Calgary (Rural Roots Canada) – The Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference is marking its tenth anniversary this year, a celebratory event that will highlight and recognize the incredible female talent and innovators in the ag industry.  

The conference takes place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Calgary from March 12-14. As always, it will provide a forum for women passionate about agriculture and food and feature speakers from various industries discussing a number of different topics. 

Conference organizer Iris Meck says it’s hard to believe the AWA Conference is already ten years old. 

“I was just happy to get through two years, but it just kept growing and growing,” she says.

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Speakers include Jodi Souter, president of J4 Agri-Science in Saskatoon, on how to start your own business and Megz Reynolds, executive director of The Do More Ag Foundation, on achieving that elusive work-life balance.

A complete list of speakers is available at this link.

Meck says you can expect a lot of great information at this year’s event. 

“The program has expanded, and women are getting more for their registration dollars. That includes a special Sunday session on women’s health. So, if you’re looking for information on health, wealth management, and career building, this is the place to be.” 

Meck is proud of the work that’s gone into organizing the conference over the past decade and says the goal has always been to give women in agriculture a chance to learn from one another.

“When you bring women from all across Canada to one location twice a year, that’s a phenomenal opportunity for women in agriculture because you never know where you’re going to end up, you never know where your next job is going to be, you want to learn from other women as to how they farm and how their operations are like so it’s a huge opportunity to broaden your scope and take a look what people are doing from across Canada.” 

The conference will kick off on Sunday, March 12, with a special session on women’s health, followed by the Student Sponsor Reception. There will be multiple workshops and speaker events on Monday and Tuesday.  

To learn more about the conference and to register, you can visit the AWA Conference website.