For the past few years, our YWCA High School Mentorship program, with generous funding from BCHydro, has hosted a Green Choice Career Forum for girls across the Lower Mainland in Grades 8 to 12 who are interested in pursuing jobs in environment, nature, conservation, sustainability, local food or green business.
“Our program is about helping young women to explore areas of interest and giving them opportunities to see what a real career looks like,” says Lisa Mendes, Coordinator with the YWCA High School Mentorship program. “The YWCA supports sustainability in a number of ways, and encouraging young women to get interested in this ever-growing field is just one of them. We think girls can make a real difference in green jobs.”
Thinking about a 'green' career?
A green job is defined as "Work and service activities that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality.” (United Nations Environmental Program, 2013).
'Green' encompasses almost all sectors of society: food, transportation, education, government, non-profit and more. So it isn’t surprising that we now have to think about sustainability and how it relates to our employment.
“Choosing a career path can be overwhelming for anyone, but it’s especially challenging for young people,” says Lisa. “With today’s rapidly changing world, no matter what your career interest is you can always find a sustainability angle, and we want to encourage young people to find ways to make their career interests green,” says Lisa. "Conserving the environment is more important than ever before, and this forum gives the next generation of working women the opportunity to explore career options while speaking with professionals about the importance of sustainability.”
The Green Choice Career Forum will feature 6 panelists—all women working in green jobs from a range of fields including:
- Conservation
- Non-profit and community planning
- Research and science
- Finance and business
This free event is open to any girl in grades 8 to 12, not just those registered in the YWCA’s High School Mentorship program. The event will include a panel discussion, a question and answer period and a free dinner! Space is limited so be sure to register as soon as possible.
Event details:
YWCA Green Choice Career Forum
Friday, April 17, 2015
4:30pm – 7:30pm
YWCA Metro Vancouver, 4th floor
535 Hornby Street, Vancouver
Register online today (it's a free conference) or contact us for more information at mentorship@ywcavan.org / 604 895 5846.
