#ChooseToChallenge - International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Lockheed Martin Canada embraced this year’s #choosetochallenge theme, participating in a variety of engagements demonstrating support for women in defence and security and STEM fields! 

Lockheed Martin Canada was once again the platinum sponsor of the Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) Annual Breakfast. WiDS works to promote and support the advancement of women in careers related to Canadian defence and security. And even though this year’s event went virtual due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was no less impactful for those who attended!

This year’s breakfast theme was, A Year of Change: A Global Celebration of Resilient Women! Lockheed Martin Canada was granted the opportunity to recognize two Emerging Leaders at the ceremony. After receiving 14 nominations across business areas and facilities across the country, Kate O’Neill, Technical Training Associate Manager from Halifax, and Tamara Kerelchuk, Software Engineering Associate Manager from Calgary were selected and recognized. 

We also had employees participate in Techsploration’s first virtual program in Ontario. With hands-on workshops and speakers, participants were challenged to collaborate and present their solutions to the question: How can we encourage more young women to explore careers in skilled trades and STEM?

Techsploration delivers programming and mentorship to young women in grades 9-12, with the goal of increasing the number of women in careers where they are often underrepresented, including science, engineering, trades, and technology.  Lockheed Martin Canada is a proud sponsor of Techsploration.

On March 2, Carleton University announced the official launch of a newly established Women in Engineering and IT (WiE&IT) Program – one of the first industry-sponsored programs of its kind in Canada. Lockheed Martin Canada has signed up as a partner for this program that will provide key learning and development opportunities for undergraduate and graduate level women students within Carleton’s wide array of engineering and information technology programs. 

Set to launch in fall 2021, The WiE&IT Program aims to help close the gender gap in STEM by:

• Providing young women with the tools and knowledge for a successful transition into the workforce;
• Identifying and increasing awareness of women role models; and
• Providing allies and influencers with the resources to support women in engineering and IT.

Stay tuned for more on this amazing program!

Diversity and Inclusion is top of mind for Lockheed Martin Canada this year. At the end of 2020, we pledged our participation in the Government of Canada’s 50-30 Challenge. The goal of this challenge is to have 50 percent gender parity and 30 percent representation of other under-represented groups on corporate boards and in senior management. This initiative reflects Lockheed Martin’s values of doing what’s right and we are committed to working with the government to build on this important work.