Junior Achievement holds a financial empowerment event in Woodstock for young women
Smiles and speeches were shared recently as She Leads held its first event in Woodstock.
She Leads was held on June 4 at NBCC Woodstock and is meant to empower young women financially.
Participants were Grade 7 and 8 students from Townsview and Meduxnekeag Consolidated Schools.
The event was put on by Junior Achievement New Brunswick and is the second of its kind, with a similar event being held in Fredericton last October.
“Junior Achievement is a registered not-for-profit charity [and] is the world’s largest business education provider. Our focus at Junior Achievement is our three pillars, financial literacy, readiness, and entrepreneurship,” said Connie Woodside, President and CEO of Junior Achievement New Brunswick.
“We teach young people everything from how you set up a business to how you do budgeting,” Woodside added.
Participants started their day with a series of short presentations by various leaders, including former Mayor Trina Jones, Laura O’Blenis, President and CEO of Stilettoo Consulting, and Jenifer James of Junior Achievement Canada.
“[The presentations were mainly focused on] making young people understand that having a good handle on your financial future will help remove a lot of noise and barriers when you graduate,” explained Woodside.
They also touched heavily on participants’ ability to achieve anything they set their minds to in life.
Woodside also emphasized the event’s importance in providing young women with role models to aspire to and networking opportunities with attendees.
Once the initial presentations concluded, participants engaged in a variety of hands-on, leadership-based activities.
“We’ve got [a] communication station where the kids are back to back from ach other and they have to communicate without seeing each other. There’s a vision board station where [participants] try to think about their life and the things that are important to them; there’s [also] a station on team tower building, that’s really about team building and the importance of working as a team,” said O’Blenis.
Once the activities were over, participants were treated to a short lunch before the ceremony’s closing remarks and wrap-up presentation.
“We just want the kids to leave here today feeling really positive and hopeful about their futures; hopefully they’ll think about how they treat people,” said Woodside. “We just want [them] to have a really positive day with no negativity and leave here feeling that I can do and be anything I want to be.”
According to Woodside, there are plans to make She Leads an annual event for Woodstock youth.
