International Women's Day Guelph-Wellington 2024

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard that International Women's Day Guelph-Wellington 2024 is coming up quick! Tickets are almost gone for our March 6th celebration from 5 to 9 PM at the Grand Guelph Banquet & Event Centre! Join us for this inspiring evening where you'll find a variety of appetizer and dessert stations, a marketplace of women entrepreneurs, networking opportunities with like-minded individuals, and live, interactive activities.

But most importantly, this uplifting celebration presents you with the opportunity to join our incredible panel of distinguished women for an open discussion about inclusivity and belonging.

If you're on the fence about attending this event, this article will go in depth about each member of our acclaimed panel; Marva Wisdom, Alex Bulmer, Vicki Olatundun, and Leen Al-Habash. Each of these incredible women brings unique perspectives to our roundtable, making this a can't miss experience.

Marva Wisdom

Meet our moderator; Marva Wisdom , a University of Guelph Graduate with a Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership. She is a highly respected community leader and sought after public speaker.

Today, she is a Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and Founder and Principal of Wisdom Consulting . Her company partners with and supports clients in many ways, including; project management, motivational speaking, training, and much more. They have coined the acronym, L.E.a.D (Leadership, Engagement, and Diversity) to challenge individuals and communities to move forward in a sustainable way.

Along with her educational and entrepreneurial responsibilities, Marva is a dedicated volunteer who has raised millions of dollars for the Guelph-Wellington United Way Campaign. She's also an advocate in her community, taking on multiple leadership roles as Director for the Black Experience Project, the Founding Chair of the Guelph Black Heritage Society , and Member of YMCA Canada's National Diversity Task Force, just to name a few.

For her incredible contributions and selfless community engagement, Marva has been honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, the YMCA's Women of Distinction Award, and most recently, the prestigious Order of Ontario.

Alex Bulmer

Panelist, Alex Bulmer has over 30 years of professional expertise in the performing arts both in Canada and the UK. Alex's work is empowered by her personal experience of becoming blind, challenging her to blend blindness and seeing into the arts.

Through her years in the industry, Bulmer looks to de-centre vision from the creative process. The Fire and Rescue Team , an artist led performance collective, co-founded by Alex is one of her many projects aimed at achieving this goal. The group creates a variety of productions centred around the intersections of blindness and seeing. Similarly, Bulmer was the lead curator of Harbourfront Centre's CoMotionFestival in 2022 . This festival conjoined artists from around the globe, in a variety of artistic disciplines to showcase the dynamic and creative expressions that the Deaf and Disabled communities have to offer.

Despite all of the awards and fame that she has collected throughout her esteemed career, Alex's focus is centred around helping the Blind community. This was most notably exemplified during the pandemic when she created an initiative gathering professional artists to perform script readings via Zoom, allowing the Blind community and their families to enjoy the arts.

Vicki Olatundun

Panelist and former attorney, Vicki Olatundun likes to challenge the status quo and bring passion to the people that she serves. As a criminal attorney, Vicki was known for her visionary abilities within the non-profit sector, making a sustainable difference for Canadians throughout her career.

Olatundun is a powerful, thought-provoking, authentic speaker, whose, "one big goal is to be a MILLIONAIRE. A PEOPLE millionaire to impact over a million people with what she has to say."

Along with her public speaking and legal prowess, Vicki is the Executive Director for multiple not-for-profit organizations, including; SEEDS, Supporting Every Eve's Daughter Safely , and Chalmers Community Service Centre. Through her work as a college instructor, author, and provoking TEDx speaker, she echoes her belief that everybody has the capacity to be powerful.

As a philanthropist and community leader, Vicki has been recognized with the 2014 Woman of Distinction Award, declared a "ChangeMaker" by Canadian Living Magazine in 2015, and in 2016 she won the Non-Profit Excellence Award presented by the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce and was honoured by the Manitoba Legislature.

Leen Al-Habash

Panelist, Leen Al-Habash is the Project Manager for the Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership . Through the work that she does, she knows all too well the barriers facing newcomer women. Leen is highly experienced within the international development and policy sectors, with over a decade of expertise in community development, project management, public policy, and research.

The Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership (GWLIP) is part of a larger network of LIPs that are designed to strengthen the local community's capacity to attract newcomers and improve integration efforts within all areas of life. Funded by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, and hosted by the City of Guelph, the GWLIP was established in 2009 to encourage a community-driven strategic planning approach to address the barriers that newcomers face.

The GWLIP carries the responsibility of bringing together the Guelph-Wellington community in support of newcomer integration. But, they can't do it alone. Employers within the county are a vital step in creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all people. Also, the success of the program relies on the passion and engagement of volunteers who collaborate on decision making and implementation to make Leen's GWLIP projects a reality and success.

After learning more about the amazing panelists that International Women's Day Guelph-Wellington 2024 has to offer, there's no reason to wait; get your tickets now , before they're all gone! Come on down to The Grand Guelph Banquet and Event Centre on Wednesday, March 6th from 5 to 9 PM to celebrate this inspiring evening with Marva, Alex, Vicki, and Leen and help uplift the incredible women in your community!

Written By: Matteo Furfaro

Sources: Marva Wisdom , Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy , Alex Bulmer , Harbourfront Centre , Vicki Olatundun , Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership , Leen Al-Habash