Have you ever been so moved by one single event or purpose? So, moved that you lie awake at night brainstorming ideas feeling so energized that you can’t wait to get started. That’s how I feel. And, that single event is the CIBC Run for the Cure happening in October. On the surface, this may seem like just another annual event. But to me, THIS year, it’s so much more than that.

 

Let me share this story.

 

Last September, seven women advisors, including myself formed the ‘Wonder Women of Wealth’ and raised over $65,000 in less than a month. This year, our group has a bigger, bolder, and more audacious GOAL of raising one million dollars! YES…one million BIG ONES. Go big or go home, right!

 

While our top priority is to raise funds for breast cancer research our second objective is to be recognized both within CIBC and beyond. We want to show case the power of women and what can be done when we set our minds to a project. For anyone with daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, etc. you know how important these efforts are. Never has any one single group raised one million dollars for the Run for the Cure and the Wonder Women of Wealth would like to be the first. If I had to describe my passion, my purpose my raison d’etre in two words it would be without a doubt, ‘women empowerment.’

 

As a child, I was told I could do anything I put my mind to…so clinging to a passionate belief that I could become a change-maker, I began my career as the youngest woman ever to be hired at an investment firm in this male-dominated industry. Over the years, my participation, my advocacy and my initiatives to ‘move-the-needle’ forward have only grown exponentially. It’s the reason I started my women’s thought leadership groups, it’s why I created several female-run mastermind groups at CIBC and joined women-led networks. This is my purpose – my living legacy. I can’t wait to make this a reality.

 

I know I have something important to bring to life and I also know I can make a difference. I love that I am able, willing and can inspire people-- especially women-- to trust that they too can create their lives and make a difference in the world.

 

A million dollars for a million steps, see our journey below: https://support.cancer.ca/site/TR/RunfortheCure/RFTC_NW_even_px=12695696&pg=personal&fr_id=27924