In April, young women students of St. Joseph’s College Catholic Secondary Schools had the wonderful opportunity of participating in the Girls E-Mentorship Innovation (GEM) summit entitled “Leaders of Tomorrow”. GEM is a charitable organization that offers an innovative mentorship program designed by girls for girls and a mission to mitigate the adverse effects of poverty through electronic and in-person mentorship. GEM’s vision is to bridge a social divide between at-risk girls and professional women and to motivate girls to reach their full potential no matter where they started.
To begin, a meeting with Helen Lesniak, Maria Guiao, Rochelle de Goias, ED of GEM and Cassandra Hammett, Program Manager of GEM, was set up and Rochelle and Cassandra presented to the ESL/newcomers class at the school. Peter Beamish, ESL Head, Maria Guiao, Settlement Workers in Schools and ESL/newcomer students were informed and invited, to the “Influencers Of Tomorrow” Summit , Changing Toronto, For Girls By Girls, at MaRS Discovery District on Saturday, April 16th. “150 High School Students change-makers were invited to reimagine ways to shape and change their community through education, music, sport, filmmaking, entrepreneurship and social advocacy”. Ten students from St. Joseph’s attended the Summit. They all stated it was very educational, inspirational, inspiring and motivational and an overall amazing Summit experience.
Inspirational Guest Speakers: Kathleen Wynne (Premier of Ontario), Marc Kielburger (Co-founder, Free the Children), Zahra al Harazi (Celebrated Entrepreneur, Canadian UNICEF Ambassador), Clara Hughes (Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist), Nefe (Musician) and Alaa Murabit (Physician, Women’s Rights Activist and UN Advisor). Partners are The Bishop Strachan School and GEM. Our hope is that next year the young women students from St. Joseph’s College will be out in greater numbers.
Next step – mentors!
By: Maria Guiao