Written by: Melissa Mah

This semester, I was lucky enough to be nominated by SFU's Faculty of Applied Science to attend the Catalyst Canada Honours Conference on Diversity in the Workplace. For this two day conference, a total of 30 female Business and Engineering students from post-secondary institutions across Canada were chosen to be on the inaugural BMO Millennial Leaders Advisory Council.

The main goal of this conference was to promote diversity in the industry and discuss inclusive leadership practices that can be incorporated into future workplaces. Throughout the conference, motivational presenters such as Alex Johnston (Executive Director of Catalyst Canada), Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk (the women behind Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty) and Keynote speaker Ken Dryden (Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender and politician) spoke out about the importance of inclusion, the gender pay gap and making strategic connections to further personal success.

We were briefed on research conducted by Catalyst Canada on the effects and shifts in workplace attitude once Millennials begin entering the workforce. Through these interactive workshops and speeches, I learned specific techniques on making our excellence visible to employers, and hear tips from influential speakers on how to be a successful team leader.

During the evening gala that night, I was able to mingle and network with a handful of powerful female leaders working in the industry, ranging from Directors of Finance to Human Resources Executives. Day 2 of the conference was unforgettable - the BMO Millennial Leaders Advisory Council and I got to meet with Bill Downe, CEO of BMO, to discuss strategies on advancing women in technology and how to build and embrace diversity in the workplace. The topics touched upon at this meeting were extremely inspiring, and all of the students left the conference with a collective agreement that we would share our knowledge about diversity at our respective schools.

All in all, this is a conference I definitely recommend attending in the future - not only are participants presented with a number of networking opportunities, but the topics that were discussed in this conference encourages tremendous personal and career growth.  

Find out more about the conference at www.catalyst.org/events/catalyst-canada-honours-conference