Leveraging the Power of Women

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Communities are stronger and more resilient when women play an active role in economic development and growth. We’ve seen this time and again in our own public–private–civil society sector collaborations at CEDEC, and in research from organizations such as the United Nations, which has found that women’s economic empowerment increases productivity, diversification, GDP and other key measures.

Many of our partners say if they could better engage women, they’d see immediate impacts. Yet women receive less financing and investment than men — even though they’re responsible for roughly half of all new startups. And women’s businesses, which are often small or medium-sized, have been among those hit hardest by COVID-19.

CEDEC is committed to creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs and leaders through this period of COVID-19 recovery and beyond. Our hub approach helps women-led businesses access financing and capital, nearly half of the clients benefitting from our business advisory services are women-led organizations, and our collaborative economic development model is well suited to supporting recovery efforts.

Starting on March 8, International Women’s Day, and throughout the rest of March, we’ll be celebrating women’s economic contributions in a series of CEDEC blogs, interviews and live streams under the banner: Leveraging the Power of Women to Rebuild Canada’s Economy. The series will share the perspectives of women who have been part of our community hub collaborations.

Women play an essential role in creating jobs, growth, investment and other end-state benefits for communities — and in enabling others to experience them. Collaborating with public-private-civil society sector stakeholders, we can amplify those impacts, generating opportunities for women to achieve real, lasting economic impacts for their communities.

John-Buck

John Buck
President and CEO, CEDEC

Watch our social media channels and upcoming newsletter for this inspiring content:

March

8

Building community resilience through women-owned and women-led enterprisesA conversation with Professor Barbara Orser, Full Professor and the Deloitte Professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa.

March

15

A video featuring Quebec women entrepreneurs, their experience in leading businesses, and the role they play in boosting their local economies.

March

22

Women Leadership in Business and CommunityA conversation with Wendy Curtis, Executive Director, Northumberland CFDC, and StrikeUP 2021 Founder about the important role of women in leadership positions and how their contributions generate critical impacts on our economies and communities.

March

29

Facebook Live panel discussion featuring leading women in the public, private, and civil society sectors who will share their thoughts on how we can leverage the power of women to rebuild Canada’s economy.

Connect with us on social media for all #IWD2021 news and events