(Toronto, ON – August 3, 2021) The Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) is pleased to announce funding received through Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE)’s Feminist Response and Recovery Fund. CCWESTT will receive funding for a multi-year project centred on gender inclusion in science, engineering, trades and technology (SETT). The funds will help advance women’s recovery from the current impacts of COVID-19 by increasing their economic security through systemic change across SETT workplaces.
“Addressing systemic barriers within workplace policies, practices, and attitudes is vital for women’s response and recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. By supporting the acceleration of change in science, engineering, trades and technology workplaces we will advance women’s economic security and ensure a prosperous future post-pandemic,” says Dr. Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko, President of CCWESTT Board of Directors.
The WAGE Feminist Response and Recovery Fund is to help address or remove systemic barriers impeding the progress and advancement of women, in all their diversity, in three priority areas: encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making positions, improving women’s and girls’ economic security and prosperity, and ending gender-based violence. To ensure that progress on gender equality is not rolled back as a result of the pandemic, there is a need to accelerate systemic change for women across economic, social and political spheres. This funding provides the flexibility for organizations like CCWESTT to be responsive to the broad and diverse systemic issues that need to be tackled to build back better, support a feminist response and recovery from the pandemic that is inclusive of diverse women, and advance gender equality across Canada.
About CCWESTT
The Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) is a leader for and a voice of a national community for women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology (SETT). They promote girls and women studying and working in these fields, and celebrate the contributions of women in all spheres of SETT. As a national organization made up of individuals, groups, institutions and industries, CCWESTT builds alliances and partnerships which support and celebrate a diverse SETT workforce. From education, to retention and leadership, their goal is to empower and support women who study and work in these fields through conferences, professional development opportunities, building networks and mentorship relationships, and being a voice for women in SETT in Canada.
