The C2 Montréal Commerce + Creativity Conference takes place annually in May with thousands of attendees from more than 50 countries. Alongside high-profile speakers like Spike Lee and will.i.am, the list of attendees at this year's event included 10 aspiring female entrepreneurs from Concordia.
The John Molson School of Business (JMSB) partnered with C2 Montréal and URBANA Marketing to grant 10 women full and exclusive access to the forward-thinking business event.
The Women Entrepreneurship (WE) Initiative is the brainchild of Ana Marinescu (MBA 09), a JMSB lecturer and president of URBANA. The selected student delegates produced digital content to document their behind-the-scenes C2 experience.
"I would have loved to have had access to this kind of environment and mentorship when I was their age," says Anne-Marie Croteau, dean of JMSB.
"It has been a pleasure and an honour to meet these young women full of hope and motivation to do their best."
Making space for women in entrepreneurship is a major priority for C2 and the event featured a number of female speakers, including Alicia Tillman, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of SAP; Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics; and Bozoma Saint John, CMO of William Morris Endeavor.
"We have a plethora of women leaders. The more diverse voices you have at the table, the more solutions you can find," says Julia Cyboran, VP of marketing and audience at C2.
"The responsibility is on all of us. We have to foster future generations of young women leaders now, making those hiring decisions and having those voices be heard."
One speaker who strongly echoed this message was Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.
"This country could be a leader and an example to the world. We are going to need to unite, to show who we are and to stand proudly for more inclusivity," she told conference attendees.
"We can no longer distort the truth we can only face it. Introspection and perspective in a fast-paced world are true gifts. We need to continue to expand whatever we do."
The WE Initiative complements a number of other innovative Concordia projects oriented toward entrepreneurship, including the District 3 Innovation Center.
"This is a grassroots initiative where peer groups of smart, engaged and ambitious young business women are brought together to share inspirational moments," says Jane Somerville, programs director at D3.
"It's exactly the type of activity that has the potential to create real change at the individual level for women's economic empowerment."
The 10 delegates blogged about their experiences and produced videos of their time at the conference.
