“There is no elevator to success: you have to take the stairs.”
That’s one of the many inspiring quotes from the International Day of the Girl event hosted at St. Clair College Centre for the Arts Thursday morning, marking the impact women make on the world.
Manjit Minhas, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Minhas Breweries, Distilleries and Wineries was the keynote speaker at the Oct. 10 event, where more than 1,000 people gathered to hear her story of organic success, perseverance, and courage it took for her to become a successful woman in business.
“I've discovered I've gotten a lot out of actually giving mentorship, just as much as I have gotten from getting mentorship, because I truly believed that all leaders shouldn't create followers. We have to create more leaders,” Minhas said about how she got her start in the distillery and beer business.
Mentorship, assistance and providing the necessary tools for women to succeed in male-dominated professions is what Build a Dream is all about. The Windsor-based organization, which put on Thursday’s event, offers specialized programs that help women and girls explore under-represented careers, while partnering with industry to create an inclusive workforce.
“Every girl that has a dream is able to accomplish that dream with community support and resources and tools, recognizing that we all play a role in making that happen,” said Nour Hachem, the president and founder of Build A Dream, which is celebrating 10 years of offering service in the community.
The not-for-profit organization first hosted an International Day of the Girl event in 2019, and St. Clair College hosted this year’s event as the title sponsor.
Dr. Karmie Dhillon, who heads up St. Clair College’s Research and Innovation department, was also a guest speaker at Thursday’s event.
“This event in particular reminds us of the truth and the power to change lives and open doors,” Dr. Dhillon said, before reciting a reflection for the audience.
“Let's champion dreams, let's let perseverance sing, for every girl's journey is a powerful thing. With resilience as armour, and both in our song, at St. Clair College, together we belong.”
Build A Dream is constantly adding new programming and is currently in the process of opening a career discovery incubator to allow clients to imagine a space they’d like to work, tinker with various machinery, simulators, and virtual reality to get a firsthand taste of what it’s like to work in those spaces.
“I believe that if we all were more aware of small steps that we can take to make change happen, that really we could collectively start solving some of the issues facing our local region,” said Hachem. “We dream of a world where we can truly see and reach gender equity, because it takes a community and an economy to recognize that when women succeed, the world succeeds. And I guarantee that.”
“Build a dream has made an ongoing commitment to empowering young women in our community and communities across the globe,” said Andrew Dowie, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh. “We can't thrive as a community without young women, and women of all ages, leading the way, leading the charge.”
International Day of the Girl, which is formally celebrated on Oct. 11, was initiated by the United Nations to bring attention to challenges women and girls around the world still face accessing higher education, gaining financial independence, and breaking down barriers.
