Seven 蓝莓视频 alumni smashing glass ceilings

As we celebrate International Women鈥檚 Day, join us to honour seven听alumni who have inspired, empowered and changed lives. Read on to meet women from 蓝莓视频 who are making headlines and inspiring the next generation of female leaders.

Helping stroke victims regrow parts of their brains

Kiara To Kiara Bruggeman (BASc 鈥�12, BSc 鈥�13), science is magic. She and her team at Australian National University听are creating materials that tell stem cells to act like brain cells, which .

With her colourful, bright hair and stripey leggings, Kiara doesn鈥檛 look like a typical scientist or academic. Instead, she encourages her students to find and follow 鈥渨hat makes them enthusiastic鈥� and shows us the importance of staying true to yourself. She鈥檚 also part of government initiatives to heighten visibility of women in STEM.

Giving women a platform to speak about 鈥榖aby blues鈥� through tutus

Sarah and her daughter When Sarah Cheng (BAFM 鈥�08, MAcc 鈥�09) entered the Dragons鈥� Den, she was accompanied with her five-year-old daughter and was eight months pregnant. Her pitch?听Funding for her apparel company, Bluish, which gives听women a platform to share their stories of听new motherhood and听postpartum depression without fear or judgement. Sarah ended up winning the competition and used this funding to accelerate her company, which she launched while on maternity leave with her first child.

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Empowering Indigenous businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tabatha It鈥檚 no secret that Canadian businesses have lost revenue during the pandemic, and Aboriginal businesses have been hit especially hard. Besides, many Indigenous communities are remote, lack clean water, face housing shortages and inadequate health-care and run a higher risk of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Tabatha Bull (BASc 鈥�00), who is Anishinaabe and a member of Nipissing First Nation,听is on a mission to empower these Indigenous communities. As the CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), they provide tools, networking and programs that can grow the Indigenous economy. As well, they helped dispense medical supplies and personal protective equipment for Aboriginal businesses to operate safely. 听In March, she and five other national Indigenous economic organizations requested Prime Minister Trudeau to allocate funding for Aboriginal businesses. This led to the federal government providing $306 million in funding for Aboriginal business and ended up supporting 6,000 businesses.

You鈥檙e smarter than you think you are. Go find a good podcast or something about Imposter Syndrome and show yourself that you have it so you can get past it. Women tend to think that they鈥檙e not worthy of doing something more often than men

Dr. Jeanette Boudrea, Assistant Professor, University of Dalhousie听

Breaking the cycle for women in Uganda

Anna Even though menstruation is a natural and human function, many women worldwide lack access to adequate facilities and resources and face cultural stigma. In fact, if a girl in Uganda miss school because of her period, it can hinder her education and lead to health consequences. 听Anna Kuepfer (BSc 鈥�20) co-founded听, a sustainable company that creates infection-free, antimicrobial reusable menstrual pads. Inspired by a volunteer trip to Uganda, Anna co-founded this company with Leah Wouda (BES 鈥�20) and Abigail Loewen, a Laurier student. In 2019 they have won the World鈥檚 Challenge grand prize of $30,000 and plan to collaborate with schools and locals in Uganda to execute their goals of menstrual health for all.

Fighting climate change through friendship

Dominique Souris (BES 鈥�16, MA 鈥�18) and Ana Gonz谩lez Guerrero (BES 鈥�15) Youth Climate Lab , an organization that inspires youth to act in climate policy and climate entrepreneurship in more than 80 countries. Dominique was involved with the United Nations and Ana came听from a grassroots background. The pair came together over drinks at a campus club. Working together, they brought very different knowledge and experiences to the organization, which worked to their advantage.

Teaching women to be unapologetic about their accomplishments

Jeanette (BSC '05) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Dalhousie for Departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology. Not only does she teach more than 150听pupils听but she mentors eight students under her research. Her main piece of advice for young women in STEM? 鈥淵ou鈥檙e smarter than you think you are. Go find a good podcast or something about Imposter Syndrome and show yourself that you have it so you can get past it. Women tend to think that they鈥檙e not worthy of doing something more often than men鈥�. She wants to teach women "to be unapologetic about their accomplishments鈥� while making breakthroughs in immunology.

Started university at 14 and is now transforming global health

Ebele (BSc 鈥�09) started university at 14, which is impressive and also daunting to do at such a young age. Combined with leaving her home country Nigeria and encountering a completely new culture and country, Mogo underwent a lot of challenges. However, she overcame them and is now a public health researcher at the University of Cambridge. She鈥檚 also the co-founder of Engage Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization that fights non-communicable diseases in Africa, including heart disease and diabetes. As of now, Engage Africa Foundation has translated COVID-19 health information into 19 African languages.