Hot Tubbin' for...the New Economy

The most important thing I took away from the GGCLC was the importance of getting out of your sector bubble and to take your values to unconventional venues. I was on Granville Island for the Vancouver Writers Fest, and at one of the venues there was a poster for the Living the New Economy Conference. I was curious so I went home, looked at the website and checked out the program. I am not an entrepreneur but my parents own their own business, my aunt and uncle have an gelato business so I grew up around small business.  As I've talked about before, CUPE BC is running a campaign called the Ten Percent Shift. 

One of the sessions was called "Women and Leadership in the New Economy." I was sold right away - I am very interested in the new economy, women's issues and leadership so this was a marriage made in heaven! Plus Vancouver Councillor Andrea Reimer was on the panel and I respect her a great deal. 

The event had about 50 people. There were a few booths - this was a very organic event...maybe grassroots is a better word. It wasn't corporate or formal and upon first glance, the session attendees were very diverse. On the big screen at the front of the room listed the sponsors and partners. I saw representation from the private sector, educational institutes, non-profits, media outfits...and no labour. But we'll get to that later..

The panel members were:

• Andrea Reimer - Vancouver City Councillor
• Lisa Helps - Executive Director, Community Micro-Lending
• Donna Morton - Founder and Executive Director, Centre for Integral Economics
• Kim Baird - Former Chief of the Tsawwassen First Nation
• Linda Solomon - Founder, Publisher and Editor of the Vancouver Observer
• Bonny Foley-Wong - Founder of Pique Ventures

The format was interesting - it was an interactive dialogue between the panel members and the audience. They started by asking a question  and one panel member would answer and then they would turn it to the audience. The conversation went something like this: 

"What does economic power and economic empowerment mean to you as a woman?"

No matter what our role is we are integral to making our families and society work. We need to shift to thinking of women as investors not just consumers. Lisa Helps told us hen she started community micro-lending initiative in Victoria, she didn't know a lot about economics but knew about community and relationship building. There needs to be a balance between compassion and being a hardass - and we as women con often strike this balance.

"Is there a role for government in economic sustainability"

Yes, government has a role in teaching entrepreneurship to give people the skills that help them handle financial challenges. After years of BC Liberal government rule, our public education system is severely underfunded and kids are falling through the cracks. There is a place where government can work with teachers to try and reach kids who have entrepreneurial skills to let them know that you can use those skills for good. On the other hand, at times, government needs to step out of the way and put the resources into the hands of the community groups who know the residents and the needs.

"In the post-2008 era - how did 2008 change your current practices?"

Bonny shared her experience how she got into the business of supporting investment in social purpose ventures and investors, in particular female business. We learned about B-Corporations that bakes the structures of values into this model that they are not be gutted by future shareholders beholden to the community not shareholders. 

Someone also made an excellent point not really related...Iceland didn't bail out the bankers - they put them all in jail!

"Women as decision makers" -  not really a questions but the discussion 

In general women make decisions based on emotion, intuition, body and analysis. There needs to be an appreciation of the collective - and though I appreciated every speaker people need to have some decorum and think about the bigger picture rather than just themselves. As women we need to know our time limits and values - sometimes we have to just say yes or at least think of why you are going to say no, if you're going to say no.

"How do we value our work?"

Be mindful that women's work has long been underfunded and undervalued and feel ok that your work is worth something. Don't undercut yourself, especially those with businesses.

The participants were just as interesting and amazing as the panelists. There were urban farmers, a woman starting a program for girls with eating disorders, an organic caterer, students, artists, mothers, bankers, accountants...

We talked about a green economy that factors in sustainability in the environmental sense and and also the sustainability of a female economy. I had to bring up the labour thing. Labour isn't the only sector that needs to branch out and connect with other sectors. Labour is an ally - maybe an unconventional one but we are still residents of our communities who are committed to making our communities better. I said that when you see public sector workers get their 2% increases in their contracts that we are not storing that extra cash in offshore accounts. We want to support small business because we want our money to stay in our communities. Labour is not against free enterprise. Not at all. We are your secretaries, janitors, city workers, teachers, actors, electricians...etc. We are working people with good jobs who want to invest in our schools, hospitals, local retail stores, restaurants etc. Union members are  in schools and healthcare facilities and maybe there is a partnership with urban farmers supplying those facilities. There is an opportunity for business,labour and government to work on something to facilitate something People were surprised to hear that come from the audience because it was a voice that hadn't been at the conference and it was appreciated. You start making connections and people start to get it.

After the panel session my friend and I did a quick looky-loo at the booths. The folks from Seedstock approached me about the Ten Percent Shift campaign. 

I also got to talk about the coming BC Fed convention where there are two female candidates for the Fed's two elected officer positions. People are interested and having a conversation and having people not in our sector hear from a rank-and-file member was informative for them and I felt good spreading the positive gospel of labour. 

So while I wasn't there representing my local or there on union business, my labour values are inherent and that connections can be made at any level. It was a room full of inspiring women and showed that men are not the experts in business that we are integral members to lead the new economy.