Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation! See you next year.
Leave your clients at the office and join peers from across the country for this month-long, conference designed for those who work directly with women entrepreneurs in Canada. Take in live presentations from top experts, participate in critical conversations and panel discussions, and network with other business advisors, financial advisors, marketing experts and leaders from across the ecosystem.
Thank you to our sponsors: EDC, Payworks and Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub
Session Line-up
Building Safe Spaces for Women Entrepreneurs
Feb 01, 2023
As organizations that support women entrepreneurs, we aim to ensure that we’re building inclusive spaces. What if I told you that maybe you should focus on exclusion instead? In this talk, Nikki Thibodeau will talk about what it means to build a safe space, thoughtful exclusion and take us through a real example from her time leading Shopify’s Women’s Employee Resource Group. Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking discussion on inclusion and building community.
Help Your Clients Overcome Underearning // Session Sponsor Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub
Feb 06, 2023
Session Sponsor Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub Dr. Moira Somers is a psychologist, family wealth consultant and executive coach. She specializes in the psychology of money. She addresses matters that range from the highly personal concerns of individuals and families all the way up to broader service, design and structural issues affecting financial follow-through and equitable access to capital. Although Canada is her home, her client base is international. Dr. Somers is a faculty member at the Ultra High Net Worth Institute and at the Sudden Money Institute. She leads the Financial Psychology Special Interest Group for the American Psychological Association. She is a featured guest and writer for many financial advising / family office podcasts and publications. Her book, Advice that Sticks: How to Give Financial Advice that People Will Follow, has become an international bestseller. It tackles, head-on, the problem of unimplemented financial advice. It has been adopted as an authoritative guidebook by such diverse groups as postsecondary institutions, private firms specializing in Ultra Hight Net Worth clients, and credit counselling agencies.
Unpacking Perceptions of Debt
Feb 08, 2023
The Finance Cafe is Canada’s first gender-focused business financial learning program designed to help women entrepreneurs – and those who support them – explore what’s behind the numbers to drive business and personal success. In this session Shauna Frederick and Shannon Pestun dig deep into debt, uncovering our own (and our clients’) feelings about financial borrowing, and understanding how those feelings influence all areas of business decision making. Through our online business financial literacy program, our podcast, our blogs and our tips/advice on our social platforms, our goal is to empower women entrepreneurs and those who support them to feel CAPABLE + CONFIDENT in their decision making and CONNECTED to the business they’ve created. Brought to you by co-founders, Shannon Pestun and Shauna Frederick, CPA, these highly respected financial gurus bring years of expertise to the table.
Investing in Women – The Stacy’s Rise Project Panel
Feb 14, 2023
Alison Kirkland sits down with Jess Spaulding, Chief Marketing Officer at PepsiCo for a conversation about leadership, innovation and supporting women entrepreneurs through the Stacy’s Rise Project. They will be joined by two of the Canadian recipients of the Stacy’s Rise Project grant – Elaine Tan Comeau, Easy Daysies and Kristyn Carriere, Seven Summits Snacks.
The Trauma of Money
Feb 15, 2023
In this session, Trauma of Money’s co-Founder Chantel Chapman will introduce the Trauma of Money Model and how the layers of this model can impact not only our relationship with money but also with entrepreneurship. She will also explore the psychology of scarcity and common money disruptions that women-identifying entrepreneurs may experience. She will also share the “Window of Resilience” tool as a helpful takeaway to support integrating the new levels of awareness learned in the Trauma of Money session. Chantel Chapman is the CEO and co-founder of the Trauma of Money – an accredited course certifying professionals in trauma-aware and trauma-informed approaches to finance. Drawing influence from 14 years of experience as a mortgage broker, 10 years as a financial literacy consultant, and extensive research in addiction, behavioral science, trauma, community economic development, and mindfulness, Chantel is renowned for her cutting-edge, relatable, and trauma-informed money guidance.
Exchange, Expand, Explore…EXPORT! Financing international expansion and risk mitigation strategies // Session sponsor EDC
Feb 17, 2023
This session will discuss how entrepreneurs can access the right financing to help grow their business around the globe and achieve their goals. Joining the panel discussion are: Michelle Davy, Présidente et Courtier en Assurance de Dommage des Entreprises. Principal Broker (RIBO), Credit Assure Inc.// Nadine El Saddi, Regional Manager, Client Diversity, BDC // Lise Birikundavyi, CFA, Managing Partner of BKR Capital
Investing in Yourself // Session Sponsor Payworks
Feb 21, 2023
Jessica is a professional speaker coach and the host of The Confidence and Communication Podcast. Recognized for her professional expertise, she is a recipient of the Manitoba 150 Women Trailblazer Nellie McClung Foundation Award for 2021, Ace Burpees Most Fascinating Manitobans (2019), the 2017 Future Leaders of Manitoba and CBC’s Top 40 Manitobans under 40 (2015) . She has a 2017 TEDx talk called The Journey to a Woman’s Identity. Jessica’s volunteer contributions have gained her wide respect across Manitoba and Canada. She has served as Chairperson for both the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and the Indigenous Chamber of Commerce and continues to sit on numerous committees and boards at the executive level. She is a powerful role model and advocate for women’s empowerment, leading others to overcome challenges by developing personal strengths, vision and self-confidence. You can connect with Jessica directly on instagram @jessicadumas.ca
Toast! Recognition Celebration
Feb 22, 2023
Get ready to raise your mug, glass or tea cup to your colleagues as we celebrate the impact of advisors and staff throughout the ecosystem. The Toast! 2nd Annual Recognition Celebration includes a conversation with some of the WEOC National Loan Program recipients, as well as lots of fun prizes and maybe one or two special surprises! Please send us a photo of you “cheersing” your friends and colleagues to info@weoc.ca and we will be sure to share it during the celebration!
About the Inaugural 2021 Conference
In February 2021, more than 250 entrepreneurial advisors and 20 expert presenters from across Canada came together to exchange, expand, explore. Advisors who work directly with female entrepreneurs took in live presentations from top experts, participated in critical conversations and panel discussions, and networked with other business advisors, financial advisors, marketing experts, and leaders from across the ecosystem. We were happy to work with women entrepreneurs from across the country – from Victoria to Nunavut to St. John’s – to provide registrants with a specially curated gift box as well as daily door prizes.
Watch the 2021 WEOC X wrap-up video