Spotlight Series: Advancing Gender Inclusive Growth (Diverse Women)

Skills for Change

Join us on March 14, 2023 from 11:00AM-12:00PM EST for a panel discussion on Inclusion of Diverse Women in our Economy

Spotlight Series

Spotlight Series is a monthly panel discussion moderated by our CEO Surranna Sandy. We bring together cross-sectoral leaders to examine and find solutions to relevant issues of today.

Canada places 24th in the Global Gender Gap Index ranking of 156 countries. This frightening statistic is made worse knowing that <a href="https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/covid-further-clouded-the-outlook-for-canadian-women-at-risk-of-disruption" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">10x more women than men have fallen out of the Canadian labour market since 2020</a>. F﻿or Women's History Month, join us for a panel discussion on what we can do to advance gender inclusive growth across sectors and support women's work everywhere.

<h3>S﻿urranna Sandy </h3>Moderator &amp; CEO of <a href="https://www.skillsforchange.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Skills for Change</a>

Surranna Sandy is the Chief Executive Officer of Skills for Change (SfC), a registered charity and nonprofit multi-service agency in Toronto, Ontario serving 16,000+ Immigrants and Refugees annually. Prior to becoming the CEO of SfC, Surranna enjoyed a successful career as President and Founder of Surcorp Group, a Career Management firm with offices in Toronto and Ottawa. Having the first-hand perspective of an Immigrant in a new country, Surranna found her calling in advocating for and advancing the needs of immigrants and refugees as a volunteer and board member in the settlement sector.In 2012, Surranna elected to resign from her firm and accept the invitation to serve as Skills for Change’s CEO, turning her advocacy of ensuring that Immigrant and Refugee has a fair chance to realize and fulfill their potential into her life’s vocation. Under her leadership, Skills for Change has grown from 5 locations in GTA to 10 locations in GTA and Southwestern Ontario serving over 16,000 clients per year. Surranna has led Skills for Change in expanding its programs and services from serving primarily internationally educated professionals to also serving Immigrant Women, Youth, Entrepreneurs and Seniors.Surranna has a Master of Arts in Leadership and Management from Anglia Ruskin University, an MBA in Human Resources Management from the University of Wales, an Hons Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Management from Northumbria University, a Diploma in Human Resources Management, and a Certificate in HR Management.Surranna was awarded the Government of Canada’s Canada 150 Outstanding Neighbour award. This award is in recognition of her community service, as CEO of Skills for Change.She is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Workforce Innovation Group and is a Board Member of First Work, Ontario’s Youth Employment Assistant Centers. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Ontario Nonprofit Network’s Decent Work for Women project and serves as Steering Committee Member for the Consortium of Agencies Serving Immigrants.She is a member of the City of Toronto’s Partnership &amp; Accountability Circle (“PAC”) for The Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-black Racism.

<h3>Paula Calderon</h3>CEO of the <a href="https://ciwa-online.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association</a>

Originally from Colombia, Paula came to Canada with her husband and eldest daughter in 2001. Over the last 20 years, she has focused on leading workforce development projects that support the economic integration of newcomers to Canada and has had a progressive career within the immigrant-serving sector. She is the CEO of the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association. In the past, she pioneered English as a Second Language programs, worked on paid internship programs and oversaw various employment services and bridging programs supporting internationally trained professionals. She is also the former President of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Colombian Professional Association, a volunteer-run Professional Immigrant Network that supports the integration and professional development of Latin-American professionals in the Canadian labour market. 
Paula has also focused her career on identifying business improvement opportunities through the enhancement of productivity and performance of a company’s biggest asset, its people. Paula specializes in the creative use of Psychometric assessments for organizational and professional development and has developed and delivered a suite of training programs that support companies and individuals through all stages of the employee lifecycle. In 2018, Paula completed the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities program and became an Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Fellow.

<h3>Saadia Muzaffar</h3>Founder of <a href="http://www.techgirls.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">TechGirls Canada</a> and Co-Founder of <a href="https://www.techresetcanada.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Tech Reset Canada</a>

Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. In 2017, she was featured in Canada 150 Women, a book about 150 of the most influential and groundbreaking women in Canada.She is founder of TechGirls Canada, the hub for Canadian women in science, technology, engineering, and math - and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists, and other residents advocating for innovation that is focused on maximizing the public good. She serves on the board of Women's Shelters Canada, and is an ambassador for GEM, a mentorship program for high school girls facing socio-economic barriers. She is on the steering committee of Toronto Open Smart Cities Forum, part of Canada Beyond 150: Policy for a diverse and inclusive future initiative, and part of Employment and Social Development Canada's inaugural Advisory Committee on Women in the Economy: Removing Barriers to Employment. She also serves on the advisory board for the University of Guelph’s Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI)Her work on modern leadership explores big ideas and impactful strategies that address growing challenges for business leaders in today's connected &amp; vigilant markets; and has been featured in CNNMoney, BBC World, Fortune Magazine, Globe &amp; Mail, VICE, CBC, TVO, and Chatelaine.Saadia is also a Pushcart Prize nominated short fiction writer. In February 2018, her work joined that of Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), Gabby Rivera (America), Hope Larson (Batgirl), and Amy Chu (Wonder Woman) in Dark Horse Comics' anthology featuring comic and prose stories. in 2017, Saadia and her team released Change Together: A Diversity Guidebook for Startups and Scaleups. You can find her contribution to Some Thoughts; a thought-provoking 2019 book on modern day city-building, here.Note: Saadia resigned from Waterfront Toronto's Digital Strategy Advisory Panel in October 2018. You can learn more about her difficult but necessary decision here.

<h3>Nidhi Khanna</h3>Vice President, Program Operations at <a href="https://skillsforchange.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Skills for Change</a>

Nidhi brings over 20 years of non-profit sector experience in program design and implementation, community development and social enterprise leadership. Over the course of her career, Nidhi has worked at the institutional, municipal and grassroots levels including leadership roles at Skills for Change, Artscape, Mississauga Celebration Square, and the City of Mississauga. Nidhi’s approach to programming is framed in a holistic view that intersects with operations, finance and community to develop relevant, equitable and responsive programs. She is currently Vice President of Program Operations for Skills for Change, a registered charity and nonprofit multi-service agency in Toronto, Ontario serving over 16,000 immigrants and refugees annually through 25+ community based programs that include employment, settlement and climate action.An actor by training, Nidhi holds an M.A. in Text and Performance Studies from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art/King&#x27;s College London, an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business and she is a 2018 Fellow of the Toronto Arts Council’s Leaders Lab. Nidhi’s community development has focused on mentorship of emerging leaders with a particular focus on the systemic issues and barriers that face women in the non-profit sector. Her community work includes her roles as Vice-Chair of the Board for JAYU, a Coach for FORA, and Strategic Advisor for LABx.

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Spotlight Series: Advancing Gender Inclusive Growth (Diverse Women)

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