Jessica Howard, Author at Canadian Women's Foundation

About Jessica Howard

Jessica Howard is Manager, Content and Web at the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Having worked as a journalist, blogger, content strategist and university instructor, she believes that storytelling is key to social change. As a mother of two sons, she is also highly knowledgeable about Lego, Star Wars and Superheroes.

The Big Question: What’s your dream for women and girls in Canada?

The Big Question: What’s your dream for women and girls in Canada?

Jessica Howard2017-12-19T17:05:59+00:00May 15, 2016|SHE Magazine|

For the spring 2016 issue of SHE magazine, we invited attendees at our Breakfasts in Toronto and Calgary to share their dreams for women and girls in Canada.

We put the question out there because at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, we have our own dream. It’s that Canada will lead the world by creating the first generation to experience real gender equality. We call this dream GEN1, and it means that:

Women and girls live free from violence
Women and girls have equal economic opportunity
Men and women alike practise inclusive leadership, which is collaborative and respects diversity.

Edelman Gets Consent

Edelman Gets Consent

Jessica Howard2016-05-14T13:00:28+00:00May 14, 2016|Gender-based violence, Sexual abuse, SHE Magazine, Women in media|

The challenge: Create a thought-provoking campaign about sexual consent that grabs young people’s attention and gets shared across Canada. In six weeks. With a slim budget.

While many would balk at such a proposition, public relations firm Edelman took it on. They created the award-winning Get Consent campaign for the Canadian Women’s Foundation and surpassed all expectations.

“It was an opportunity to help shape awareness about consent and challenge people’s thinking,” says Erin Jacobson, Vice-President, Digital Public Affairs at Edelman in Toronto.

Creating Safe Spaces for Trans Girls

Creating Safe Spaces for Trans Girls

Jessica Howard2016-03-10T14:35:33+00:00March 10, 2016|Empowering girls|

A safe space. It’s the magnet that draws many participants to the girls’ programs funded by the Canadian Women’s Foundation. The programs offer an oasis where girls age nine and up can connect, develop new skills, build confidence and, most importantly, be themselves.

But how do we ensure that these programs are safe spaces for kids who are questioning their gender or who identify as transgender?

It’s an important question, given the growing awareness about creating supportive environments for transgender youth. Children may start questioning their gender from a fairly young age: a report from the Trans PULSE project says that 59% of survey respondents knew their gender identity did not match their assigned gender before age 10 and 80% knew by age 14.

Some Clothes Cost More Than You Think

Some Clothes Cost More Than You Think

Jessica Howard2017-12-19T17:12:35+00:00March 8, 2016|Empowering girls, Women in media|

“Girls just want to wear diamonds.”

“Allergic to Algebra.”

“I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.”

“Future trophy wife.”

It’s hard to believe, but stores in Canada market girls’ T-shirts bearing disempowering messages like these. Stereotypes sell, even though they’re the last thing girls need.

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