Build a Dream to Empower Women

Purpose

This 30-month project will address women's systemic barriers to job retention and representation in male-dominated fields. Build a Dream aims to improve equity and women's economic participation and prosperity across workplaces such as the Skilled Trades, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), law enforcement, emergency response and entrepreneurship. To do so, the organization will build strategic relationships with key stakeholders, community leaders, and businesses and perform an environmental scan to capture existing knowledge and best practices to enhance the industry's capacity and leadership to help women, including students and women from underrepresented communities, pursue careers in male-dominated fields. Build a Dream will offer career development opportunities by connecting industry collaborators, students, and job seekers through virtual conferences, career discovery exhibitions, workshops, and hands-on learning programs. Also, the organization will develop a mentoring program and host a leadership symposium highlighting initiatives to improve women's economic pathways across these fields. An awareness campaign and open dialogue on gender perspectives and stereotypes will also be launched. At the end of the project, the organization will have contributed to the elimination of systemic, persistent and prejudicial barriers to women's equality in male-dominated sectors and the creation of a more diverse and inclusive workforce by changing norms and attitudes, encouraging collaboration, networking and improving access to resources that enable women to participate fully and thrive.