This release was issued under a previous government.
The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) will offer the two-day civic leadership training workshops this weekend and throughout next year, thanks to a grant from Status of Women.
During the sessions, women will learn about board governance, roles and responsibilities and develop their leadership skills. Currently, about one in five community league board members is female.
The Civic Empowerment Project training is designed specifically for women who are newcomers, Indigenous, living with disabilities or who have low incomes – women who are less often represented on community league or other organizational boards.
“It’s time women in Edmonton were equally represented in leadership roles – from community leagues and municipal councils to corporate boards and as business leaders. Leadership often starts at the neighbourhood level. When women in all their diversity succeed, families and communities succeed.”
The project will make the training available to all 157 Edmonton community leagues, giving more women the opportunity to lead. The $50,000 grant will also fund training for EFCL community league board members on Gender-Based Analysis Plus ? a tool that explains how women and men are impacted differently by decisions and policies.
In addition, the funds will be used to create a Leadership in Your Neighbourhood League toolkit, recruitment materials and training information for mentorship groups.
“Only 22 per cent of our board members are women. We need to change this. Community leagues are the springboard in Edmonton for people to advance to political and leadership roles. Teaching women leadership skills today may give them the experience to run for city council.”
Increasing the number of diverse women on community boards can shape neighbourhood decisions in ways that make them more inclusive of different needs.
About Status of Women grants
Status of Women’s first-ever grants program funds 33 innovative projects by not-for-profit and charitable organizations for a total of $1.5 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Successful grant recipients, such as the EFCL’s Civic Empowerment Project, work to help women get good jobs and training, increase the number of women in leadership roles and end violence against women and girls. Other grants have funded leadership training for Indigenous women in Grande Prairie and a mentoring conference for women in Bonnyville.
Status of Women is accepting applications for 2017-18 grants until Jan. 10, 2018.