Perfectly Unfiltered

Alisha (Ali) Moser is a driven business strategist, diversity and inclusion champion, entrepreneur and thought leader with a background in corporate sales and leadership. 

She holds a Master's in Business Administration with a specialization in Sustainable Commerce, as she remains committed to embedding social responsibility practices within corporate infrastructure. 

Ali is a passionate community activist, host and Executive Producer of the award winning Talk Show Melanated View centred on the intersectionality of the Black Canadian Experience.

 Ali has cultivated over 15 years of experiences inspiring tangible change in the advancement of equality measures to promote true inclusion and diversity within the communities in which she serves.  

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"It took me my whole 5 years to prove to people that I was able to do a demanding job."

Anastasia Smelsky is a Level 4 powerline technician apprentice at Hydro One, but also has a background in police foundations, emergency management and security and risk.

Join Nour and Ana as they sit down and talk about Ana’s journey of being the only woman in work environments, having to prove herself and the hope they have for the future of these male dominated industries to not only attract, but retain women in these positions. 

https://www.cusw.ca/ 

https://www.hydroone.com/ 

https://www.skillsontario.com/ 

https://cambriancollege.ca/ 

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Jelissa De Torres is a carpentry apprentice working with Caisley Developments and attending the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her introduction into the trades was in 2019 when she participated in a Women in Trades: Introduction to Carpentry, held by the Open Door Group. 

On evenings and weekends, she runs a business designing, and building, a variety of custom wood pieces for event planners, decorators and local businesses. She's a passionate advocate for mental health and women in the trades. She hopes to one day start a summer camp for young girls where they can both explore the skills one learns in the trades, as well as develop personal skills, such as confidence and assertiveness, in a supportive community. 

https://www.itabc.ca/open-door-group
https://www.instagram.com/jelly.thecarpenter/

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Daria Pidhorodetska is a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. Daria completed her undergraduate studies in biology in 2017, where she was the first student at her institution to conduct research in astrobiology. 

Fascinated by the search for life on other worlds, she went on to spend 2.5 years at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center working on exoplanet detection and characterization, through computer modelling and space-based observations. 

Now, she works to expand these efforts while furthering her education by sharing her science and bringing astrobiology into communities all over the world. 

Daria was part of our Dreamer Day celebration where we were so inspired by her story we decided to launch a campaign called Take Up More Space!

https://www.webuildadream.com/takeupmorespace/

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Nour sits down with Nina to discuss her career path as a medical writer and illustrator, what prevents women from going into STEM careers, as well as how to include retain women in the workplace.  

Nina Chhita is a medical writer and Illustrator who moved to Vancouver from the UK and has an MSc. In Developmental Biology from the University of bath. She’s best known for her illustrations and research work on her Instagram account, @nina.draws.scientists. 

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Ashley is a plumber at Canyon Plumbing, where she works alongside a journeyperson to complete jobs including installations, troubleshooting, and construction and is one of the winners of Build a Dream’s #HerPower Tools program!

Join Ashley and Nour as they sit down to discuss Ashley's trades journey from a business degree to becoming a plumber, and how high school can deter you from taking classes that you enjoy since you're at an age when you're trying to figure yourself out as well as trying to fit in.

"It's okay to quit jobs. the first ten years you're out of high school is probably the best time for you to venture around and try different things and see if what you thought you were gonna like is actually what you like."

Links to programs and events mentioned in this podcast:



https://manpowerab.com/powering-trades/
https://www.webuildadream.com/toolsapplication/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWUXEBTAqmA 

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This week's guest is Tegan Denley, Red Seal Journeyperson Powerline Technician at Hydro One. Tegan is also a member of the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers as well as the Joint Powerline Technician Committee where she helps apprentices navigate their journey.

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Cara Grant is a graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School and a former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. Ms. Grant also trained at the School of Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, in Germany and also at the Rotterdam Danse Academy, Netherlands. Since retiring from the National Ballet of Canada Ms. Grant pursued a college degree in Interior Design, along with University studies in Architecture and Project Management. 

Ms. Grant commenced her second career with WSP Group, a global engineering firm; working with the firm for 10 years. In 2018 Ms. Grant joined EllisDon Corporation, one of Canada’s largest construction services companies.

Over the course of her career, Cara has developed an impressive breadth of experience spanning a diverse variety of industry sectors including the Mission Critical, Commercial, Healthcare, Education, Retail and Municipal sectors.

Her extensive experience in the management of large-scale construction projects includes working on numerous projects domestically and internationally; from pre-design through construction to the commissioning and year-end reviews. She has represented owners and worked collaboratively with user groups, design teams, construction teams, and with all levels of government. 

Her most notable projects include the Ryerson Student Learning Centre, Ryerson Theatre School, Stackt Shipping Container project, and St. Michael’s Hospital Redevelopment Project. 

She continues to be engaged within the dance community, currently serving on the Board of Directors at Fall for Dance North and previously served as Chair of the Board for Peggy Baker Dance Projects.

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Since 2002, Linda Hasenfratz has been the CEO of Linamar Corporation, an advanced manufacturing company with leading-edge technology and deep manufacturing expertise.

Linda joins host Nour Hachem-Fawaz to talk about leadership and why she founded See It Be It STEM It.

𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖'𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣:

•  Think about what subjects you like the best.
•  Give a thought to what jobs you could do with those subjects.
•  Consider what those jobs pay and if that matches your future vision.
• Don't drop math and science! Keep those options open.

𝙃𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙯 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤:

•  Embrace the idea of diversity. It broadens your talent pool.
•  Build your leadership team to be representative of the demographics of your company.
•  Think about how you advertise your openings and what adjustments you can make so that more individuals see themselves as a fit for your organization.
• And when you get the team you need and want to excel? Good leaders will demonstrate care for others, and work to balance the needs of employees, customers, and stakeholders equally.

As a continuous advocate for women, and as STEM became a common conversation, Linda Hasenfratz founded See It Be It STEM It to provide a platform to continue the conversation of involving more women in STEM. Along with highlighting profiles of women in STEM careers, the organization puts out a calendar each year so that some of those profiles can be top of mind. Visit seeitbeitstemit.com to read the profiles and get access to one of the 20,000 calendars printed each year.

• Western University Scholarship for women in Engineering/Business Dual Degree Program (Linamar & the Hasenfratz family donated $5m!): http://www.eng.uwo.ca/women-in.../linamar-scholarships.html

Sponsored by: Work Based Learning Consortium

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