“Because of You,” is this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, where locally, nationally and internationally, achievements by women and girls are being recognized and celebrated around the globe, March 8.
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce, GNCC is celebrating Women’s Day tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Keynote speaker, Autumn Peltier is on the BBC’s top 100 Women’s list for 2019, although technically she is still a teenager.
She hails from the Anishinabek Nation in Northern Ontario, and advocates on behalf of water protection for First Nations and other communities around the world.
An avid speaker, Peltier has addressed the Children’s Climate Change Conference in Sweden and the United Nation’s Youth Climate Action Summit in New York twice.
“She’s a big deal,” notes Hugo Chesshire, Director of Policy and Government Relations for the GNCC. Last year’s celebration attracted 800 people.
Tickets range from $59.25 for students to $79 for members and $95 for non-members, which includes a hot lunch, a silent auction, vendor booths and a complimentary parking voucher of $20. Groups can also rent tables to save costs.
The event is expected to draw in excess of 700 people this year. Proceeds from this Silent Auction event go to Leadership Niagara, which will assist women in
training for top-level positions, said Chesshire.
The program, which has been ongoing for many years, assists youth of both genders to acquire leadership skills.
The GNCC has also partnered with United Way for its Period Promise campaign to address the poverty issue in Niagara, which has one in four women struggling to pay for menstruation products.
Participants are encouraged to donate an unopened box of period products to this cause.
The Honourable Prabmeet Sarkaria, the Ontario Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction will be in attendance to honor the occasion.
“I’m totally blown away by this, and I don’t even know how they found out about me,” said Gail Neff, a chemistry administrator at Brock University, who will be accepting her International Women’s Day award from the GNCC for encouraging girls into science vocations.
Neff still doesn’t know who nominated her for this award.
Neff has run the first-year chemistry labs at Brock University for 35 years and is one of the co-creators of the Scientifically Yours Program, which encourages high school girls to study science.
The program involves having female students from Grade 12 spend two days at Brock University living in the dormitory, attending science labs to immerse themselves in various fields of science and to meet other like-minded students.
During that time, the girls have an opportunity to do experiments, talk to professors and interview guest female scientists about
their careers.
This year’s program will be held from April 30 to May 1 st at Brock University.
Over the years, the program has since been extended to include students from Grade 11 from both genders, and aboriginal students to encourage more people to get involved in scientific fields ranging from medicine to kinesiology.
Neff, who helped design the chemistry program for Scientifically Yours has a favorite “flames and explosions” experiment, which is basically setting off
hydrogen balloons and it’s a real show-stopper,” she said laughing.
The program is about “having fun,” and “making connections,” notes Neff, whose love of science came from her father, who was a research scientist. Neff firmly believes interest in science needs to be fostered in the home and not just through schools.
Brock University named the Scientifically Yours bursary award in Neff’s honor.
At 79, she is still going strong and admits her “hyper-active” childhood has progressed into her senior years.
When she retired in 2006, she became involved in the Canadian Federation of University Women and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, STEM program in high schools.
Brock University has a Science Drop-in Centre for any students needing remedial help with math or science, and Neff assists there, as well.
As science today is preoccupied with climate change and global warming, Neff acknowledged the gravity of the issue.
She said one of the major issues associated with climate change “that isn’t being spelled out properly is the raising of cattle.”
When cattle are raised eating grains, instead of grass they cannot digest it properly and emit significant amounts of CO2, which is detrimental to the environment, she explained.
Everyone needs to consume less beef, milk, and cheese, said Neff, although she admits changing one’s diet seems difficult for some.
With the advent of the #MeToo movement and male discrimination in the workplace and within society, Neff considers herself fortunate not to have personally experienced this during her career. She attributes it to being a teacher, which she said was “always acceptable for women.”
“I wasn’t breaking any glass ceilings or threatening anyone’s job.”
Although, she is aware of female colleagues who had difficulty as they attempted to move up the ladder.
In science careers today, she believes “less pay for equal work is still an issue,” for women, and there are not enough women in top positions.
Despite the fact, Neff is a teacher, she ponders giving her acceptance speech tomorrow with both nervousness and happiness.
“It’s amazing to be awarded for doing something you love,” she said.
For those who want to share in this momentous occasion, please call the GNCC at (905) 684-2361 to purchase your ticket.
