The Minerva Foundation is coming back to Prince George.
The social development agency was founded in B.C. in 1999. Its purpose, as stated in 2003 when a chapter was launched in Prince George, is to "raise funds to provide opportunities for women."
Minerva North was launched in September 2003 by Deborah Poff from UNBC along with CNC and several women leaders in northern B.C.
The chapter went quiet over the years but local contributions to Minerva initiatives have been ongoing and that was reinforced to a whole new level last week at a luncheon featuring special guest speakers Shirley Bond, MLA for Prince George-Valemount; Teara Fraser, CEO of the Raven Institute and Tina Strehlke, CEO of Minerva B.C. It was announced that Prince George would be the first city outside of Vancouver to host Minerva's key program called Learn To Lead.
"According to a Public Health Agency of Canada study, only 36 per cent of girls in Grade 6 describe feeling self-confident. By Grade 10, the number drops even further to 14 per cent," said Strehlke, explaining the goals of the program. "Minerva B.C. works to reverse this trend by inviting 50 Grade 11 girls from across the province to a weekend of community and confidence building. The expansion to Prince George will double the number of participants accepted to Learning To Lead each year. The Prince George School District is home to eight secondary schools, and is strategically positioned to offer a second base for the Learning To Lead, targeting girls from schools in nearby regions."
Minerva B.C. operates on the belief that the inclusion of women's voices will make a positive impact on B.C. business and communities. They bolster this belief by establishing new or supporting existing leadership programs, education awards, and also culturally relevant programming developed in partnership with Indigenous women.
"Minerva B.C. removes barriers for women and girls to realize their leadership potential," said Strehlke, and a bottleneck was spotted that the Prince George expansion will serve to reduce.
"Over the past two years, we've turned away as many young women as we've accepted to this high-impact girls-leadership program," she said. "The opportunity to expand our capacity by hosting the program at UNBC is one that we are excited to pursue."
A number of Prince George's women in leadership were involved in renewing the Minerva B.C. presence in Prince George. Bond was involved in both the Minerva North establishment in 2003 and in the establishment of the Learn To Lead satellite program now.
Another key organizer, said Minerva personnel, was former Prince George resident Rowena Veylan, Minerva BC's Director of Partnerships & Engagement, who succeeded in getting RBC to provide the leverage for the program expansion into the north.
For more information on Minerva B.C. and how this not-for-profit organization delivers leadership development programs for girls and women, and works with organizations to address systemic and workplace barriers that impede the advancement and equality of women, look them up at minervabc.ca or their Minerva B.C. page on Facebook.
