Happy International Women’s Day.

On International Women's Day, Rise Air's Vice President, Corporate Services and Human Resources, Tracy Young-McLean shared her thoughts on why this day is so important to all of us personally and professionally.

Today is International Women’s Day. The theme this year is “Inspire Inclusion”. I’m going to copy a quote directly from the International Women’s Day home page because they resonate with me. I hope they resonate for you as well.

“When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women.”

The first International Women’s Day was held in March 1911 as a day of global activism – celebrating women and everyone who is committed to upholding women’s equality.

World-renowned feminist, poet and civil, women and human rights activist, Maya Angelou,?is the person I look up to the most, the one whose works I read to lift me up when I’m struggling to find my place and to celebrate when I’m standing on top of the world. As I think about the aviation industry, and the pension and benefits industry where my professional roots are grounded, they are both very much still male-dominated industries. In our company, women make up 20 per cent. Let’s look at approximate statistics broken down a bit more

Executive leadership – 33%

Senior leadership – 29%

Management – 15%

General – 21%

Out of our approximately 80 pilots, 7 are woman and 3 out of 57 are maintenance engineers. Those are sobering statistics. But. All is not doom and gloom. We have an HR department made up of 75% women and although some may say that’s typical in HR these women are not “typical”. We have more than 50 per cent more female pilots than we did when I started work with Rise Air in 2018 and two more engineers.?

Personally, I have the distinct privilege of working and/or having strong friendships with women like Kristy Jackson of ABD; the women on our board of directors and its committees; Kit Loewen and Gwen Dueck, educators extraordinaire; Natasha Monkman, Jennifer Urquhart, Tammy Dove, and Kim Maxwell, with whom I connect and work with through my participation in the national board of the Canadian Pension and Benefits Association and who today were named as elite women in the pension and benefits industry; Sarah Johnson and my cousin Robyn Young who head up thriving businesses and both of whom have been named Insurance Business Canada Elite Women, my cousin Debra Jonasson-Young, amazing mentor and Executive Director at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship at Asper School of Business - The University of Manitoba;?Paul Harrietha, benefits professional, author and ally – the trifecta!; the unstoppable Caroline Tison, CEO of CPBI and my colleagues on the National Board and regional councils; Bud Anderson, my former leader at Crown Life who took a leap of faith and immersed me in the world of pension and benefits; Lisa Lambert, Saskatchewan MLA and a “bestie” since 1979; sister of my heart, Kim Maher; my two daughters and two daughters-in-law – Cassandra, Olivia, Crystal and Maddie – who do unimaginable and amazing things every single day, my sons, Dylan and Murray who support and lift me up; my husband Darcy, who enthusiastically comes along and joins in on every journey; and the strong, professional, knowledgeable women in our company. And last, but definitely not least, with my staff and the many talented and committed women and men I’m so fortunate to call friends who support me in reaching my personal and professional goals.

At Rise Air we support and believe in the women in our company who make it a better, stronger place. We believe in the importance of women leading and we continue to look for ways to increase the membership of women at Rise Air.?I’m sure you all have a long list like mine, and I invite you to celebrate those people today.

I want to recognize and celebrate the women at Rise Air who work hard every day, bring their unique selves to the table in amazing ways and congratulate you all for making our workplace an inclusive, better place to be. Let’s celebrate!

Dianna Clayton

Georgia Harker

Jen Makowsky

Leanne Martin

Tobi Hesje

Caitlyn Luther

Connie Fossenier

Kristi Knight

Joanne Donegan

Margie Pacquette

Barg Gregor

Sandy Kwong

Tanya Kormos

Barbara Allen

Jeannette Arcand-Hawryliw

Audrey Kormos

Crystal Toutsaint

Namandeep Kaur

Valerie Reding

Theresa Dzeylion

Carla Wayman

Heather Gardiner-Roy

Bronwyn Burr

Brittany Lockie

Elina Karpenko

Theresa Dufresne

Bella McMahon

Sara Tsannie

Sanija Kupete

Aliea Azure

Alicia Ard

Catherine Reed

Teagan Brown

Maureen Richard

Debra Cook

Jodi Roufosse

Ravinder Kaur

Tanisha Natomagan

Kim Westmacott

Vrushali Shinde

Mithat Singh

Gail Fox

Corinne Lafferty

Kim Alarcon

Jenn Fehr

Rosemarie Dzeylion

Michelle Fehr

Jacqueline Erickson

Faye Dalmacio

Audrey Lin

Maddie Cherneski

Laurie Cummings

Jaden White

Sass Mukherjee

Jannika Bejerano

Sherry Beckstead

Fatemeh Behnamnia

Cori Hayden

In closing, Gloria Steinem, another prominent feminist, wrote,“When unique voices are united in a common cause, they make history”.?Everyone, join in and do what you can to support and advance women – today and every day.?Happy International Women’s Day to all of you!