As we honour Canada’s 147th birthday, we are excited to be preparing for A Bold Vision, a women’s leadership event being held on PEI in September as part of Canada’s celebration of the Charlottetown Conference.
The Charlottetown Conference was a meeting, held in September 1864, that enabled 23 Fathers of Confederation to create a bold vision, form relationships and begin conversations about what our country could be. It is remembered as an exciting step toward confederation: the beginning of a three-year journey to confederation.
In the fall of 2012, PEI 2014 Inc announced a Community Grant fund inviting groups to develop innovative projects to celebrate this momentous time in Canadian history. As a group of women’s organizations, we wanted to celebrate the historic accomplishments of the Charlottetown Conference and acknowledge that the voices and experiences of women and Aboriginal peoples were excluded from the formal discussions.
So in this context, we asked, what would a vision for Canada look like that includes the voices and experiences of women from across Canada? It is our bold vision that a diversity of women’s voices is included in the on-going discussions of nation building that a country as young as Canada must have.
Our project is ambitious: so far we’ve selected 23 women from more than 200 nominated by their peers from across the country. They’ve generously given their time and ideas to our project, each writing a vision for Canada’s future, which will be published in an anthology, ready to launch when they arrive on PEI in September.
In addition to developing their individual visions for Canada’s future, the Bold Visionaries will come to PEI this fall to meet at the PEI Legislature, the very building where the Fathers of Confederation met. They, too, will discuss what their vision for Canada looks like and develop a collaborative vision for Canada’s future. They will share this with the public at the Confederation Center of the Arts on Friday, September 26th.
Finally, our Bold Visionaries will join us for a once in a lifetime Women’s Leadership Conference, where they will inspire us with their ideas, plans and practical skills for making our businesses, communities, organizations and country, better.
A Bold Vision is a unique opportunity to reflect on the changes that have happened for women in this country over the past 150 years, celebrate the accomplishments of trailblazing women as well as imagining Canada’s future.
So as we celebrate Canada Day, I hope you will join us – join us at A Bold Vision: Women’s Leadership Conference (check out our Canada Week registration special by using promotional code “Canada2014” by July 7th!), buy the anthology or come listen to the visionaries share their hopes and dreams Canada’s future at the Confederation Center of the Arts. The opportunity to join these 23 diverse and inspiring women this fall is not to be missed!
A Bold Vision would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. We’re thrilled to announce that the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions has joined A Bold Vision as a Platinum level sponsor!
