Imagine a tradeswoman at the start of her career, stepping into her first leadership role. Or another who’s been in the industry for years and is ready to take on more responsibility. Both need practical tools, confidence, and a community behind them to help reach their goals.
That’s the vision that guided our work when we recently partnered with Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology (WinSETT) on a project focused on leadership development for women in the skilled trades. Together, we designed three full-day leadership workshops for their Connecting Tradeswomen project that can be delivered either in person or virtually and taken in any order.
The new series, called the Empowerment Roadshow, is designed to be engaging and participatory, and to give participants practical skills and tools they can immediately use on the job, no matter where they are in their career journeys. It is also designed to create opportunities for tradeswomen to connect with each other, whether by chatting over a break, sharing experiences during group activities, or building relationships that last long after a session ends.
To make sure the program truly reflected the realities of life on the job site, we placed tradeswomen and their real-life experiences at the centre of the redesign. Collaboration with subject matter experts, along with input from tradeswomen reviewers and WinSETT’s Advisory Committee, helped shape every element of the materials – everything from the scenarios, group activities, and suggested strategies to the visuals, handouts, PowerPoints, and lesson plans.
We also considered the experience from the facilitator’s side. Each learning outcome is aligned with interactive activities to keep participants engaged and contributing, and every session is designed with flexibility in mind. Facilitators can switch easily between formats because each lesson plan is written for one mode – either in-person or virtual – with built-in instructions for adapting it to the other. And, while a supporting Leadership Competency Framework was created to connect the sessions, each session also stands on its own so participants can choose the ones most relevant to them.
The result is a leadership series that gives tradeswomen across Canada an inclusive, practical, and energizing way to strengthen their skills, build their networks, and open new career possibilities. We’re grateful for the chance to have supported WinSETT in bringing these sessions to life.