Laurel Douglas, CEO of Women’s Enterprise Centre and board member of WEOC, was part of the two-person Canadian delegation at the 2017 W20 in Berlin, Germany in late April. The W20 is the newest permanent engagement group of the G20. It was created to help advance women’s economic empowerment in G20 countries and beyond, by helping identify common priorities and encourage gender perspectives within the entire G20 process and the other G20 engagement groups. This is the second W20 summit which Douglas has attended on behalf of WEOC. The other Canadian representative at the W20 this year was Julie Delahanty, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada.

This year’s W20 identified three major priorities: labour market, digital and financial inclusion for women, including supporting women entrepreneurs to start and scale, build capacity, and have equal access to finance, markets and global value chains.

The entire W20 Communique and Implementation Plan can be found here. These documents were presented to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who promised to present the recommendations to her counterparts at the G20 Leaders’ Summit and help ensure that the priorities get acted upon. 

WEOC, Canada's sole national organization dedicated to the success of women entrepreneurs, and the authority on women's entrepreneurship in Canada is pleased to support Canada’s important role at the W20, and to ensure that the interests of Canadian women entrepreneurs and women in business are represented.

As part of the W20 event, there was also a conference featuring several high level panels. Chancellor Merkel addressed the conference on three separate occasions, showing her commitment to enhancing women’s economic empowerment in the G20 countries and worldwide. Other speakers included Minister Manuela Schwesig of Germany, Christine Lagarde of the IMF, Minister Chrystia Freeland of Global Affairs Canada, Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the POTUS, and Anne Finucane, Vice Chair of Bank of America and Inez Murray, of the Global Banking Alliance for Women.

At the event, a fund to support women-led ventures in developing countries was announced. It will be managed by the World Bank, and several G20 nations will be contributing to it, including Germany, the US and Canada.

The EILEEN FISHER Women-Owned Business Grant program supports majority women-owned businesses that are beyond the startup phase and are creating a positive environmental and/or social impact. Each year, they award up to 10 businesses (and social enterprises) with a minimum grant of $10,000 and a trip to NYC.

Interested businesses can review the full eligibility and selection criteria and apply here . Applications are due May 31, 2017 at 5PM Eastern.

The Women in Business Initiative - New Brunswick (WBI-NB) is encouraging women entrepreneurs to get on board, while boards can often be supportive environments to gain new experiences and develop new skills. Sitting on boards also provide female entrepreneurs opportunities to: (1) get hands-on practice in a variety of areas, (2) gain exposure on how other sectors function, and (3) make decisions influencing the direction and management of organizations.

In order to help women in business get on board, the WBI-NB offers various ways to make it easier for women to access a board of directors in public sector, private sector or the community. In 2016, we experienced a great success with a workshop entitled Introduction to Boards for Women. In 2017, the workshop will go further with Board Effectiveness for Women.

Some facts:
Studies show that women are underrepresented in many areas of leadership, including representation on boards. It is important for women to be involved on boards as women bring: (1) different knowledge and experience broadening input, opinions, ideas, and approaches, (2) unique perspectives on the needs and views of a significant proportion of board stakeholders, and (3) new connections.

Moreover, did you know?

• Over 40% of public companies have no women board directors
  
• 17% of Canada’s major 100 companies have no female directors
  
• At the current pace, women will hold less than one-fifth of board seats in 2020

Source: Catalyst

For more information on The Women in Business Initiative - New Brunswick visit their website. 

Summary of key WEOC activity for the 2016-2017 year:

April 2016

• WEOC was the national partner of Feminine Capital Bestseller Day which aimed to promote Professors Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliott’s book Feminine Capital: Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs
  

May 2016

• Laurel Douglas, WEOC board member, was part of the 3-member Canadian delegation at the 2016 W20 Summit in Xi’an, China
• Presentation by Sandra Altner, WEOC Chair, to ISED of WEOC white paper Recommendations on a National Women’s Enterprise Development Strategy to Drive Economic Growth
• Attendance at Startup Canada Day on the Hill 2016
• Participation of WEOC Chair in Ministerial Policy Hearing – Status of Women Canada

June 2016

• WEOC partners participated in a dual city trade mission to the US, led by the Global Affairs Canada, Business Women in Trade Program
  
  • The first stop was Atlanta, Georgia, where US, Mexican and Canadian delegates participated in the Women in Business Summit
    
  • After two and a half days of learning and relationship building in Atlanta, many of the delegates went on to WBENC, the largest Supplier Diversity conference for women owned businesses in North America 
    
  • The Canadian WBENC delegation included 61 Canadian delegates, including women business owners, WEOC partners and other support organizations from across Canada
    
• WEOC Chair began participation in Ontario Women’s Network meetings to discuss the development of a women’s enterprise centre in Ontario

July 2016

• Tracey Scarlett, former WEOC board member, acted as an adjudicator for Startup Canada 2016

August 2016

• WEOC Chair and Chair Elect present at the Canadian Entrepreneurship Institute in Ottawa on Scaling Women Entrepreneurship in Canada

September 2016

• First newsletter of WEOC 

November 2016

• WEOC 2016 AGM and reception held in Toronto, Ontario 
• WEOC Board attends WEConnect International in Canada National Conference
• WEOC Board attends the Canadian Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference
• WEOC Chair invited to sit on Minister Chagger’s Round Table on Women’s Entrepreneurship

January 2017

• WEOC Board attends SHEday 2017 in Winnipeg, Manitoba presented by Women's Enterprise Centre of Manitoba

March 2017

• Chair’s Response to Budget 2017. 

*Other activities include board meetings which take place monthly with occasional guest topic speakers