Happy International Women's Day!
Updated: Mar 9, 2020
Dear GEMsies,
It is with great excitement that we officially share with you our newly updated website on this #IWD2020!
To mark this occasion and to highlight the incredible work of the GEM team over the years, we'd like to share a list of 20(/20 vision 😉) memorable moments since we started in 2013. There hasn't been a shortage of milestones and learnings, which have surpassed our dreams.
1. Commemorating International Day of Biodiversity, by looking at the differences between native and invasive species and how this is impacting environmental biodiversity locally, and preparing a meal with locally grown ingredients.
2. Chatting with high school co-op students from LABB, Brampton's local co-working space, about life after graduating high school.
3. Creating team building activities that includes lots of arts and crafts, including a snowflake activity at one of our very first meetings ever for GEM!
4. Filming a promo video to search for new team members. Lights, camera, action!
5. Collaborating with Plan Canada International to pilot their gender empowerment tool before it was shared with YWCA and YMCAs groups nationally.
6. Accepting our 5th youth-in-action grant from United Way of Peel towards GEM programming!
7. Working up a sweat with our second instalment of "Women in Motion" which included a bootcamp session with the 7xFitness team in Brampton.
8. Facilitating a writing circle to explore the importance of self-love, self-care, self-esteem, and self-expression.
9. Getting social with a team outing at Battle Archery, where we battled it out on the field.
10. Learning how to code and using social platforms for career development at "Level Up with Tech."
11. Commemorating International Day of Girl @ the Interim Place's, a local women's shelter, special event with a GEM booth.
12. Exploring various career pathways and hearing from women professionals in different sectors in the Peel community.
13. Speaking about the importance of spaces like GEM on New Theory radio, locally streamed on Sauga 960 a.m.
14. Unpacking the meanings, similarities, and differences between sex, gender, identities, expressions etc. in a safe space.
15. Looking at the interconnections between environment and mental health through art-based activities.
16. Highlighting the importance of culture (and cultural foods and ingredients) in food security and sustainability movements.
17. Brainstorming policy ideas after learning about the issues of homelessness in Peel.
18. Hearing from women in the financial sector on ways to navigate finances.
19. Being inspired with a personal exploration workshop including tools and ideas for goal setting.
20. Organizing a leadership conference opportunity for young women from middle school to high school ages!
From the bottom of our hearts, we are thankful and humbled for all the current and past GEM team members, our mentoring organization, project funders, collaborators, and anyone else who has supported us along they way.
We look forward to continuing to cultivate opportunities for and alongside young people in the Peel community, especially young womxn and gender diverse individuals.
With Gratitude,