Women’s Empowerment Network 2026
Reinvesting in Self. Building Connection. Cultivating Brilliance.
In recognition of International Women’s Day, the Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) invites the Humber and University of Guelph-Humber staff and faculty to come together for a day of learning, reflection, and connection.
Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality, WEN 2026 centres building connection as a pathway to building brilliance—creating space for shared insight, dialogue, and collective growth across roles, experiences, and identities.
This year’s gathering invites participants to slow down, reflect, and consider how reinvestment in self, community, and one another strengthens well-being, leadership, and belonging.
Event Details
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Location: North Campus
10 a.m. | Networking — E Concourse
10:45–11:45 a.m. | Keynote — E135
12–1 p.m. | Optional Lunch & Social — E345
(BYOL: snacks provided)
1:–1:45 p.m. | Community Learning Circles — The Hives
Keynote Address
Reinvesting in Self: Reclaiming Power, Wellness, and Worth
This keynote offers a powerful reframe of empowerment — moving beyond hustle, sacrifice, and constant output toward reinvestment as an intentional act of wellness, leadership, and self-trust. Rooted in lived experience, trauma-informed practice, and systems-level insight, the session challenges the narrative that impact requires depletion.
Participants will be invited to reflect on how they’ve been showing up, what they’ve been carrying, and where reinvestment is needed to support their well-being and growth in this season of life and leadership.
Register for the keynote
Community Learning Circles
In addition to our keynote, the Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) introduces Community Learning Circles — facilitated spaces for connection, dialogue, and collective sense-making.
These informal participatory sessions centre lived experience and shared reflection, inviting participants to learn with and from one another through thoughtful, practice-grounded conversation.
Each Circle creates space to:
- Connect across roles, experiences, and perspectives
- Engage in reflective, practice-grounded dialogue
- Share tools, challenges, and promising approaches
Participants are invited to select one Community Learning Circle to attend as part of the afternoon program.
Wellness in the Workplace
Led by Stephanie Boachie & Jacqueline Morgan
This Circle creates space to reflect on wellness through the lived experiences of women in the workplace. Through guided conversation and shared practices, participants will explore care, boundaries, sustainability, and how individual and collective approaches to wellness can strengthen resilience and belonging at work.
Register:https://simpli.events/e/CLC-Wellness-Workplace2026
Building Your Brand
Led by Emily Milic
Centred on visibility, voice, and professional identity, this Circle invites conversation about building a personal and professional brand with intention. Participants will share strategies for navigating confidence, self-advocacy, and authenticity while showing up fully—and strategically—in professional spaces.
Register: https://simpli.events/e/CLC-BuildYourBrand2026
Mentorship and Growth
Led by Melanie Chai
This Circle explores mentorship as a powerful tool for growth, connection, and leadership development. Participants will reflect on mentorship as both mentors and mentees, sharing experiences and models that support women at different stages of their professional journeys.
Register: https://simpli.events/e/CLC-MentorshipGrowth2026
Beyond the Supermom Myth: Designing Our Own Success Stories
Led by Anna Rekhviashvili
This Circle challenges the narrative that women can “have it all” if they simply work hard enough. Together, participants will unpack how the Supermom myth reinforces impossible standards, obscures systemic barriers, and contributes to burnout—while imagining new, self-defined measures of success and more supportive institutional realities.
Register: https://simpli.events/e/SupermomMyth2026
Allyship for Women in the Workplace
Led by Shaun Carson & Ian Crookshank
This Circle focuses on allyship as an active, accountable practice. Through dialogue and reflection, participants will explore how allies can challenge barriers, share power, and contribute to workplace cultures where women are supported, valued, and able to thrive.
Register: https://simpli.events/e/CLC-AllyshipForWomen2026
We look forward to gathering in community—to reflect, connect, and continue building workplaces where women’s well-being, leadership, and brilliance are supported not in isolation, but together.
