knowledge-sharing that highlighted the untapped economic potential of immigrant women in STEM. Presentations discussed:

    1. What we know about the talent pool of Immigrant Women in STEM and the challenges they face

    2. Why all sectors in Canada can benefit from improving the labour market integration of these highly-skilled women

Recent

 
 

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

  • The Digital Justice Lab is a project focused on building a more just and equitable digital future based in Canada. In collaboration with the Ford Foundation, TGC will be participating in a convening on workers’ data rights.

    The challenges faced by workers worldwide continue to expand in the face of multiple pandemics and the acceleration of technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic expanded and cemented further practices of surveillance and control of workers through data. The intersection of labour and digital rights is increasingly becoming important to understand and build upon as the technology ecosystem expands and hinders worker rights. This convening will be focused on building a map of data worker rights globally, alongside supporting additional funding pathways.

 

FILM SCREENING

  • We are excited to present our short film, “We Were Here All Along: Canada’s Failed Promise to Immigrant Women in STEM”, at the October Meetup of Shared Services Canada’s Women in STEM Network.

    For Women’s History Month in Canada, the Shared Services Canada’s Women’s Network and Women in STEM Network will be hosting an event that celebrates the women and girls from our past and present who are working towards a more inclusive Canada. This session emphasizes the importance of Immigrant Women in STEM – as they have been instrumental in shaping Canada’s history by making real, positive changes to our communities, society, and country.

 

PRESENTATION

 

MEDIA FEATURE

  • Saadia Muzaffar, President and Founder of TGC, was featured in a video series by the Royal Canadian Mint honouring the legacy of Elsie MacGill and women in STEM.

    These videos promoted the release of a commemorative coin featuring Elsie MacGill, an aeronautical engineer and champion of women’s rights.

    Saadia Muzaffar spoke passionately in these videos about immigrant women in STEM and their power and potential: “Immigrant women actually make up the majority of women in STEM workforce yet we never hear about them, and that needs to change.”

    Watch the full video feature here.

 

WORKSHOP

  • TGC is excited to present a workshop on “Blending Numbers, Stories, and Art: A Case Study in Supporting Canada’s Immigrant Women in STEM”, showcasing the We Were Here All Along short film, at the 2023 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada annual conference.

 

WHITEPAPER

  • “Beyond Digital Access as a Human Right in Cities” is a whitepaper from Digital Future Society and UNU-EGOV that aims to help local administrators, policymakers and civil society advance Sustainable Development Goal 11 and promote the wellbeing, rights and agency of people, communities, and environment.

    Climate, economic, political, and public health crises have amplified existing digital divides making digital access more difficult for systemically marginalized and excluded communities. In this context, cities have a unique opportunity to shape the future of digital governance. By adopting a more comprehensive approach to digital access, that integrates human rights, intersectionality and systems thinking, cities can help address digital divides and achieve more equitable and just urban digital transformations.

 

PRESENTATION

  • In November 2022, TGC presented to the Prime Minister’s Youth Council on the issue of and how to address the barriers that immigrant women face in labour market integration.

    The Prime Minister’s Youth Council is a group of young Canadians who provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada on issues of importance to them and to all Canadians. One of the focuses of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council is innovative economies and the impacts of intersectional barriers. TGC engaged the council on the direct connections between immigrant women in STEM’s labour market outcomes and better economic and social outcomes for all Canadians, including immigrant youth and the children of new immigrants.