President’s Message: Happy New Year BPW Saskatoon!

December.29.2017

I hope that each of you had a wonderful holiday season filled with family and friends and are now refreshed and ready to tackle the new year ahead.

One of BPW Saskatoon’s goals during my term as President was to “Raise the profile of BPW Saskatoon (within Saskatoon and beyond) so we are recognized as the “Go to organization” for the voice of and resources for working women… and I believe we are accomplishing that.

These past couple of months have been incredible for women across the world as the #metoo movement spread and we saw it be named Time Person of the Year. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls tribunals were held. The Orange Rally to End Violence against Women and Girls was a huge success!

However with all that light we saw controversy come right to our doorstep with the ‘Boys Lunch Out’ event held here in Saskatoon and just like we wanted…the media called on us.

I won’t reiterate BPW’s position on this event, we made that clear with our statement to media and on Facebook. Instead I would like to share what the experience was like to be in that spotlight as your leader.

It was terrifying. There was a clear divide on the event with both men and women publicly supporting both sides with strong opinions. I have been President for a year and a half and have never had to raise our voice on this controversial of a subject. I say our voice because as President I represent BPW Saskatoon and our collective voice, not just my own. I am not going to lie, that played emotional havoc with me internally. My personal statement involved far more swear words than what was eventually communicated.

I was worried that I would fail BPW as your president and let my emotions get the best of me. From that worry and fear I found connection and collaboration with my fellow board members. After a few quick phone calls to Kristine (Marketing Director) and Krista (Vice President) we devised a statement that was worthy of our member’s respect. One that all of us could stand by.

Overall it was empowering. I felt so incredibly proud that Saskatoon knows about BPW Saskatoon and all the good we do. I felt a sense of accomplishment that Saskatoon solicited our opinion because we are an organization dedicated to making women’s lives better! I also felt immense strength knowing that our members supported and shared that statement all over social media because it was at that point I knew that with all of us supporting one we will be a force that brings a significant change.

My wish for all our members is that they find the same empowerment, the same sense of pride and accomplishment and finally the same strength in BPW Saskatoon that it has given me.

Caval Olson-Lepage
BPW Saskatoon President