THE Be Your Own Best Friend (BYOBF) Network, a South Asian women’s networking group, on May 16 hosted a leadership conference entitled, “We For She” in partnership with the Minerva Foundation and Women’s Enterprise Centre in Surrey. The conference included 150 participants in grades 9-12 from 11 different secondary schools from the Surrey School District.

They were welcomed to the conference by Event Chair and BYOBF Network co-founder, Sukhi Ghuman, and Student Chair, Riya Khanna. The goals of the conference were to boost gender equality in the workplace, grow women leaders, and empower girls to be bold in their careers. Through a reflection survey, the attendees expressed they were excited and inspired by what they experienced at We For She.

Speakers at the conference were executives and professionals, including Omni TV reporter, Tarannum Thind, Bombay Brow Bar CEO, Ravy Mehroke, Podcast host and actor, Abubakar Khan also known as The Chosen Khan, Just Cakes Bakeshop owner Raveena Oberoi, spoken word artist, Harman Kaur, and many more. The conference brought both young men and women together with mentors and business leaders for dialogue and mentoring in a school environment.

“Based on the current pace, it will take over 200 years for women to achieve full equality in the workplace and that was why I felt it was extremely valuable to host a conference like this. At the conference, attendees learned about diversity, unconscious bias, leadership, entrepreneur mindset, innovative career opportunities and the need for gender equality in the workplace. They heard from successful women and men who are leading the way and left inspired, motivated and excited about their career options,” said Ghuman.

Attendees also participated in a career fair that included over 40 professionals working in a variety of industries, including artists, journalists, communication specialists, podcast hosts, DJ’s, entrepreneurs, lawyers, medical professionals, police officers, fire fighters, interior designers and many more.

To view highlights from the conference visit: https://youtu.be/rApclx0dRS4