Once again for 2019-20, the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough (WBN) is presenting an outstanding lineup of high-quality and inspiring speakers for the upcoming season, which runs from September to June.
The 2019-20 program launches in September with a keynote presentation that reinforces this year’s theme of “Be You”.
Complementing the speaker line-up are networking trade shows, development opportunities, the annual holiday gala and auction, and more.
Throughout the season, WBN member meetings will take place at Holiday Inn Waterfront and other venues in Peterborough, with networking at 5:30 p.m. dinner at 6:30 p.m., and the keynote speaker at 7:30 p.m.
The meetings are included as part of WBN membership, but anyone can register online and come as a guest (the cost is $50 for dinner and speaker) – but don’t wait, as spaces fill quickly!
Here’s WBN’s program for 2019-20 (we’ll update the program as it’s finalized):
September 4, 2019 – Season Kick-off – “Becoming Your Own Hero” with Parmida Barez
Location: Holiday Inn Waterfront (150 George Street, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Parmida Barez is an author, award-winning motivational speaker, educator, personal empowerment and public speaking coach, who has worked with numerous individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations in Canada and internationally.
Parmida uses life-changing tools, lessons, and perspectives learned from her own experience of overcoming anxiety disorder, depression, panic attacks, and agoraphobia to empower others to become the heroes of their own lives and set themselves up for real, sustainable success. Her unique delivery, creativity, and passion on stage captures individuals from all walks of life.
Parmida’s educational background is vast, ranging from degrees in political science, business, and education, as well as professional training in etiquette and hypnotherapy.
For more information, visit www.parmidabarez.com.
October 2, 2019 – “Mentorship: 5 Steps to Successful Relationships” with Trish Tonaj
Location: Personal Touch Banquet Hall (1135 Lansdowne Street West, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Trish Tonaj is the founder of Phaze2Wellness. The author, health and wellness coach, and entrepreneurial mentor believes in mentorship and the power of storytelling.
With a passion for speaking, she shares stories that inspire great ideas with anecdotes on finding “The Mentor” who will help you create your own brand of magic.
Trish has written two books: Breaking Barriers and A Diary of Change: 12 Personal Tools. She also co-authored a complimentary magazine called W2 = Wealth and Wellbeing.
Celebrating over 25 years as an entrepreneur, Trish is a master coach practitioner, working with entrepreneurs and enterprise leaders who build a culture of success while mentoring their team.
She has a certificate from Harvard Law School Negotiation Institute in Mediation and Dispute Resolution, is a certified personal trainer, a yoga instructor, and a nutrition and wellness specialist.
She is a managing partner of an online education program called Mechanics of FLOW2, is a contributor to the Thrive Global Network and canfitpro magazine, and is the blog host for Share Your Story.
Love, laughter and adventure is Trish’s personal mantra and focus for achieving life’s balance between wealth and wellbeing.
For more information, visit www.phaze2wellness.com.
November 6, 2019 – “Sustainable Development: Empowering Future Generations as Changemakers” with Kehkashan Basu
Location: Holiday Inn Waterfront (150 George Street, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Kehkashan Basu is an iconic youth leader, global influencer, environmentalist, champion of children’s rights, peace and sustainability campaigner, and passionate advocate of women’s rights.
Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize from KidsRights Foundation, the United Arab Emirates native has been impacting the global fraternity with her work on children’s rights, promoting gender quality, mitigating climate change and social upliftment.
Spreading the message of peace, happiness and sustainability has been her passion since she was eight years old, and she has worked tirelessly to enlist the support of children and youth across geographical boundaries.
In 2013, at the age of 12, she was elected for a two-year term as United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Global Coordinator for Children & Youth and a member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee. She is the youngest person and the first minor ever to be elected into this position in the history of UNEP. She is also a United Nations Human Rights Champion for her work on protecting children’s rights.
Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her appointment as the Honorary Advisor for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development – New York, a member of KidsRights Youngsters, Global Advisory Council member of Young Men 4 Gender Equality – USA, and a member of World Oceans Day Global Youth Advisory Council and EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council. She is also the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy forum.
Kehkashan is the founder of a youth organization, Green Hope Foundation, which provides young people in 12 countries a networking platform to engage in the sustainable development process. In January 2018, she led a team of Green Hope members to Syrian refugee camps on the border of Lebanon and conducted environmental workshops for over 600 refugee children, turning into reality the UN mandate of “leave no one behind”.
In her role as the voice of children and youth, she has spoken at more than 75 United Nations and other international summits, travelling to over 20 countries, notable among them being the Y20 Youth Forum in Argentina and the 67th session of the DPI NGO forum at the United Nations.
For her environmental advocacy at a global level, Kehkashan has received multiple international awards. She was also named as one of Toronto’s most inspiring women changemakers.
December 4, 2019 – WBN Holiday Gala and Auction
Location: The Mount Community Centre (1545 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
6:30 p.m.
“The Magic of The Holidays” gala features a selection of hot appetizers and spreads to delight your senses! Vegetarian and gluten free options available. Funds will be raised for YWCA Peterborough Haliburton.
January 8, 2020 – “Finding Your Community” with Abeer Al-Salihi
Location: Holiday Inn Waterfront (150 George Street, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Originally from Syria, Abeer Al-Salihi moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with her husband in search of better employment and life opportunities.
Trained as an engineer in Syria, Abeer worked in the UAE as an engineering assistant after a few months struggling to find work. She taught herself English at home, eventually becoming a teacher and receiving her teaching license.
After the war broke out in Syria and she lost her family home, Abeer and her family travelled to Canada where they sought asylum.
Following three months in Toronto, they settled in Cobourg, building a new life for their family of four.
Abeer is motivated to help others find their community and says “Anytime or any moment I found an opportunity to help any newcomer, I would run and participate.”
In 2017, Abeer was one of 21 recipients of the Canada 150 Constituency Awards in Cobourg for her volunteer work in resettling Syrian refugees, and in 2018 was awarded the Excellence in Public Education Award by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Union – District 14.
Abeer is currently working at the New Canadians Centre in Peterborough as a settlement worker in schools (youth worker).
February 5, 2020 – “Stand Up, Speak Out: Communicate Your Confidence & Magnify Your Presence” with Carol Schulte
Location: Holiday Inn Waterfront (150 George Street, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Carol Schulte is a professional speaker, trainer and certified coach who has been engaging and entertaining international audiences for almost a decade. She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance, an MA in Communication, and two postgraduate certificates in coaching and mentoring.
As the creator of ‘Women Living BIG’ and ‘Spark your G.E.N.I.U.S.’, she is committed to helping leaders step out of their comfort zones, initiate action and inspired change, and ultimately achieve what they never thought possible.
Carol can certainly walk her talk: she has lived in Ashrams in India to vans in New Zealand, volunteered in orphanages in Chiang Mai and Mother Teresa’s Missions in Calcutta, shaved her head for breast cancer, and bungee-jumped in her birthday suit.
Carol is a contributing author to three best-selling books, has been featured in numerous magazines and podcasts, and appears as a returning guest expert on Rogers TV. She has lived and worked in 16 countries, travelled through an additional 25, and brings her global expertise on people and empowerment to all she does.
When she’s not helping women learn to surf In South America or climb Kilimanjaro in Africa, you can find her volunteering as a bereavement facilitator, training for her next triathlon, or practising her serious carpool karaoke game.
For more information, visit www.carolschulte.com.
March 4, 2020 – Annual Member Trade Show & Workshops
Location: Highland Park Reception Centre (2510 Bensfort Rd., Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
The WBN’s annual tradeshow provides three members with the opportunity to speak to the membership about their areas of expertise: Carrie Wakeford of Black Cap Design will teach you how to create a website that will appeal to both your human and robot visitors, Theresa Moloney will share the 10 healthy habits of highly successful people, and Janet McLeod will speak about “cause marketing”.
April 1, 2020 – “Innovation and Design Thinking” with Shelli Baltman
Location: Holiday Inn Waterfront (150 George Street, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Shelli Baltman is the president and founding partner of The Idea Suite, a Toronto-based boutique innovation agency. She started her career as a management consultant with Mercer Management Consulting in Toronto and then joined McKinsey & Co. in London, UK, after completing her MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
In 2002, she joined ?What If!, the world’s largest independent innovation agency based in London, UK. She then started and built their customer experience innovation practice into a $4 million business before being promoted to managing director in 2007.
Moving home to Toronto in 2010, she founded and built the innovation division at market research agency Hotspex and also turned it into a multi-million-dollar business.
Since founding The Idea Suite with partner Fiona Stevenson, Shelli has worked building global brands and launching new products with clients including Starbucks, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Verizon, Mondelez and Hain Celestial. She’s a prolific speaker on the topics of insights and innovation, and you can frequently find her thought leadership alongside Fiona Stevenson in Strategy magazine.
Shelli is committed to supporting women in business and entrepreneurship through mentoring and speaking and training engagements. She is devoted to her family, including her three-year-old son and a Labradoodle named Doctor, and is also a passionate downhill skier.
For more information, visit www.theideasuite.com.
May 6, 2020 – “True-To-You Leadership” with Kelly S. Thompson
Location: The StoneHouse Hall (2195 Lansdowne St, Peterborough)
Networking 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Speaker 7:30 p.m.
Kelly S. Thompson is a writer and retired captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, with a specialization in human resources.
While obtaining a degree in professional writing from York University, she joined the Forces at the age of 18 in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2011, she was medically released from the military due to an injury and returned to her passion for writing.
Kelly has a certificate in publishing from Ryerson University, a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of British Columbia, and is a PhD candidate in literary and critical studies at the University of Gloucestershire. She has taught creative writing at Trent University, Royal Roads University, and more.
Her writing has won several awards, and her “Battle Fatigue” article on military sexual harassment was runner-up for feature article of the year with the Professional Writers Association of Canada. Her essays have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines across Canada, and her articles have published in Chatelaine, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, and more. Recently, her memoir Girls Need Not Apply: Field Notes from the Forces, was an instant Globe and Mail bestseller and the paper named her memoir as one of the top 100 books of the year.
In her talk, Kelly will share what she learned when, at the age of 21, she was placed in charge of a platoon of soldiers while being a bubbly, feminine young woman. She will examine negative stereotypes towards female leaders, issues of harassment in the workplace, and how, after nearly a decade in the Forces, she learned to be the sort of leader who led with kindness, staying true to herself and her values.
June 3, 2020 – WBN End-of-Season Celebration
Location: Surprise location to be announced
Details will be available closer to the event date.
For more information about the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough, visit www.womensbusinessnetwork.net.
