FCC will be delivering the event series as part of its Women Entrepreneur Program and as an opportunity for attendees to learn from and be inspired by other women
By Jackie Clark
Staff Writer
Farms.com
As the coming winter beckons the start of conference and meeting season in the ag world, women in the industry can attend one of five Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Women in Ag Summit events taking place across Canada. These free events are part of the organization’s Women Entrepreneur Program and will be an opportunity to learn, connect and be encouraged.
“The needs of women in agriculture are diverse and they are unique, and our goal of the overall Women Entrepreneur Program was for us to be inclusive and to have offers and options for women in agriculture at various stages of their business and their needs overall,” Candace Hill, manager of brand planning and execution at FCC, told Farms.com. Hill led the initial strategy development for the Women Entrepreneur Program.
“Through our Women Entrepreneur Program strategy development, we spent a lot of time understanding the overall needs of women in agriculture, so then we tailored the topics within this event to their needs,” Hill explained.
“We heard that women entrepreneurs in agriculture want to be inspired and hear from other women. They also want to know about available options for skill development. They want a network to connect with, to continue on their business and their journey overall.”
The Women in Ag Summit event series will reflect those themes.
“It’ll be a conference-style (event), with breaks and times for networking and connecting,” Hill said. The speakers include creative experts in business, psychology, personal development and entertainment, and the event will provide a “combination of business skills development with networking opportunities (and) inspirational opportunities,” she added.
The Women Entrepreneur Program team at FCC “saw an opportunity to have an event series that was complementary to the other women in ag events that are happening across Canada today, and for us to be very deliberate in the sense of our location … in the spirit of increasing access to these learning opportunities,” Hill explained.
“The importance of events like this is to bring people together, and not only hear from a lineup of speakers, but to also connect,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to come together to learn, to network, and essentially, to leave with some tangible skills you can bring back to your business and bring into action.”
The Ontario event will take place on Mar. 10 in Kitchener. A full list of events and speaker profiles can be found here.
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