Event Recap: 2023 Wonder Women Networking Evening
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Over 30 Years of Wonder
Written by Julianne Kim, Event Coordinator
On March 15, 2023, the annual Wonder Women Networking Evening hosted by SCWIST and Science World returned for another night of bringing incredible women in STEM together for inspiring stories, great conversations and valuable learning opportunities.
The Wonder Women Networking Evening (WWNE) has been a staple SCWIST event for over 30 years. Although WWNE has been around for over three decades, we strive to make it better every year by implementing changes based on feedback, especially since we have adapted this event for a virtual setting.
WWNE will continue to grow and evolve, but its goal to create connections and uplift women in STEM will always be at its foundation.
Creating connections
WWNE provides a chance for individuals in post-secondary education, early career stages, or those contemplating a career shift to connect with remarkable “Wonder Women” mentors who excel in STEM fields. These professionals are established in their respective domains and have volunteered to offer their experiences, knowledge and guidance to participants.
This year was the third year that WWNE was held virtually, and as always, we took the incredibly helpful feedback from last year into consideration and made sure to implement as many suggestions as possible while planning this year’s event.
One of the biggest changes we made this year was creating a wider variety of room topics. We went from 13 room topics in 2022 to 19 in 2023, with new additions including physics, marine biology and zoology, manufacturing/industrial/materials engineering and project management.
The event consisted of three 30-minute networking rounds where each room had two Wonder Women that were able to share their experiences with that particular room topic with attendees.
During rounds one and two, the attendees went to their pre-assigned rooms which were determined based on their interests. Round three was the “Wild Card”, where attendees had the freedom to choose any room they liked. This gave them the opportunity to explore topics they would not have initially considered and explore interests outside their career pathway.
2023 brought us a fantastic mix of WWNE veterans and new faces — in both Wonder Women and attendees. We had an incredible array of participants from all over Canada join us, each with a unique perspective and background.
We couldn’t do it alone
We want to thank our amazing event partners and everyone on the WWNE team for their efforts to make this event happen:
- Science World, for letting us broadcast from their studio and for being our long-time partner
- STEM Streams by SCWIST, a skill development program for women interested in pursuing or advancing careers in STEM, for being the event sponsor
- Danniele Livengood, WWNE Coordinator and Emcee
- Sandy Eix, WWNE Event Support and Wonder Woman
- Laerie McNeil, WWNE Digital Support
- Julianne Kim, WWNE Event Coordinator
Fabulous feedback
To close off this recap, here are some things that our participants had to say about this year’s WWNE:
“A great impression for my first time attending this event” – Lindsay, Attendee
“Thank you for the Wonder Women events; they are amazing I feel braver after each of them” – Yulia, Attendee
“Loved to hear the inspiring stories!” – Carol-Ann, Attendee
“I swear the half-hour got shorter every time! Great conversations!” – Sandy Eix, Wonder Woman
“I’m always inspired by people who have made or are making career shifts!” – Wonder Woman (anonymous)
“These kinds of events help promote allyship; there is nothing better than a group full of people willing to share and support.”
– Wonder Woman (anonymous)
A huge thank you to all of our participants this year, to our Wonder Women and attendees; we hope you had a wonderful time and we hope to see you again next year!
Stay in touch
If you want to be a part of next year’s Wonder Woman Networking Evening, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter (link at the bottom of the page) or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn so that you can be updated when registration begins!