ELORA – Elora resident Tammy Lowe is attending the Governor General’s leadership conference, a bi-annual event offered to a select few Canadians to improve their leadership skills and help in their careers.
The conference was supposed to be held in 2020 but has been delayed two years due to the pandemic. Lowe finally attended the conference June 3.
She originally applied in 2018, when her employer encouraged her to go for the opportunity. At the time Lowe was accepting a smaller management position and felt it was a fitting opportunity. Others she knew who had attended the conference highly recommended it, she said.
Out of 2,500 applicants, Lowe was one of the 250 accepted for the conference.
“It’s surreal,” said Lowe of finally being able to attend.
According to its website, the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference was created to “broaden the perspectives of future leaders in business, unions and public administration so that their decisions are based on a practical understanding of the influence of their organizations on the general welfare of the community.”
The conference separates attendees into groups that travel to different parts of Canada.
Lowe is attending the Manitoba-bound group with 12 others.
The group will travel around communities in the province to learn and work on projects before meeting in Ottawa for a final presentation to end the two weeks.
“When everything was delayed, you lose excitement,” said Lowe, adding that it was hard to believe the conference would finally be happening June 3.
Lowe has been a registered nurse for 19 years, and is passionate about advocating for health-care professionals.
“An active and vocal member in the labour movement, [Lowe] began her journey representing hundreds of nurses and health-care professionals as a bargaining unit president,” states Lowe’s submitted bio.
“From there, Tammy joined ONA (the Ontario Nurses’ Association) as a staff member, working as a labour relations officer, then managing ONA’s professional practice team, then, a team of labour relations officers for Region 3 and is now the proud manager of member education with staff across the province.”
