Impact

Pathways Women

Women who participate in Pathways to Leadership may be citizens, permanent residents, refugees, asylum seekers, have temporary status, or no status at all in Canada. They may be women who are fleeing from war-torn countries, slavery, trafficking or abuse. They may be highly educated with post-secondary degrees and work experience. They may have no formal education but extensive informal education and life experience. They may have children and they may have family challenges such as custody battles, single parenting, or long-distance family ties.

They are incredibly resilient and have important contributions to make to Canadian communities.

“For an immigrant woman with a family, it seems her only choice is to stay at home and abandon her job and language learning. But being an immigrant woman and a stay home mother, I learnt that we can still make our lives rich and diverse. The Pathways program helped guide us to find out more of our strengths, empower our skills, increase our knowledge and improve our English language.”

– Pathways Graduate

Program Outcomes

The following outcomes have been shared by Pathways participants:

Leadership

Become politically active change agents
Learnt to ask difficult questions and challenge systemic barriers
Participated more in local communities and civic projects
Increased understanding of the importance of self-advocacy and group advocacy skills
Stepped into more leadership roles with peers, families, and community

Identity & Integration

Increased knowledge of the Canadian system
Acknowledged, for the first time, a Canadian identity
New understanding of the colonial history of Indigenous communities
Built long-term relationships and became allies for each other

Skills

Re-discovered strengths and abilities
Developed critical thinking skills
Increased confidence and resiliency
Improved mental health and wellness

Career

Went back to college and university for further education
Accessed living wage and higher-paid employment opportunities

“Pathways avoided the simple and nonexistent solutions of other programs. We were able to address and challenge the social structures responsible for the common undermining of foreign people and foreign education. I learned about racism and how to speak up about it when it happens.”

– Pathways Graduate

Civic Engagement

The Pathways Level One program encourages participants to develop a civic engagement project that supports a community they belong to in Canada. These projects help Pathways participants to learn important skills in organizing, advocacy, and community participation, while connecting them more deeply to communities that matter to them.

See some Pathways Graduates civic engagement projects below:

Butterfly Sculpture Project

Artists are often invisible when they arrive as refugees. Mahboobeh made this sculpture with the support of the pathways program and funding from board members.

Artist statement: “The birth of a butterfly is the story of our life. When we experience different developmental stages during our personal and social life, sometimes these changes are very drastic and painful — such as migration, passing from childhood to adulthood, and adulthood to old age. The worm is the same as the butterfly, and the butterfly is the same as the worm. The birth of a butterfly is the path of growth and excellence of a being. It’s you experiencing challenges and bitterness, sweetness and surprises, death and life (duality) at the same time. The birth of light from the darkness, the emergence of tenderness from the heart of violence.”