An ambition-building boot camp for women

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This article was published 12/05/2007 (6807 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO –In April, Aileen Trescher became a member of a growing group of Canadian businesswomen involved in a not-so-secret, but notably powerful, society called the Judy Project.

For one week, Trescher, vice-president of commercial account development with American Express Canada Inc., put her busy life on hold to enter a high-octane period of reflection and networking with 21 equally ambitious women.

The project is named for Judy Elder, a highly respected businesswoman, who held top positions at major corporations such as Microsoft Canada and IBM Canada. In 2002, she died at the age of 47 after battling a progressive blood disease for more than two decades. Her struggle never slowed her down.

Created by friends and colleagues of Elder and formalized through the support of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the forum just ended its fifth year. The project is promoted as an ambition-building boot camp and networking opportunity for markedly ambitious women interested in adding to their skills, and a chance to reflect on where they want to be and how they can get there. Because of the networking abilities of Elder’s friends, the program has the finances to pack the curriculum with high-profile speakers and instructors.

The Judy project launched with an endowment of approximately $1 million from dozens of Canadian corporations. To guarantee a spot for a woman each year, founding donors gave a minimum of $25,000; Microsoft Canada gave just over $250,000. Companies also pay $7,500 to cover the participant’s costs for the week.

The initial idea was to fund research, but the focus quickly shifted.

“We, as a steering committee, all ended up aligning around the fact that things change from the top and Judy would have never shot lower,” says Colleen Moorehead, co-director of the project and president and chief executive officer of Nexient Learning Inc.

Trescher and her fellow participants, typically a group of 25, are nominated by their chief executives. More than 120 women have been recognized as candidates and participated in the program.

Although the women come from organizations willing to develop female talent, Trescher, who says “life is too short for mediocrity,” may be one of the few who actually comes from a somewhat level playing field. At American Express Canada, women account for 44 per cent of employees at the director level and above.

But she is quick to point out that when it comes to maximizing potential, relying on the insights of a high concentration of women within a specific organization isn’t always enough.

“Finding others who I could get a vantage point from, to actually improve my way of thinking,” outside her conventional network, she says, was the greatest benefit. In addition, personal advisory boards help form formal networks to carry that experience forward after the week.

“Ambition for women is sometimes not as clearly defined,” or it’s approached as ambition at all costs, Trescher says. Elder’s balanced approach to ambition is taught at the forum. “It’s marketing yourself as a brand, having goals to make sure you have a plan to get there, as opposed to going from opportunity to opportunity and ending up somewhere you never wanted to be,” Trescher says.

At The Kingbridge Centre, a converted spa outside Toronto, participants attend classes and lectures for about 12 hours each day, listen to instructors and speak openly about their organizations. Its vast, wood-panelled hallways and floor-to-ceiling windows create a sense of isolation conducive to reflection.

To ensure women are able to speak candidly about their experiences, as well as to build the most diverse network possible, groups are typically made up of women from a range of fields in everything from business education, law, finance and media. Also for those reasons, one company cannot send two women at the same time.

Mardi Walker, a senior vice-president at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. and one of the first participants in the program, says the experience helped her excel in her position and created an exceptionally powerful network outside her field.

— CanWest News Service