Our Focus Areas

Our vision is to create a world where all our daughters feel empowered, respected and safe; where our sisters can exercise all of their talents and abilities without inhibition; and where our mothers are able to live their senior years as active members of the community with dignity.

We believe that there are specific areas where we can create the most impact and change for women and girls in BC. Our programs offer opportunities in the areas of: Education, Leadership Development, and Economic Security.

Education – Training and advanced education is often necessary to develop one’s full potential and can contribute to both family and society in a meaningful way. We understand that single mothers, mature women re-entering the workforce, women in non-traditional fields and immigrant and Aboriginal women can face educational barriers. Minerva has established The Education Awards Program in partnership with post-secondary institutions throughout the province to assist women in BC to further their education. Minerva provides the infrastructure for foundations, individuals, associations and corporations to either establish an annual award or an endowed fund to assist women in furthering their education.

Leadership development – Understanding different leadership styles, acquiring the tools to be able to motivate people and developing one’s network are all critical to leadership development. Minerva offers several leadership programs to help women learn from one another to achieve their personal, educational and career goals and to encourage women to pursue leadership roles in all facets of society including business, government and the community.

Economic security – Women re-entering the work force after an absence from raising children, caring for elders, immigration and other reasons often face a number of unique challenges different from other job seekers. They may have outdated skills and connections, reduced earning potential, specific income needs, untapped new skills, limited awareness and lack of confidence in re-entering a different marketplace. The Minerva Helping Women Work™ initiative is a unique career-mentoring program that supports highly-skilled and undervalued professional women who feel “boxed in” in their attempts to re-enter the workforce and provide economic security for their families.

Our Brand Story

It is said that both Neptune and Minerva competed for the rights to the City of Athens. It was determined that whoever devised the gift most useful to mortals would be granted the city as their own. Neptune created the horse and Minerva created the olive Minerva’s gift won the city. Minerva’s useful gift of the olive offered an ongoing source of food, work and a sustainable, healthy life for the community.

We have incorporated the olive leaf into our new brand identity as it is a symbol of our work – work that permanently changes lives and creates community.