Minerva Programs
The Minerva Foundation for BC Women offers programs and funding which fall within one of our four pillars:
- Education
- Leadership Development
- Economic Security
- Safety
The programs offered by the Minerva Foundation address the challenges faced by BC women in the areas of leadership development and economic security.
Learning to Lead™
The Learning to Lead™ Leadership Development Program brings together 30 high school students, 30 graduate students and 30 business and community leaders from around the province to interact and learn from one another through a series of workshops and activities. The objective of the program is to provide tools for all participants to achieve their personal, educational and career goals, as well as to advance opportunities for participants to pursue leadership roles in all facets of society including business, government and the community.
Follow A Leader™
The Follow a Leader™ program provides women in the first three years of their careers with a forum in which they can be introduced to successful female leaders in their fields, providing networking and mentorship opportunities with recognized leaders in the community.
Women Leading the Way
In January 2011 the Minerva Foundation will launch Women Leading the Way (WLW) – a three year pilot program that will take “women who want to lead” through a part-time, year-long, advanced leadership development training program. Women Leading the Way is a unique hands-on leadership training program that will encourage women to move to the next level in their leadership journey.
Minerva Helping Women Work™
The Minerva Helping Women Work™ program was established in the fall of 2004. Its purpose is to assist women returning to work after an extended absence to determine their career direction and to implement their job search with the assistance of professional career counsellors, industry mentors and coaches.
Combining Our Strength™
The Combining Our Strength™ initiative was launched in October 2005. The purpose of the initiative is to assist Aboriginal women in British Columbia to meet the challenges currently facing their communities. The dialogue approach was set up to act as a channel for discussion between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women and to create a trust between the women’s communities.
Programs will be funded one of three ways:
- Funding support will be found by approaching organizations and corporations to sponsor a particular program that falls within their strategic philanthropic mandate.
- The income from the Minerva Foundation Endowment Fund will be used to support important programs which do not have a sponsor.
- We will link individual donors with a specific philanthropic area of interest related to women and girls. This can be done either through a designated donation or a named endowment.