Thought Leadership

Empowering Women in Skilled Trades

  Edge Factor Team   |     March 19, 2021 |   4 minute read
Edge Factor VP, Larissa Hofman presents her keynote speech to empower women to explore careers in skilled trades

In the Women in Skilled Trades Experience toolkit, Larissa Hofman, Vice President of Edge Factor provides an inspirational keynote presentation. Since March is International Women’s Month Larissa reminds all of us to celebrate the women in our lives who have inspired, motivated and taught us about love, sacrifice, loyalty and selflessness. One of the many ways we can celebrate women is to take the time to listen to them, and become someone who speaks hope and truth to the women around us. 

As Larissa addresses the women listening to the presentation she empowers them to gather around one another, look to the future, discuss ideas, create a spark in others and pave the way forward together. In sharing stories, women learn from one another and discover solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. 

 

Empowering Women with Great Stories 

 

The Women in Skilled Trades toolkit includes 5 days of high impact media showcasing women who have learned that the magic happens on the other side of their comfort zone. Here are just a few of their stories. 

 

Heather Jeffery is the Owner and Designer of Re4m. Heather uses her mind and her hands to design and build custom made products to meet client needs. She uses rescued and reclaimed materials which prevents them from being sent to landfills. Heather sets the bar high while she shares the sacrifices that come with being an entrepreneur. But if you love what you do and do what you love it's all worth it. Heather’s go getter attitude makes her a great entrepreneur. 

 

Christa Boersen, Manager at Boernview Farms shares how her work tackles climate change by providing sustainable solutions to the greenhouse gasses caused in dairy farming. Do you know cows produce methane gas? Do you know why or how? By listening to Christa’s story you might learn something new. 

 

In Reality Redesigned, 500 teams, from 18 schools competed but only 3 teams made it to the final round. Among them was Team Warriors, a team of four female students in Grade 7 who were given 84 hours to design and build a physical solution to a problem. These young ladies beat the other 2 finalists even though they went up against a team of Grade 11 and 12 boys. It’s inspiring to see how they worked together and used exceptional presentation skills to demonstrate their contribution to the final product. 

 

Skilled Trades Provide Incredible Opportunities

 

There are all kinds of industries and opportunities to create innovative solutions. Larissa equips women with practical tips. Encouraging them to build up their curiosity and research local training programs and skilled trades careers they have never heard of before. Prompting them with hard hitting questions and facts to inspire them to discover opportunities and be able to discern which opportunities to take and which to avoid.

 

Women in Industry 

“There is no formula for planning your future, you just have to try things,” says Larissa. “The skilled trades provide incredible opportunities for women to launch rewarding careers that directly and literally build the future.” 

 

When young women are given the space to speak and contribute or are challenged to try new things and discover new possibilities we witness the impact. They will spark meaningful conversations and explore careers where they can do what they love and make a difference in the world. 

 

As Larissa says, “Let’s go impact lives and build the future together.” 

 

What are you waiting for? It’s free! Register today.

The Women in Skilled Trades Experience is available for FREE until April 23, 2021. To access the free Women in Skilled Trades Experience, register here: offers.edgefactor.com/women-skills-experience.

 

This toolkit is available for FREE thanks to our partners: Mastercam, ABB, California’s Arts, Media, and Entertainment, SME Education Foundation, Canadian Manufacturing & Exporters, Women in Manufacturing and myBlueprint. 

 

For Edge Factor Premium members only:

This Experience will continue to be available for you all year! And don’t forget that you can assign this content for your Classes and Students to watch the media and answer quizzes. This Experience paired with the Industry “Student Directed Activities” are a great way to gain metrics and see your student responses too.

 

Questions? Feedback? Contact us.

Email: info@edgefactor.com or message us on the Live Chat. We’d love to hear from you. 

 

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