Ladies in Pink: Volunteering with Room to Read

Written by Megan Rendell

Volunteering my time is something I take a lot of pride in doing. It is my way of giving back where I can to organizations that could not operate without the support of volunteers. While volunteering is valuable to the organization, I find the experience I gain by donating my time is a million times greater than the services I’m offering. So why should you volunteer? Because you have the ability to make a difference in the lives of others and if you’re reading this you’ve been blessed with two things very few children in third world countries have: strong literacy programs and the right to a childhood education.

For more than these two reasons, the organization I’m most proud to volunteer my time with is Room To Read (RTR) Vancouver. Starting out as a grassroots book donation campaign in 1998, RTR was founded by John Wood, an ex-executive of Microsoft. Inspired by a three-week backpacking trip in the Himalayas in 1998, John set out to change the large gap in literacy education in Nepal after touring a school on his trip.

Along the tour John was smacked in the face with the harsh reality that the schools in the Nepal villages were not only dilapidated but lacked any resources to teach children to read. John was even more shocked to discover that the (very) few books this school did have – a Danielle Steele romance, the Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia, and a few other backpacker castoffs – were so precious that they were kept under lock and key...to protect them from the children!

This visit was the beginning of a project John could never anticipated he would undertake. He immediately put himself to work making call-outs to family, friends, and acquaintances, whomever he could to collect as many books as possible.

Quickly his passion for his project grew and the initial book campaign became the launch of Room to Read, a now worldwide NGO that works “to create a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.”

In Canada, RTR is 100% volunteer driven and is built on the basis of a communal vision to support the cause to create a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.

Because I cannot put it better myself, from the Room to Read website, "To achieve this goal, we focus on two areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact: literacy and gender equality in education.  We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond."

RTR relies heavily on their chapter leaders (locally the wonderful and inspiring Sharon Davis) and chapter members to help achieve annual fundraising goals and to represent and connect Room to Read to local communities.

I have been volunteering with Room to Read Vancouver since April of this year and work alongside some amazing professionals. Focusing on communications and community relations locally, I am working with the board to develop key stories about our members, local initiatives and international impact in an effort to increase our presence. Most recently, I spent a day volunteering at the TSX Golf Tournament at the UBC Golf Club where RTR was one of three beneficiary charities. Attracting financial professionals from all over including Vancouver, Toronto and New York City, this event was a great way for me to meet like-minded volunteers and professionals while talking about the organization and educating others on how they can help make an impact in the lives of millions of children.

The passion I feel towards the organization’s international cause is definitely a key to my fulfillment in working with this organization, however, the people that lead the charge locally are incredibly driven, talented and generous which inspire me at every meeting to want to do more.

The Vancouver chapter’s efforts have helped contribute to RTR’s amazing worldwide impact. To date RTR has built 1,556 schools and 13,152 libraries; published 707 children’s books; distributed over 11.5 million books; funded 16,879 girl’s education through scholarships; and have benefited roughly 6.7 million children world-wide. These numbers say it all and with an organizational goal to improve literacy for 10 million children by 2015 RTR is well on their way to making our world a better, educated and equal community for future generations everywhere.

YWiB UBC's Internship for the WIN!

This past May, YWiB UBC launched the summer cycle of the Internship Program! Since then, the group of interns has been working at their respective employers, each of which is a local, hand-selected Vancouver business. Before they started their positions, the Internship Program Coordinators, Kiran Nagra & Brin Snelling, organized a series of workshops to help the interns prepare for their placements. This included a 3-day preparatory workshop series, hosted by our gracious sponsors, PwC (thank you)! The jam-packed 3 days included career+life lessons from Sandy Thompson, the Global Planning Director of Young & Rubicam NYC; instructional workshops to help build technical skills led by the team at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology UBC; and finally a run-down on social media for business and basics of branding by Sukhi Ghuman, marketing extraordinaire!

So which lessons stuck out and became imprinted in our minds? Just some of the wisdom imparted to us by Sandy Thompson. We learned that both in your career and all your endeavours, you must "think less with your head, and more with your heart!" We realized the importance to have a "trademark," something that is unique to you and that you become known for! And just one more lesson valuable to all rockstar women creating change - learn to "politely refuse to follow the rules!" Create your own path and your own rules! After having received valuable advice+lessons, learning the basics of blogging, websites, and presentations, and becoming social media queens, our interns were now ready to enter the workforce!

After two months of extraordinary work at their respective employers, the interns convened for their mid-cycle workshop on personal branding. We had the pleasure of having Charles Voon, of Blast Radius, lead the workshop and share his expertise with us. The interns learned the importance of creating a consistent and coherent online presence, finding their brand and using it to communicate what they value and are passionate about, and finally various tools and means to brand themselves.

What have the interns learned and taken away from the workshops?

Erin Skycholas: "I learned so much from the social media session, and was able to use it to increase Twitter followers for the company I intern for. Thanks to the workshops, I’ve been able to do so much more than the original job desription entailed."

Rose Koo: "One thing I learned from the personal branding workshop was the importance of an online presence through blogs, personal websites and social media networks."

Tania Pardisi was able to leverage Wordpress tips+tricks from the first workshop, to use both in her internship as well as other volunteer positions.

What do the interns think of the Program?

Diana Nguyen is so thankful to YWiB for creating such a program and matching her with a company that was a perfect fit. At Pop Chips she's enjoyed the flexibility of working at various locations and events and interacting with different types of people.

Joanna Zhu loves that through the Program and her internship, she was able to interact with so many professional women she wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to connect with.

Rose Koo: "Being a part of the YWIB internship program has allowed me to gain industry experience and skills that cannot be taught within the four walls of a classroom. Working with Popchips has been a blast, I was exposed to a wide variety of skills that fit with brand management."

Kelly Trach: "The YWiB Internship Program equipped me with online tools and personal branding techniques enabling me to thrive at my internship with Vitamin Daily. Ultimately, I could build our Salesforce from scratch, create campaign reports and blog for Vancouver's most respected lifestyle website. Not only have I had the chance to learn about the marketing and PR industry, but I learned about myself and which direction I want my future to take. I truly accredit the internship program for this and I am beyond thankful the the personal development in which it has provided.

Jane Hahn of PwC, especially has dedicated much of her time and resources to make these workshops a success!"

Kiran and Brin have had a great time working on this year's cycle, and can't wait to see the last half of the program wrap up! They're happy to hear how each intern has felt their internship was a perfect fit, and glad they've made great connections and acquired many new skills along the way. YWiB UBC would also like to thank PwC, and particularly Jane Hahn, who have committed a lot of their time and resources to making this year's program a huge success!

Summer Vino Chatter

Sometimes the best events are those planned on a whim. That’s exactly what happened with our Summer Vino Chat this past Monday. We set no agenda, had really no expectations except to relax over a glass of wine (or two) with our current members and to meet some new ladies on the beautiful patio of the Vancouver Art Gallery Café. It was a hit! We had a great time, some great conversations about everything and anything and we met some new, fantastic, bright and passionate minds. Hailing from different areas of the working world (law, advertising, media, etc.), it’s just proof that YWiB is for any woman looking to connect with others.

We’re happy the event was such a success and we’re sure we’ll be doing this again. We hope to see you all very soon! :)

YWiB in action at FWE's Garden Party

Written by Harveen Nijjar

On June 26 the Ladies in Pink program sent out our team to volunteer at the sold out annual Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) garden party.  The event hosted 300 successful entrepreneurs at Vancouver Art Gallery's roof top.  Adah and Lisa went as volunteers representing YWiB.   They had the opportunity to interact with some amazing women while supporting FWE and  building great connections.

Adah and Lisa spent their time overseeing registration and escorting guests to the roof top.  They had the opportunity to engage in conversation with some influential entrepreneurs of our  community while riding up the elevator.  In addition to their initial conversations they were able to continue mingling in the event after their duties had been completed.

When asking Adah what her favorite part of the evening was she said and I quote "feeling the excitement and energy from all of the guests and the FWE hosts".  Despite her part taking in a small role, Adah was a major contributor to the success of the event.  Lisa said her favorite part of the event was  seeing so many people supporting the event  which made her feel happy that she contributed to a great cause.

This is what the Program Manager at FWE, Ashlee Conery, had to say about our lovely Ladies in Pink:

"YWiB volunteers are a dependable & professional bunch who bring great personality to every event they offer their service too. You can be sure that every guest that comes into contact with a YWiB volunteer to ask a question or find guidance, will be met with the service you yourself would provide.  YWiB engages the overachievers and the activators, who are committed to being knowledgeable, positive, and professional!

The event was a huge success and our Ladies in Pink left the event with some invaluable connections and the realization that they have so many more opportunities to explore.

Keep pushing

The following is a description of Marica Rizzo's experience before, during and after the Ride to Conquer Cancer this year. Marica Rizzo is YWiB's marketing director and for all of those who know her, this was a very moving and powerful moment in her life. We're glad she was willing to share, thanks Marica! :)  

240km to go...

Last year I bought a bike because I thought it would be great exercise. I could go around the seawall, maybe bike out to my parent’s house 13km away if I was feeling up to a challenge. Little did I know, only a year later I’d be riding 240km down to Seattle…

When a friend asked me to join the team he has been the Captain of for the past 3 years, it was hard to say no. This, I felt, was a way I could make an impact and contribute to finding a cure and supporting other families facing a challenge that affects everyone at one point or another.

I thought it would be a challenge to raise the minimum $2500 in donations to participate. But as I started to share my new challenge with friends and family – on Facebook or otherwise, donations started to come in. I am so grateful for every donation and for everyone who gave what they could. The supportive notes, emails and messages gave me motivation through the rain, up the hills, and throughout the ride.

Together, the event raised over $11.2 million for the BC Cancer Society and made this year’s ride the single largest fundraising event in BC. Thank you so much!

On the day of the ride, it was truly the energy and support of the volunteers, supporters and, of course, the other riders that really kept me going.

“Thank you Riders!” – said the signs held by the supporters cheering us on along the route on a rainy Saturday morning, warming my heart. It brought tears to my eyes to be reminded why I was pushing my way 120km to a soggy campsite. Only to get up and do it again on Sunday!

“Keep pushing, only 10km to the showers!” another rider called out as he passed by – sharing his energy with me, like so many other riders had all day. The buzz and energy at camp was incredible. Even though our feet were soaked from the constant downpour, and our muscles were exhausted – we were energetically sharing our stories from the day with each other. And then we were in bed by 7pm.

Sunday was beautiful. The rain held off, and the sun even came out just as we were approaching the 10km-to-go mark! I felt more energy than ever in the last 10km when we rode to the finish line as a team. It was amazing to cross the line with such an inspiring group of people – and to get hugs and high-fives as we congratulated each other….

…and then we signed up for 2013.

Beyond Pink 2012: It's back!

“As a women, it’s high time to {re}think our approach, {re}define our roles, and {re}start our careers” – Beyond Pink Team 2012 Beyond Pink is BACK and promises to be BIGGER and BETTER than ever! The last Beyond Pink conference was in 2010 and perhaps the saying is true, distance (in this case, time) does make the heart grow fonder. It must be true because this year’s Beyond Pink team couldn’t be more enthusiastic, inspired and ready for action as they put together the plans for this year’s conference.

For those who need a reminder and those who missed out on previous conferences (such as myself), Beyond Pink is a 2-day business leadership conference for young women in Vancouver. It’s aimed at providing them with professional and personal development. Why do we host Beyond Pink? Because we believe women have the potential to change the future of business and even though there aren’t enough opportunities to make this happen, Beyond Pink exists to fill the gap between potential and achievement!

Beyond Pink wants to showcase the possibility and inspire career fearlessness by bringing together different sectors of business. Set to happen in early November in downtown Vancouver, I for one am VERY excited!

Have we peaked your interest?

Stay tuned for more teasers and tidbits of information over the following months on an event that is not to be missed!  :)

Act from above the line

  This past month, YWiB's president, Paulina Lipska, made one of the biggest decisions of her life. She left her promising and secure career at a big accounting firm for a life of possibilities and discovery.

Many of you may question WHY?! But the reason is quite simple. Paulina wanted to start "acting above the line". For those who attended our recent "Carving Your Path" event, you may remember using this helpful tool for uncovering your values.

Learn how Paulina used this to uncover her path