National speaker series features female role models sharing their career experiences
Female leaders in the fields of agriculture and veterinary science will be taking part in a national speaker series through the Women in Leadership Foundation Jan. 25 and 27 in Room 1714 of OVC's Lifetime Learning Centre.
The series is being held at 22 universities across Ontario, allowing female role models from various fields to share their career experiences and their secrets for success with young women.
On Jan. 25, Doreen Houston, director of clinical research studies for Medi-Cal; Deb Stark, assistant deputy minister of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF); and Cheryl Yuill, a private veterinary practitioner, will take part in an hour-long panel discussion and question-and-answer session at 12:30 p.m. A networking reception will follow in the OVC cafeteria.
Houston, an OVC graduate who earned her DVM, graduate diploma and D.V.Sc. at U of G in the 1980s, is a professor at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and has been with Medi-Cal, a Canadian company that develops therapeutic and preventive diets for cats and dogs, since 1996.
Stark, a 1982 DVM graduate of OVC, completed an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and held various positions at OMAF before being promoted to her current role in 2003. After earning her DVM and an M.Sc. in small-animal medicine from OVC, Yuill opened the Blue Cross Animal Hospital in Kitchener in 1990.
On Jan. 27, Crystal Mackay, executive director of the Ontario Farm Animal Council (OFAC); Brenda Watson, executive director of the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education; and Deb Whale, vice-president and co-owner of Clovermead Farms, will take part in an agri-food women in leadership panel at 5:30 p.m. A networking reception will follow.
Before being appointed OFAC executive director, Mackay, a 1993 graduate of OAC, worked as the OFAC program co-ordinator and as a communications specialist with Ontario Pork, where she spearheaded the Farm to Fork promotion program. Watson, a 1987 B.A.Sc. graduate of Guelph, has more than 10 years' experience working in adult education and organizational development. She is a past president of the Ontario Institute of Agrologists and the Mac-FACS Alumni Association. Whale is chair of the Poultry Industry Council and a board member with Farm Credit Canada. She has also served on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's minister's advisory committee.
Women in Leadership is a non-profit organization committed tothe advancement of women's leadership. Itssignature program is the lecture series, which is presented by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Scotiabank.
There is no cost to attend these events, but participants must register at www.womeninleadership.ca.
