Provinces et territoires: Manitoba

Connecture Canada will be continuing a monthly Entrepreneurs’ Market. These events will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
There will be networking private sessions opportunities as well, so the participants can interact and learn more about the products and services offered.

This online event will take place Wednesday, February 17th, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST.

If you would like to be an exhibitor, please send us your company’s business details (name, email, website, social media pages, slogan) logo’s, a short paragraph about your company that you would like to include in the marketing of your booth.

Our email address: events@connecture.a

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods. It has shed a spotlight on all inequities and exacerbated the already longstanding systemic barriers through the glare of systemic racism and in particular, Anti-Black Racism and related inequities in employment, resources and wealth that have further compounded socioeconomic inequities. The extreme experiences of Anti-Black Racism have brought to the fore, the prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests around the world calling out Anti-Black Racism, raising heightened awareness about the rights of Black people and Black communities. This February, as we honor Black History Month, reflecting on the profound traumas of Black History and honoring the remarkable contributions and struggles of Black Canadians, it is a watershed moment to acknowledge the tremendous work still needed to address Anti-Black Racism. It is also an opportunity to discuss the challenges caused by the pandemic unique to Black entrepreneurs, who, over the years, have strengthened the Canadian economy and labour market.

Research has shown that the Black Canadian population across Canada has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Canadians face higher rates of unemployment and are over-represented in the industries like food and accommodation services that are most affected by the pandemic. They are also over-represented in precarious employment in jobs that are at the greatest risk in the work of the future. Research has also shown that Black people are pursuing self-employment and entrepreneurship due to the negative experiences in the workplace caused by explicit racism, discrimination and microaggressions, and exclusion from employment.

The pandemic has been a harsh blow to Black entrepreneurs adversely affecting the scale and revenue of their businesses. Black entrepreneurs have faced financial losses and challenges, the urgent need to invest in digitization to balance their stalled offline and physically based business activities with online business, the lack of a stable customer-base exacerbated by the physical distancing norms and series of lockdowns causing many businesses to shut down. Many Black entrepreneurs have also faced financial exclusion due to biases at financial institutions making accessible financing a major hurdle for their businesses. In sum, Black entrepreneurs have been sidelined by the systemic discrimination embedded in the institutions in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, ranging from education, finance, business support, incubators and accelerators, and government funding. Moreover, there is also a lack of support in the ecosystem in the form of encouragement, mentorship, sponsorship, and access to networks and information.

With the pandemic paralyzing Black-owned businesses, this has taken a mental health toll on Black entrepreneurs. Black women entrepreneurs have been hardest hit faced with more disruptions in their businesses, picking up more of the childcare and household responsibilities. As the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum in 2020, it gave visibility to some Black-owned businesses through the Buy Black-owned campaigns but many continue to struggle to stay afloat. These unique struggles of Black entrepreneurs have led to the federal government extending aid to qualifying Black entrepreneurs. Questions still arise: is this enough? What polices should be put in place to deconstruct systems that help perpetuate Anti-Black Racism? Can more loans truly help businesses already experiencing financial constraints?

As Canada gears up for a reset, key discussions should be on how to build a more equitable future for Black entrepreneurs and providing for the right business ecosystems that can mitigate or negate the effects of structural obstacles to business building for Black business owners. The economic recovery policies should also take on board provisions to support Black-owned businesses and empower Black entrepreneurs to become more resilient and equipped to offset entrepreneurial challenges.

Join us on February 23 to discuss challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing Anti-Black Racism and its magnified impact on Black-owned businesses and the economy. The session will highlight how Black entrepreneurs are tackling the unique challenges to keep businesses afloat and explore ways to create sustainable change and a lasting legacy for Black entrepreneurs to succeed and thrive. The session will bring together business leaders, innovators and changemakers to discuss solutions and policies to support Black-owned businesses and create an equitable ecosystem. It will also call for concerted efforts by public-, private-, and social-sector organizations to address Anti-Black Racism and the racial inequality and social injustice it spews and how to close that gap.

About this Event

This pitch series has been built out of lessons learned from 100 pitch events held live and on Zoom since 2016. Our goal for Amplify is to provide enhanced visibility for pitching startups from across the globe.

What to expect:

– Five startups that are either ready to launch or have recently launched will join us on the livestream stage.

– They will have 3 minutes to pitch their startup and gain valuable feedback on their pitch structure and delivery from Volition’s pitch coaches.

– As with our other pitch events, you can expect high-quality pitch tips and engagement-

– As the audience, we welcome you to share your thoughts and questions for the pitchers and pitch coaches.

LIVESTREAM STARTS @ 11:00 AM PST | 2:00PM EST | 7:00PM GMT

LENGTH: 90 minutes.

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Interested in Pitching? This event is for companies that are…

– Ready to launch or have recently launched.

– Building an investor or competition pitch (or similar).

– Looking for brand awareness and amplification.

PLEASE NOTE: Pitch spots for this event have been taken. We are now accepting pitch applications for March’s Amplify Live Pitch, which will focus on woman-identified entrepreneurs. Applications are open until March 17: https://forms.gle/ByDiCx2hjyE7nucr9

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Who’s on the panel?

– Melanie Ewan: Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Volition (host)
– Paul Brassard: Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Volition
– TBA

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Words from past attendees:

“Thanks for hosting a really great event today in Amsterdam! I’ve attended many many pitch events and I thought today’s was in its own class as far as comfortable environment and constructive feedback for the pitchers.” – Kelly Adam

“I really enjoyed the event and found it incredibly useful. I was actually pitching for my non profit again [the next weekend] and won an award which includes a cash prize for the organisation, and I think the feedback I got from the Volition event was really instrumental in helping me improve my pitch for that. So thank you!!” – Women’s Pitch Night Amsterdam runner-up

“I‘m really thankful to have had the opportunity to pitch at Volition Pitch Nights because that really changed the course of my pitching career. I never thought I would be so comfortable pitching. I definitely recommend the pitch nights to every entrepreneur!” – Andrei Matei, Founfer of Robbox

About this Event

“Off-Mute with Mel” aims to deconstruct, demystify, and dig into myriad misfit topics in the startup world, i.e topics that are complex, misunderstood, or–dare we say–“boring”.

What To Expect

This 30 to 40-minute interview will be broadcasted on YouTube and is essentially a virtual armchair chat with experts that are either entrepreneurs themselves and/or work with and serve entrepreneurs.

Off-Mute with Mel will feature casual yet structured conversations that will allow viewers to sit back and relax as they learn a little bit more about something and someone that we find pretty interesting.

Our topic for February is: Women in Inventorship.

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THE TALK

– Who is Dr. Cecilia Basic?
– Inventorship 101
– Why aren’t women inventors filing for patents?
– Why does it matter?
– What can we do?

LIVESTREAM STARTS @ 10:00 AM PST | 1:00PM EST | 6:00PM GMT

LENGTH: 30-40 minutes

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About The Expert

Dr. Cecilia Basic is a woman in STEM, having completed a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and spending her early career as a researcher. 15 years ago, she transitioned to intellectual property (IP) management, and has practiced in both Canada and the US, in university and government settings.

As an IP professional, Cecilia now works behind the research and development scenes, helping to guide cutting edge innovations into the market place through the establishment and negotiation of intellectual property rights. She is currently an Intellectual Property Advisor with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office

Let’s talk basic networking principles and experience for yourself how networking helps your business!

Date : Feb 26, 2021
Time : 12-1 pm EST

Hacking Generational Wealth is a virtual event that unfolds over two days. The event will be held February 26-28, 2021. Multi-disciplinary teams formed during the event will collaborate to learn, research and address the effects of generational wealth through a pitch competition for solutions they developed. Our goal is to connect teams to tools, resources and supporters that will foster motivated partnerships to bring solutions to life through open innovation after the event.

Design for Change is a four-week UX Design Challenge for university and college students across Canada aimed at shifting social transformation toward greener behaviour and sustainable practices.

Design for Change is a great opportunity to hone your skills and direct your talents towards a great cause! Think about how human behaviour has led us to where we are – how might we harness that behaviour for a positive change in the way we interact with and relate to our environment? Students will learn, create and be part of the transformational force that maximize usability and user experience towards sustainable practices and drive ecological impact.

The Challenge Statement: How might we create social transformation that shifts users towards greener behaviour and sustainable practices?

As a participant, you will also have access to insights and mentorship from industry leaders with workshops and personalized touch points throughout the challenge – no prior UX experience required! On top of that, participants will get the chance to compete for prizes!

Diversity and inclusion are both fundamental to a more inclusive society, where all Canadians are able to participate and thrive.

Canada is home to diverse women with a rich linguistic, ethnic and multicultural diversity. This includes newcomers, immigrants and refugee women of color who have chosen Canada as their home. The journeys to their settlement are stories of hope, resilience and promise but have recently been marred by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has impacted Black women and women of colour the most, disrupting their careers and their ability to contribute to the workforce. The pandemic has also shed a spotlight on all inequities and exacerbated the already longstanding systemic barriers through the glare of systemic racism, gender inequalities and related inequities in employment, income, healthcare, housing, family and resources. Recent research has also found that Black women and women of colour were more likely to be laid off or furloughed, while working mothers were picking up more of the childcare and household responsibilities.

Despite these harsh trajectories, these women have time and again triumphed with resilience. Resilience has been interwoven in their journey as they navigate their dreams and aspirations through cultures and social processes, and advocate their rights often governed by gender inequality and everyday discrimination. This is the norm for most racialized women. History is witness to their resilience and perseverance, enduring challenging times while reinforcing their faith in compassion and humanity and keeping hopes alive for a better world. The recent global movements spotlighting Black Lives Matter have renewed calls for justice, equality and diversity, but there remains a gap in women’s representation in shaping the conversation, sharing their diverse perspectives and inspiring other racialized women. The Black History Month presents an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of Black women in Canada who have molded the future of a multicultural Canada.

The Diverse Women of Canada: Stories of Resilience event is a testament to the resilience of racialized women and aims to celebrate racialized newcomer, immigrant and refugee women who form an integral demographic in Canada’s population. The event organized by Skills for Change and supported by the Government of Canada, will bring together 20 women from diverse backgrounds to acknowledge their remarkable journeys highlighting thematic topics on empowerment, leadership, equality, employment, education, entrepreneurship and mental health and wellbeing. The event will provide a reliable and safe knowledge sharing platform where women will share their authentic stories, be heard, highlight challenges unique to women of colour and build a community that fosters integrated thinking and develops innovative approaches to tackling challenges such as racism, microaggressions in the workplace, systemic bias, discrimination and related inequalities. The event also provides the chance to build solidarity, seize opportunities to reshape narratives and to rebuild a fairer, more equitable, inclusive and resilient recovery that celebrates Canada’s growing diversity.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the event will be held on 9 March 2021 with the objective to promote intercultural understanding of Black women and women of colour while celebrating their unique heritage and culture in respective ways, creating more awareness about Canada’s diverse and inclusive society. Through the event we hope to inspire more women to emerge as leaders and to mobilize support for their further integration in the Canadian economy, raising awareness of the unique challenges they face, and work towards enabling societal behavioral changes through an enlightened mindset and create a network of respect. These inclusive and equitable outcomes are essential to ensure that racialized women are not left behind as Canada continues to embark on rebuilding better.

The event running from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. will be broadcast virtually via pheedloop, streamed and shared on different social media platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It will be preceded by a two-hour networking session providing for deeper engagements between participants. A subsequent multimedia campaign will profile the stories of 20 racialized women, their achievements, lessons learned, resilience and journey of overcoming obstacles only unique to Black women and women of colour.

Join us on March 9 to celebrate the stories of resilience of Black women and women of colour, their heritage and applaud their accomplishments while uplifting all racialized women with a message of hope, recovery, reconciliation, peace and unity to progress as a multicultural and inclusive Canada.

Diversity Women of Canada: Stories of Resilience: “This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.”, “Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada”.

Connecture Canada will be continuing a monthly Entrepreneurs’ Market. These events will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
There will be networking private sessions opportunities as well, so the participants can interact and learn more about the products and services offered.

This online event will take place Wednesday, February 17th, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST.

If you would like to be an exhibitor, please send us your company’s business details (name, email, website, social media pages, slogan) logo’s, a short paragraph about your company that you would like to include in the marketing of your booth.

Our email address: events@connecture.a

About this Event

This Amplify Live Pitch will focus on entrepreneurial women from across the globe.

This pitch series has been built out of lessons learned from 100 pitch events held live and on Zoom since 2016. Our goal for Amplify is to provide enhanced visibility for pitching startups from across the globe.

What to expect:

– Five startups that are either ready to launch or have recently launched will join us on the livestream stage.

– They will have 3 minutes to pitch their startup and gain valuable feedback on their pitch structure and delivery from Volition’s pitch coaches.

– As with our other pitch events, you can expect high-quality pitch tips and engagement–as the audience, we welcome you to share your thoughts and questions for the pitchers and pitch coaches.

LIVESTREAM STARTS @ 11:00 AM PST | 2:00PM EST | 7:00PM GMT

LENGTH: 90 minutes..

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..

Interested in Pitching? Pitch spots for this event is for companies that are…

– Majority women-owned and/or a majority of the executive team is made up of women.

– Ready to launch or have recently launched.

– Building an investor or competition pitch (or similar).

– Looking for brand awareness and amplification.

Pitch applications will be accepted until 10PM PST March 17th: https://forms.gle/ByDiCx2hjyE7nucr9

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..

Who’s on the panel?

– Melanie Ewan: Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Volition (host)
– TBA

..
..

Words from past attendees:

“Thanks for hosting a really great event today in Amsterdam! I’ve attended many many pitch events and I thought today’s was in its own class as far as comfortable environment and constructive feedback for the pitchers.” – Kelly Adam

“I really enjoyed the event and found it incredibly useful. I was actually pitching for my non profit again [the next weekend] and won an award which includes a cash prize for the organisation, and I think the feedback I got from the Volition event was really instrumental in helping me improve my pitch for that. So thank you!!” – Women’s Pitch Night Amsterdam runner-up

“I‘m really thankful to have had the opportunity to pitch at Volition Pitch Nights because that really changed the course of my pitching career. I never thought I would be so comfortable pitching. I definitely recommend the pitch nights to every entrepreneur!” – Andrei Matei, Founfer of Robbox