Powerful women front and centre

During the opening of the Imagine 2012 International Conference on Co-operative Economics, it was highlighted to me tonight how lucky we are to have so many incredible women in this inspired co-operative movement of ours. To start the night with Denyse Guy, CCA’s executive director as a ever-warm and quick-on-her-feet host, only began the trend of showcasing some of this movement’s female movers and shakers.

Monique Leroux, president and CEO of Desjardins Group, is known across Canada as a brilliant business leader. Tonight she shone as a bright light in the room, reminding us that the common language of “co-operatives as alternatives to business” was not accurate, but rather co-operatives are businesses…businesses that are efficient, innovative and successful. It should be highlighted that just yesterday Madame Leroux was celebrated in the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/monique-leroux-a-little-bit-of-everything-on-her-plate/article4593419/. She also paid homage to the late Elinor Ostrom in her speech, emphasizing that Elinor was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. Elinor championed the notion that the best ideas come from the grassroots and we are more effective when we work collectively.

Dame Pauline Green followed up Monique with a crowd-pleasing speech where she emphasized the sheer scope of the movement: 1 billion people are involved, our businesses are worth over $1.6 trillion USD and over 100 million people are employed within co-operative enterprises. These numbers speak for themselves and certainly reinforce Madame Leroux’s notion that co-operatives are not an alternative. Dame Pauline shared: “We need to emphasize that we want diversification of the global economy and we want people-focused business to be a part of that.” She also mentioned some of the innovative initiatives being undertaken in the name of 2012, the International Year of Co-operatives, and noted a group of women from the Canadian Co-operative Association who, just a few weeks ago, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro as a fundraiser for the Co-operative Development Foundation and placed the IYC flag at the summit. More about the climb here: http://kili2012buildabetterworld.blogspot.ca/

Karen Miner, managing director for Saint Mary’s University’s co-operative management programs also addressed the audience. Karen is an advocate to challenge our co-operative leaders to not only espouse the co-operative ideology, but to have strong business schools. She reminded the audience of the unique nature of the Saint Mary’s University’s Master’s of Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions program and shared that this program is located in the business faculty while being 100% engineered to the co-operative business model.

As a co-operator, I am incredibly proud of the leaders showcased tonight. This movement is going places…fast!

-Erin Hancock