Being staged in the Leamington area for a third year, Elevate HER drew 134 attendees to celebrate and learn from the many female leaders in the business world. Organized by the Leamington District Chamber of Commerce and held at the Leamington Portuguese Community Club, March 3rd’s Elevate HER event featured keynote speaker Katie Stokes of Blab Media, and a fireside chat that included the Mayor of Leamington/Warden of Essex County Hilda MacDonald, Kara Murray of Count Her In Sports and Margaret Jacobs of LINK Networking, moderated by Carolyn Warkentin of South Essex Community Council.
The day began with a networking opportunity and a visit to the 15 vendors that were set up around the club’s hall. General Manager of the local Chamber, Wendy Parsons, then introduced the keynote speaker for the morning, Katie Stokes.
Stokes has her hands in a variety of endeavours, including being the owner of the Whiskeyjack Boutique in Windsor and co-founder of a social media marketing and training company called Blab Media.
The focus of her address was how women in business can further harness the power of artificial intelligence for greater productivity. Prefacing her speech with, “We need to use AI as a partner, not as a substitute,” Stokes shared how to make use of the many generative AI models and provided many possible applications that could be used for marketing, operations and sales. She concluded with an offer of a 30-day AI checklist for the Chamber members when they get back to the office.
Next up was ChamberPresident Diane Malenfant, who introduced the next speaker, Jodie Meyer of Scotiabank. Scotiabank was the presenting sponsor of the Elevate HER event and Meyer spoke about the Scotiabank WOMEN Initiative which has helped over 40,000 women in six countries around the world since its inception in 2018.
Meyer discussed the initiative’s three core pillars: access to capital, mentorship and education, saying, “Women are rising to the challenge and are having a powerful economic impact as entrepreneurs.”
The day’s final session brought four community leaders to the stage fora fireside chat about not only emerging artificial intelligence, but also about their journeys as women in business. Moderated by SECC Executive Director Carolyn Warkentin, she asked the three women onstage to reflect upon their experiences with the day’s topic of artificial intelligence and its effects.
The first panelist, Leamington Mayor/ CountyWarden Hilda Macdonald said, “We need to be cautious as it can be a double-edged sword. It’s important that we keep the female point of view, a kind, gentle perspective.”
Chat member Kara Murray of Count Her In Sports shared, “We need a seat at the table to provide the data and reduce bias. AI has allowed me to connect more and to create a community, even if it is just in a digital sense. It has simplified my life and has allowed me to shine in the areas that I find more meaningful.”
The final member of the fireside chat, LINK Networking’s Margaret Jacobs summed it up, saying, “We can’t lose that personal touch, AI needs to make us better. It’s about our visions, learning and carrying on. As women, we really need to celebrate our successes.”
