When it comes to empowering fellow female employees, Pam Taugher has seized the reins at .
The 48-year-old Walnut Grove resident is manager of member intelligence and research with the credit union.
That鈥檚 her day job.
But within the company, she started the First West Women鈥檚 Network which has grown to 250 employees.
It鈥檚 a grassroots group of women inspiring women through insight, knowledge, and skills to view and promote themselves as leaders.
The network was born from a project Taugher participated in with the , a Vancouver-based group that provides leadership development programs for women and girls, and partners with organizations to advance gender parity in B.C.
鈥淭hey have a program called ,鈥� Taugher said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 leadership training specifically for women. And part of that program is you had to do a work project, and explain how you used the principles that you learned throughout the program, and how you apply it to this project.鈥�
But Taugher didn鈥檛 want to do an ordinary work project. She was looking for something much more impactful.
Enter the First West Women鈥檚 Network, geared towards helping women within the First West organization view themselves as leaders.
鈥淚 think women tend to hold back a bit more,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 wanted to show that you could be a leader even when you didn鈥檛 hold the (leadership) position. I wanted to have an inspirational group where we network and support each other.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done a workshop on building your personal brand, how to write a bio on yourself; we鈥檝e done workshops on authentic leadership; we鈥檝e done panel discussions on how to define leadership.鈥�
This is not an exclusive network, however, Taugher pointed out. Men joining the group do so in a supportive role.
鈥淓very woman will have different experiences in her life as to what the barriers are,鈥� Taugher said. 鈥淪o just to have those conversations. What are the barriers? Why don鈥檛 we feel like we can apply for that position?鈥�
Taugher said 鈥渋mpostor syndrome鈥� will often keep women mired on the lower rungs of the workplace ladder.
鈥淚t affects men and women, but it tends to impact women in different ways,鈥� Taugher said of impostor syndrome.
鈥淚t鈥檚 when you believe that you鈥檙e basically an impostor, so that people in some way will figure out that you鈥檙e not as smart, or as good, or as talented as they say you are.鈥�
Taugher said men will apply for a position if they meet 60 per cent of the criteria necessary, whereas women, according to research, won鈥檛 apply unless they can meet 100 per cent of the criteria.
鈥淭hat impostor syndrome tends to push (women) back a little bit, more so than with men,鈥� Taugher said.
鈥淪o how can we learn from that? How can we understand how that impact is different on women, to remove the barriers within ourselves and within the organization.鈥�
The network, which started with 25 personal invites and now includes employees in the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, is marching towards its first anniversary and has expanded to a committee of leaders in different divisions of First West.
鈥淲e put together roles and responsibility documents so now we鈥檙e working on what our next event will be,鈥� Taugher said.
In her travels, Taugher has come to understand the unconscious bias against not just women, but any non-dominant group. That鈥檚 what drove her to start the network.
鈥淚 wanted people to have a voice 鈥� and not just me, but everybody,鈥� Taugher said.
