The Minerva Foundation for BC Women » Minerva’s life

Gold Winning Events for Minerva

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:15:55 +0000

Not even Roberto Luongo could stop nearly 400 of you attending our annual fundraising event, All About Girlfriends™ Cosmopolitan on March 11^th of this year. With the Winter Olympics 2 weeks in the past, we made the brave decision to go ahead with our signature evening of fun networking and fundraising at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Little did we know that the Canucks Gold champion hockey player would be taking part in the Paralympics Torch Relay that very night! Luckily you persevered and battled through the traffic to make this event one of our best yet. Presented by TELUS, the event was a hit, with the live auction in particular grabbing your attention. Thanks to Tara Sweder and our fantastic sponsors, we surpassed the figure made on the live auction in 2009! Thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success.

We now look forward to our next event; the 2^nd Minerva Alumnae get together! This event will bring together past Alumnae to reconnect, swap stories and find out how they can give back and help Minerva. We are proud to have over 1500 Alumnae throughout British Columbia, and we look forward to seeing some of you in May.

Carrie-Ann Goodfellow – Resource Development Manager.

Combining Strengths Across the Province

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:17:20 +0000

The greatest thing about being involved in the Combining Our Strength™ initiative is the opportunity to meet amazing women from all corners of the province. In the last couple of months we have been lucky enough to travel to a number of different communities to support our programs.

Prince George On January 19^th, we were fortunate enough to be invited to attend a Community Circle session in Prince George. Toni Carlton, COS Council member and Circle Facilitator, welcomed us into her home where we feasted on delicious homemade chili and engaged in great conversation with women from Prince George. They have some great ideas for expanding Minerva’s reach in Prince George. Stay tuned for that!

New Aiyansh The Nisga’a women in New Aiyansh welcomed us into the territory of the Nisga’a Nation to hold a Minerva Helping Women Work™ COS program in January. The participants were really engaged as they learned more about themselves (through a visioning and values exercise and MBTI workshop) and learned some new job search skills (including resume and cover letter writing and interview skills). Thanks for letting us be a part of your lives ladies!

Fort Nelson In December, we ran a Minerva Helping Women Work™ COS program in Fort Nelson. We had an amazing turnout and a heartwarming welcome from the women at the Fort Nelson Aboriginal Friendship Society. We met some really inspiring women and saw some great friends. We are really excited about attending the Fort Nelson Women’s Weekend on February 5 – 6^th. More to come!

Courtney Daws and Lisa Tallio

Elena Chavez Back to Profession through Volunteering at Minerva

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:03:37 +0000

2009 was a difficult year for me. After a few months of looking for a job without any luck, I decided to apply for a volunteer position at Minerva Foundation.

At that moment I didn’t know anything about this organization. I talked with a nice lady called Astrid about the position of Office Assistant, but when she saw my resume and found out that I was a Graphic Designer she asked me why I wanted to work as an Office Assistant instead of a Graphic Designer? I mentioned to her that had been very difficult for me to find a job as a Graphic Designer, and I wanted to try something new. “Well, actually we need the help of a Graphic Designer to work with us because we are updating our image, website, and the newsletter” –she said- “would you like to help us with those projects?” I said –“yes”-

During this time I was able to help them complete the website as well as the newsletter; moreover, to show them my abilities and my skills. Also I learned more about Minerva Foundation and their programs to help women get back on their feet. In addition, I learned that they might be able to help me to get back to my profession through Minerva Helping Women Work program.

Definitely working under a volunteer position helped me to see the other side of the coin, and get back to the possibility of fulfilling my career expectations in life trough my Graphic Design skills.

>>>Elena Chavez was born in Mexico City. She attended the Metropolitan Autonoma University. In 1992 she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and Communication. Since then she has worked as a freelance designer. In 1997 she immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. There she went to Bodwell Internet School and completed a Web Page Graphic Design Certificate. One year later she completed her diploma in Multimedia Studies from the University of British Columbia. >>>

Elena Chavez
Email: elena.chavez.c@gmail.com
www.elenachavezdesigner.com

TELUS Named Most Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation with Global Award

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:39:42 +0000

Congratulations to TELUS on being named most outstanding philanthropic corporation in the world by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)! TELUS is the first Canadian company to ever receive this global honor. The Minerva Foundation for BC Women is honoured to be one of the many deserving charities that receive support from TELUS, and we greatly appreciate the support and commitment from all their wonderful staff in the last 10 years.

Carrie-Ann, Resource Development Coordinator