Beyond the Job Site
Cheers for Change Creates Space for Connection and Community
One of the strengths of Cheers for Change was its simplicity: bring people together, create space for conversation, listen to the experiences of women working in the trades and celebrate their successes.
Led through the London & District Labour Council, the initiative offered a different way for tradespeople to connect outside the job site. Rather than another formal meeting or presentation, gatherings created opportunities to swap stories, meet others in the industry and have conversations that might not happen during a regular workday, union meeting or conference.
Sometimes the most important conversations happen when we simply create the space for people to come together, share their experiences and realize they aren’t alone.
Alicia, Cheers for Change Attendee
Building Community Around Women in Trades
For women working in industries where they remain underrepresented, having opportunities to meet other tradeswomen and share experiences can make a difference.
Cheers for Change created those opportunities while also bringing allies, labour leaders and community partners into the conversation. It wasn’t only a place to talk about barriers. It was also a chance to celebrate women already building careers, challenging stereotypes and creating space for those who will come after them.
Women in the trades don’t need to be told they belong there. They are already there. Our responsibility is to make sure our workplaces and our communities recognize, support and celebrate them.
Grace, Cheers for Change Attendee
That broader participation mattered. Creating more inclusive skilled trades workplaces can’t rest solely on the women working in them. Employers, unions, educators, industry leaders, tradespeople and community organizations all have a role to play.
From Conversation to Change
Cheers for Change showed that community-building doesn’t always require a formal agenda. Sometimes it starts by creating the right space for people to listen, share stories and build relationships.
Those relationships can then travel back into workplaces, unions and communities and extend the impact beyond a single gathering.
Connection is where this work starts but it can’t be where it ends. We take what we’ve heard, what we’ve learned and the relationships we’ve built back into our workplaces and use them to create change.
Dani Bartlett, London & District Labour Council
Through ConnectHER, Cheers for Change connected those local conversations to a larger national effort to advance women in the skilled trades. It demonstrated how something as simple as bringing people together can help strengthen relationships, understanding and community.
Connected to ConnectHER
ConnectHER welcomes employers, industry leaders, associations and organizations committed to supporting more inclusive and supportive skilled-trades pathways for women across Canada.
To learn more about industry engagement and partnership opportunities, contact [email protected].