Newcomer Womens Leadership Program

On Friday December 16, 2022, I attended the graduation ceremony for PRUDE Inc’s Newcomer Women’s Leadership Program. This development program focuses on women who are new to Canada and Saint John. The program is run by an organization called PRUDE (Pride in Race, Unity, and Diversity through Education) https://www.prudeinc.org/

PRUDE operates a number of developmental workshops around bias, newcomer transitions, cultural awareness and more. These graduates were cohort #8 of this leadership development program run by the energetic and highly effective Christine Eruokwu. For more information on the program see https://www.prudeinc.org/nwlp

 

The training I deliver is primarily in public speaking and soft skills/leadership skills. I was impressed during the graduation ceremony when several of the newcomer program graduates delivered presentations on their background and aspirations. Most people are reluctant public speakers, and some have a significant fear. I admire anyone who takes steps to become a more effective communicator, and I have immense admiration for people who pursue public speaking in a second or third language, like all of the graduates at this event.

I was invited to offer a brief speech at the event so I spoke on what I had offered to the newcomer women’s program, and acknowledged what I received from the program. These women are brave risk takers all of whom left one country to come to Canada, and a small city of the east coast and the Bay of Fundy. I find spending time working with them to be inspirational. It’s inspirational to be around brave, ambitious risk takers. This is what I received.

 My professional background centers around public speaking, general communication skills, and leadership development.  My continued involvement with Toastmasters is a significant component of this skill set. Toastmasters mission is to empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders, and this is accomplished primarily when people join one of our 16,000 clubs around the world. However, it is enjoyable when we can connect to an existing group on a short-term basis and deliver benefit, such as this instance with the newcomer women’s group.

If you’re interested to see some photos from the event, please visit my Linkedin post https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jimkokocki_newcomerstocanada-prude-nwlp-activity-7011709480262402048-CM40?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop