Past Events
Browse our range of successful past educational events
Our past events were highly successful in providing women with education in a broad range of topics ranging from modern investment strategies, legal, psychological and financial relationship responsibilities, retirement paradigms, the psychology of money, behavioural finance, salary negotiation and many more.
Market Update: What is New and What Isn’t
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 – 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Every year seems to bring in just enough change to keep us alert, and enough the same to help us weather the changes. From her vantage point as Senior Portfolio Manager with Guardian Capital in Toronto, Fiona Wilson will share her perspective on what is happening in the markets and how she is positioning portfolios.
She will also:
- Discuss her view on dividends and new trends in this area
- Provide fascinating insight into the use of Artificial Intelligence guide portfolios and make portfolio decisions is fascinating
- Address themes for the future of our economy and how COVID-19 has sped up many of the technological advances in the realm of investment management, for better and for worse.
Fiona’s career in the financial services industry began in 1989 when she joined CIBC as an options trader. Prior to joining Guardian, Fiona was Portfolio Manager, Global Derivative Instruments with Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). Previous roles included Head of Currency Options Marketing, South East Asia for Societe Generale with postings in Tokyo, Singapore and London. Her experiences included structuring classical and exotic option trading and hedging strategies for central banks, corporate and institutional clients throughout Asia.
Your New Career: Stand-Out Resumes for Any Economy
Tuesday, January 19, 2021 – 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Are looking for work or want to be ready to pounce on the next great career opportunity? If so, does your current resume strongly present you and your value proposition?
The pandemic has been a monumental disrupter to our lives, the economy, and the workplace. This has led to both unemployment in many sectors as well as new, exciting opportunities!
In this practical and inspiring session, you will:
- Gain a strategic approach to developing a stand-out resume that will open new career doors and help you to attain your financial goals.
- Discover 3 critical resume writing principles that will assist anyone regardless of their career phase or job level.
- Learn specific practical techniques even well-qualified candidates miss.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Marlene, Founder and Principal of Career Solutions, consults with organizations that want to stay ahead of the curve with progressive human resource practices. With 20 years of experience, her clients include Fortune 500 companies, national and local firms in technology, and many other sectors.
She is also Faculty at BCIT providing business communication skills within technical professional training programs. From her HR consulting role and instructional role, she has seen over 10,000 resumes in the last 5 years and is eager to share her insights on how to leverage a candidate’s value within their targeted job market. From professionals with doctoral degrees to entry-level candidates, she has a depth of knowledge of what it takes to get into the “yes” pile.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology, a Certificate in Human Resources, an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, as well as certifications in numerous psychometric tools. She has been a contributor to the Sophia Wealth Academy since its inception, is an active member of Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of British Columbia & Yukon and was nominated for a Governor General’s Award for excellence in her research examining the underemployment of professionals.
Health, Hormones, and Happiness
Saturday, January 16, 2021 – 10:00am – 11:30am
Managing stress is fundamental to leading a joyful, prosperous life, yet it can seem as if each passing year brings more anxiety. During this past globally unsettling year many have reached record levels of fear and worry. How do we cope? We all want to enjoy our lives. We all want to feel relaxed, secure, and to sleep well at night — even when we cannot control what is happening in our external environment.
Using current research, common sense, and drawing upon years of medical experience, Dr. Anita Tannis will teach us:
- What happens to our bodies and minds when we are stressed and anxious
- How to overcome and disrupt negative stress patterns
- Nutrition and its role in balancing mood and increasing resilience
- Hormonal regulation and its impact on health
- New ideas for developing mental stability and physical vitality
Watch the webinar recording here.
Dr. Anita Tannis is an Integrative and Functional Medicine Physician who graduated from McMaster Medical School in 1990 after completing her BA in Philosophy at Queen’s University, both in Ontario, Canada. The intersection of Art and Science, of the Body-Mind-Spirit in Health and Wellness has always fascinated her. Her current successful solo practice of eight years in West Vancouver, British Columbia is focused upon “Stress and Hormones”, first treating peri and menopausal women, then their husbands, their parents, kids and neighbours. Dr. Tannis employs whatever tools are needed to help her patients create inner and outer balance: hormones, detox and diet, nutraceuticals, acupuncture, awareness, movement, meditation, and more.
She is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia, and has been formally teaching Communication Skills to medical students for over a decade. She Certified in Holistic and Integrative Medicine (ABHIM) in 2002, certified in Medical Acupuncture from U. of Alberta since 2007 and she continues to pursue ongoing continuing education and certification in Functional Medicine, Bio-Identical Hormone Management, Stress and Age Management medicine. She was a physician for five years with Canada’s unique Integrative Cancer Care Center, Inspire Health, and she has also spent 22 years working with Vancouver Community medicine (VCH)–primarily with Adolescent sexual and mental health but also with Immigrants and Refugees. She is a frequent popular speaker in her extended community on the subject of “Stress and Hormones” and, more recently, on “Everything Is Connected to Everything Else”.
Dr. Tannis is a mother and a daughter who continues to study Transpersonal Psychology, Buddhism, yoga, and Tai Chi. She has a passion for personal development and the outdoors—all of which deeply informs her work.
LEAP into 2021!
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 – 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Most of us either go to bed or wake up worrying about something. Yet, worrying is as effective as trying to resolve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. It can destroy creativity, performance, and dreams. Discover how to create more joy and impact in your life and your business.
Now is the perfect time to re-connect with what you wholeheartedly want and align everything you do to achieve it!
In this energizing and dynamic workshop, you will learn:
- 6 smart, unconventional principles to live and lead by design
- To rediscover the greatness and power behind “Walking Your Talk!”
- What it means to “Wear Your Lucky Underwear” and “Clean Your Gutters”
- A simple, effective and tangible way to reduce worry and increase peace-of-mind
- To delve deeper into your own unique “Power of Zero Tolerance” to help you authentically live, lead and grow by design, not by default.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Isabelle is one of North America’s Top Business Influencers, bestselling author of the marketing and business book: The Next Big Thing: Top Trends From Today’s Leading Experts to Help You Dominate the New Economy, two-time TEDx speaker with over 2.5 Million views, and a TV show host. Isabelle’s sole purpose is to help entrepreneurs and business leaders become and remain The First, The Best, or The Only.
She co-founded her first business a few years out of her teens and quickly became one of the most awarded branding firms in Canada including Canada’s Best SME Entrepreneur Of The Year. She brings over 25 years of branding, marketing, and customer experience expertise and has worked with more than 500 companies, including some influential and iconic brands like A&W, Robeez Footwear, Earls Restaurants, IMAX Corporation, and HSBC Investments just to name a few. Isabelle teaches how to grow businesses and brands that are designed to thrive in any economy by becoming and remaining – The First, The Best, or The Only.
The Yoga of Money
Saturday, November 21, 2020 – 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Nothing exists by itself. Nothing comes from nothing. How we are “on the mat” or the meditation cushion can be a metaphor with how we engage with our life. The process is circular, we bring who we are to the practice; and the practice, if we are mindful, comes “off the mat and into the world.” Even our financial wellbeing is connected to the way we hold our energy and use our body. If you don’t know where your foot is, how can you find your footing in your life? Paying attention, mindfully aligning your body, breath, and actions is the doorway to a more fully integrated, joyful, and prosperous being. In this workshop, Patricia will teach you how to apply these principles of the yogi to the everyday practice of building a joyful and successful life.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Patricia Healey, CEO Enlightened Achievement is an internationally acclaimed facilitator and consultant who has successfully conducted thousands of seminars worldwide to Fortune 500 companies, private industry and crown corporations.
Through her work in complimentary medicine, nutritional consultant, wellness & physical therapist, yoga and mindfulness teacher, Patricia coaches all aspects of the individual – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. She has taken initiations and teachings from H.H. The Dalai Lama, Zasep Tulku Rinpoche; and continues her yoga studies yearly at The Iyengar Institute in India. Patricia resides much of the year at her home in the West Indies, where she teaches yoga, conducts mindfulness retreats and travels to teach her corporate seminars.
Learn more about Patricia: https://satiyogaworldwide.com/
Market Update: The Art of Boring
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 – 6:00 – 7:00 PM
In this workshop, Neeraj Jain from Mawer Investments in Calgary, will share some simple strategies, frameworks, and insights to help listeners make better investment decisions and interpret what is going on in the capital markets today.
He will provide an insight into some bottom-up, long-term investing signals to cut through the short-term noise.
In short, this workshop will be a concise overview of what is happening now in the world of investments according to one of Canada’s top portfolio managers.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Neeraj Jain is a member of the institutional client management team at Mawer Investment Management Ltd., which he joined in 2020. He is responsible for the management and servicing of institutional clients.
Prior to joining Mawer, Mr. Jain was Head of Institutional Business Development at CGOV Asset Management before its acquisition by Fiera Capital in May 2018, after which he focused on institutional clients, Indigenous communities, and consultants in Western Canada. Mr. Jain also worked at AGF Investments as Head of Institutional Global Client service, and began his career in investment management research, working at AIMCO and Mercer Investment Consulting.
Mr. Jain earned a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder with investment experience since 2003.
He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Toronto.
Transitioning Through Divorce
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 – 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Divorce can be complex, challenging, and at times overwhelming. It is hard to know where to turn and how to negotiate this significant life transition.
Karen Redmond, a family lawyer, and mediator will lead this highly informative overview of the legal options open to those considering transitioning out of their spousal partnerships. She will also look at the continuum of conflict and will touch on the various emotional and financial components of the options presented.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Karen Redmond was called to the bar in 2004 and has practiced exclusively in the area of family law since 2008. She opened her own firm in 2011 and has been teaching family law at UBC as an adjunct professor since 2014. Karen is a mediator and a member of Collaborative Divorce Vancouver Group having served on the board for 6 years, finishing as board chair in 2017. Karen’s proudest accomplishment is her three daughters, who are all currently pursuing post-secondary education, which may require Karen to remain in the practice of law indefinitely…
Read more about Karen, https://www.redmondlaw.ca/about/
Boundaries 101
Thursday, October 1, 2020 – 10:00 to 11:30 AM
Understand what it feels like to solidly stand behind your ‘no’ and your ‘yes’ without fear, guilt, shame or anger. Saying ‘no’ when you mean it, and ‘yes’ when you mean it, is key to a clear and healthy communication in your personal, work, or business relationships.
In this presentation, you will learn the virtue of honouring your boundaries within and without.
Feel empowered as you stand strong for your best and highest good regardless of familial or cultural conditioning.
Watch the webinar recording here.
Sony’s educational background includes two Master degrees in Counselling Psychology and Education as well as training in couple and family therapy, Shamanic Healing, Reiki, and other energy healing modalities. She has years of experience teaching in college and university, working in health clinics and having a private practice where she works as a counsellor and a shamanic healer.
Learn more about Sony Baron at baroncounselling.com.
Negotiation: For the Lovers Not the Fighters
Tuesday, September 29, 2020 – 6:00 – 7:00 PM
In this highly engaging workshop, we will draw on conflict resolution theory and practical life experience to help you create strategies to initiate and manage difficult conversations. You will learn to ask for what you want – at home and at work!
This workshop, geared toward women, will use real life examples to help you create a tool kit of options for handling some of life’s trickier conversations.
You will learn:
- What is a negotiation?
- How to prepare for a difficult conversation
- The five stages of a negotiation
- The “invisible contracts” women enter into and how to get out of them
- Managing emotions and taking back power
Watch the webinar recording here.
Carrie Gallant brings her experience as an executive, former practicing lawyer and adjunct law professor to her work in helping clients master the art and science of negotiation and influence, and authentic leadership conversations that engage, build trust and culture for inspired innovation.
Carrie weaves psychology, neuroscience and improvisation with strategy as she inspires and empowers her clients to think bigger, negotiate more powerfully and step up into greater influence and impact.
She is founder of The Gallant Leader™ Institute and the EARN Your Worth™ Leaders Lab, an accredited Negotiation Consultant with ENS International and certified in Conversational Intelligence® and Authentic Leadership for Teams®.
Making the Pension Decision
Thursday, September 17, 2020 – 6pm-7pm
Mandatory requirements, multiple options, survivor benefits…? How do you make decisions that are sound, not just for now, but for the long term?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to manage multiple income streams from the many sources that will fund our retirement. We often change jobs and it is possible to end up with 3 or 4 different kinds and sources of pensions, not to mention government benefits.
In this workshop you will learn:
- The factors involved in knowing when to start your pension
- Different options and what they mean: annuities, bridges, guarantee periods
- Survivor benefits – their costs and advantages
- Multiple stream income planning and the taxation consequences
Check out the webinar recording here: https://youtu.be/KFFaXVyd-b8
Kamal is deeply passionate about creating economic equality by providing education and quality professional investment advice. She started her career after graduating from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology. She performed heart disease research at UBC which led to her co-authoring a research paper in a prominent scientific journal. In her early career, she worked as a supervisor with the Canada Revenue Agency.
Kamal is a Certified Financial Planner, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute and fully life insurance licensed. In 2009, she co-founded Sophia Financial Group a full-service advisory firm focused on providing a socially conscious financial planning and portfolio management firm on Vancouver’s west side.
