Event: Making your way up 2022

Sunday October 30 saw the launch of the online event, Making your way up, and we can’t say enough about how proud and satisfied we are. This leadership and capacity-building event for Canadian-based women of the African and Caribbean diaspora took the form of a series of five inspiring conversations aimed at sharing resources, tips and tricks to help them better navigate the Canadian job market.

And yes, it’s been months in the making, and it’s finally coming to fruition. Through this article, we’d like to share with you a little recap of this vibrant day that we loved organizing!

A space for your wellbeing before your productivity

The event opens with a conference that invites us to reconnect with our “self” with an online meditation session guided by the magnificent Kim Knight. Educator, strategist and co-founder of “The Villij”, this wisdom-filled “rebel” invites us to question the importance of creating a space for our well-being that is essential to our productivity.

How to navigate and thrive in the corporate world?: an honest conversation

We then embark on a dynamic conversation between Carla Anide Guillaume, Virginie-Sankara Cantin-Diarra and Amina Kriket, who explain how they personally navigate and thrive in the corporate world. For them, the keys to success and fulfillment lie in a deep understanding of ourselves, our emotions and our motivations, while adopting a “Fearless” and “Shameless” posture.

Evolving in the Canadian Arts World: Let’s spill the tea!

After this invigorating leap into the corporate world, we land in the flamboyant world of the arts with guests Dj Karaba and Joanna Chevalier. These two women insist on the importance of networking and of creating and representing communities. Indeed, these two enthusiasts share their love of co-creation, which can only help us on our personal and professional journey!

Let’s talk about social media presence and the importance of a great online personal branding

We couldn’t have offered you a panel discussion without mentioning this topic: online presence and social networks! Indeed, we’re seeing an ever-increasing shift towards online platforms, which are becoming a pillar in the building of our careers. So how can we ensure that we’re shaping a personal image that suits us? Our three panelists, Anne-Edma LouisTax, Nour El Mohri and Olivia Saïzonou, answered this crucial question, focusing on intentionality in content creation and sharing.

From education, to acceleration, to transmission: What if success had many faces?

We end on a high note with this last conference, which invites us to quietly sow the seeds that will lead us to success. Indeed, through their advice, our brilliant panelists Danièle-Jocelyne Otou and Radia Abdi exhort us to adopt an “unapologetic” posture in those moments when we need to promote ourselves. How do we get rid of intrusive negative thoughts? The impostor symptom or self-sabotage? These are just some of the questions they’ll be answering as they recount their inspiring journeys.

For the umpteenth time, we’d like to thank everyone who took part in the event, both the participants, whose online presence approached the seventieth mark, and the panelists. A special mention also goes to the entire Sayaspora team, who ensured the smooth running of this event so close to our hearts. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of our financial backer: Canadian Heritage.

Making this event a reality was a galvanizing and enriching project for our whole team. We feel even more empowered in our creativity! So don’t hesitate to follow us on our various @Sayaspora networks, so as not to miss out on the rest of our activities, which we hope will enable you to acquire tools or simply spend a pleasant and rejuvenating moment.

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Fatima Terhini describes herself as an artivist primarily concerned with feminist, anti-racist and decolonial issues. Her degree in psychosociology and experience in community work testify to her insatiable curiosity and love for humans, living beings and, of course, social issues. Above all, her texts are influenced and imbued by the stories told and lived by the incredible women who came before her.