Virtual Event
Women in Manufacturing
May 13, 2021 at
1:00pm ET
On DEMAND
Retaining women in manufacturing:
How to build a more inclusive environment
Panelists:
France Daviault, Executive Director, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum
Antonia Wareham, Welder, Irving Shipbuilding
Elizabeth Moses, Machinist, Harbour Technologies
Women currently fill 4.5 per cent of skilled trades roles. Increasing that percentage and creating a culture on the shop floor that is welcoming to women is one of the key goals of the National Strategy for Supporting Women in Trades, spearheaded by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA).
In this fireside chat session led by CAF-FCA's executive director France Daviault, women working in trades discuss current challenges and potential solutions.
Meet our Panelists:
France Daviault, Executive Director, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum
France Daviault is a seasoned executive having held various leadership roles in large national organizations. She is currently the executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum and is an advocate for better inclusion of unrepresented people in the skilled trades and for apprenticeship as a viable and equitable educational pathway in Canada. Previously, France was the vice-president of the Automotive Industry Association, where she created the Advancing Women in Automotive Knowledge Exchange (AWAKE) program.
France is an advisor on the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a National Campaign to Promote the Skilled Trades as a First Choice Career for Young People.
She holds a Masters in International and Intercultural Communication, is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), and an accredited Knowledge Management Practitioner (CKM).
France proudly serves as an Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces Army Reserves.
Antonia Wareham, Welder, Irving Shipbuilding
Antonia Wareham is a Red Seal welder at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, N.S. She is a graduate of the pre-apprenticeship Welding diploma program at Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC)’s Akerley Campus and also completed the Pathways to Shipbuilding course, a joint program between Irving Shipbuilding, NSCC and Women Unlimited that offers students 14 weeks of preparation at the beginning of their studies.
Antonia has been a reserve military police member with the Canadian Armed Forces for the past five years. She is also an advocate for women in the skilled trades, a mentor to students in the Pathways to Shipbuilding program and at Irving Shipbuilding, and the secretary of Unifor’s Aboriginal and Workers of Colour (AWOC) Committee.
Elizabeth Moses, Machinist, Harbour Technologies
Elizabeth Moses is a machinist at Harbour Technologies. She started her passion for trades in highs chool, building robots for the FIRST Robotics competition. Elizabeth is an ambassador for KickAss Careers and FIRST Robotics Canada. She graduated from the General Machinist program at St. Clair College in 2019 and is the 2021 Alumni of Distinction. Recently, Elizabeth was awarded Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards winners by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) for her work in the skilled trades.
