WE Succeed: Beyond the Status Quo

This week we welcome Guest Blogger Nour Hachem, Youth Project Coordinator at Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor.

Call to action:  What if? Why not? What else?

These were 3 questions that turned an idea into a community project engaging over 100 people and over 50 industries invested in our Call to Action.

What if, everyone regardless of gender, had equal access to all opportunities leading to success? This is the essence of our project called WE Succeed: Beyond the Status Quo. Our goal is to educate, empower and engage the community in identifying obstacles young women face, which has direct impact on their potential for future success. More so, it’s a CALL TO ACTION that will inspire, influence and encourage prominent leaders and youth to pave the way for change in our community.

Why not? Was the question we asked ourselves two years ago when we realized that many of our clients were seeking jobs in administration, personal support and customer service.  As an employment centre we knew that employers were desperately seeking candidates in variety of fields, especially in the areas of trades, science and technology. 

Why is it that we are projecting a skilled shortage not only in Windsor but in Canada, yet many jobs available within these fields appear to be dominated by men? Why not, educate more young women who were seeking work. Teach them about the opportunities. Provide them with the right tools, resources and support that will help them be successfully employed.

Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor and Workforce Windsor Essex came together two years ago to discuss the various reasons these gaps exist. Through our research and talking to young women, we realized these gaps were highly influenced by stereotypical perceptions, family influence, systematic discrimination and organizational policies. Our next question was what could be done to help break down these obstacles, more specifically, what could be done in our Windsor Essex community?

We submitted our application for the Status of Women and received funding to carry out our project. This was our opportunity to reach out to our network of influential leaders, known as agents of change, to assist us in our goal.  A crucial component of our project is our Youth Leadership Council comprised 50 young women. These members will work with over 30 prominent leaders in the Windsor Essex community, who are committed to not only leading, but are dedicated to actions, that will improve opportunities for young women. This action will encourage our young women to learn more about jobs they may not have considered before. Create new points of access into these jobs, and engage young women in considering jobs within the trades, entrepreneurship and STEM related occupations.

We are really excited to work collectively and in collaboration with many people in our own community that represent a variety of fields and interests. We have been overjoyed with the response thus far and the additional ideas stemming from our community partners. More so, we look forward to the many changes that will transpire which will help turn an idea into a solution benefiting the lives of many young women.

If women succeed, W.E (Windsor Essex) Succeeds.

The questions I leave you with: What if young women did succeed beyond the status quo? Why not take part in the change? What else do you think can be done?

Nour Hachem, Guest Blogger
Youth Project Coordinator
Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor

People Like Us

How many people do you know who are similar to you?

It seems like there are a number of People Like Us.  We connect with others to create ideas and move them forward.  We lead our Teams in the right direction.  We are the "busy" ones getting things done.

What does your Circle of People Like You look like?

I am blessed to have many in my Circles both personally and professionally.  AlphaKOR, the WindsorEssex Circle, WEtech, WE Succeed....just to name a few excellent organizations for People Like Us making a difference.

Every day we are making new connections and connecting people together.   It is self-rewarding when the connections you make say thank-you and tell their story of the success from the connection you created.

Recently, we have had discussions to build a team to facilitate all the great organizations in this Region with true collaboration and one vision.  This is a very tall order to say the least!   This team will have to push aside the existing ego's, drama, silo's and politics found all around us.  It's People Like Us who can make ideas like this happen.

Telling your Story

It is always fun and a great opportunity when you are asked to tell your story.   You decide what your story is and what you share with the audience.

Telling your story is every time you interact and connect with people.  Most of the time your story is short, focusing on today and the future.  This is how we communicate who we are, what we are about and how we can help or how the other person can help us.

Sometimes you are asked to tell a longer story when invited to be a guest speaker.   This is the really fun part of telling your story.   Deciding what to tell about your past experiences, both positive and negative, really help the audience get to know you.

There are a couple of organizations who request to tell my story from time to time and it is such a great experience.   Presenting in three pillars has been my approach and seems to be well-received.

The first pillar focuses on my background and personal experiences.   Always first on the list is married to Carmela for over 20 years and two terrific daughters Haley and Sydney.   Details of growing up on a farm and my career actually started at six years old selling produce!

The next area focuses on AlphaKOR and the professional career.   Details of how the company has grown, the accolades and the core competencies are shared.   Talking about technology such as moving part of your business to the Cloud starts a good conversation with audience.

The third pillar focuses on the specific topic as it applies to the audience.   Networking has been the focus most of the time.  Sharing how we network, where to network and telling the story of the WindsorEssex Circle, monthly networking group.

Of course, the networking story is not complete without talking about Social Media.  LinkedIn, my favourite, and the other tools are shown how to contribute to successful networking.

My preference to story-telling is interactive and ask  questions to get the attendees engaged.   You know you are successful when there are questions and discussions started during your presentation.

What is your story?

Top 3 Not To Do List

Do you have a "Not to do List?"

We have heard about making a to do list and making a top 3 or top 5 priority list as part of a daily routine.   Creating a not to do list can be more challenging!

My top 3 items on my not to do list are:

1.  (Do not) Repeat the same mistake
2.  (Do not) Let the naysayers hold you back
3.  (Do not) Conform to simply conform

Making mistakes.   Yes, we all make mistakes and the key is what do we learn from them?   Understand it, acknowledge it and move forward with the power of knowledge you learned from the mistake.

Naysayers.   Does anyone have any naysayers they deal with?  You know the individuals who are skeptical about every new idea.   Take their "nay's" and channel it to help move your idea forward.   Sounds tough?  Well it's supposed to be!   Remember it is easy to say "no, it will not work" or my favourite "why bother to change things?".   (Remember the pendulum is always moving).

Conform.  This has always been a fun one to deal with.   Why do so many do things for the sake of doing things?  Rules are rules and they are to be respected, however, there are grey areas and rules are to be bent for the better good of everyone.   At times, one realizes rules are for "others" and do not apply at the situation at hand.

It took a long time to embrace the idea of the do not to do list.  Stop and think about your list and would like to hear what's on yours.

How is your Journey so far?

As we enter the second half of the year and reviewing goals set for this year, it made me think about our journey. It's our journey along the way that counts more than than the destination.

Meeting great like-minded people and making a positive difference along the way have been self-rewarding along they way.  These experiences  inspire me to continue growing and learning each and every day.

On the personal side, the journey has been terrific.  Married to Carmela over twenty years!  Our daughters Haley (15) and Sydney (13) keep the journey exciting, fun and sometimes challenging.   Balancing our family time with friends and sports has lead to a healthy balanced life and a bit hectic at times!

The professional side has been very exciting and  enjoying the continued growth.  We are in our nineteenth year and AlphaKOR continues to move in the right direction.  Our team is committed and dedicated to ensure our goals are reached and surpassed.  Thanks team for all you do and enjoy leading us as we keep growing.

On the volunteer side, it's been a wonderful experience to be involved in a number of associations and groups.  Each serves a purpose and working together as a team to make a difference is very enjoyable.  If you are not volunteering for at least one cause, I highly recommend it.

I know it's very early in my journey and look forward to starting each day with the new task list to accomplish.

How is your Journey so far?