Speakers Bureau

In 2006, members of our active Women’s Speakers Bureau made over 45 presentations to groups ranging in size from 10 to 300 people. Our speakers are members of Women’s Voices for Action - committee of WomanACT. Women who are survivors of abuse speak to community groups, schools and community agencies about the impact of abuse on their own lives and about the need for broad community action to challenge abuse.

Among the issues presented by the Speakers Bureau is the need to encourage agencies to develop mechanisms to involve survivors of abuse in their planning and programs.

Members of the Speakers Bureau have also been active in responding to a wide range of media requests for interviews and WomanACT press conferences.

Speakers are able to address a variety of issues such as immigration and legal issues related to woman abuse and the health care response from a survivor’s point of view, among others. Although WomanACT has some flexibility, there is a fee for Speakers Bureau presentations to help cover the ongoing costs of the initiative.

Promotion of the Women’s Speakers Bureau

Despite the powerful impact that our speakers have, the Speakers Bureau operated for several years without targeted funding. Thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Community and Social Services we will be able to provide staffing support to:

Expand, refine and organize the volunteer Speakers Bureau
Provide ongoing training for members of the Women’s Voices for Action Committee who volunteer with the Speakers Bureau
Develop resources and materials for the speakers to use during presentations.

Key Activities

In order to promote the Women’s Speakers Bureau we will:

Develop and widely distribute a promotional pamphlet to introduce the Speakers Bureau
Develop a resource package for speakers.
Conduct ongoing outreach to enlist new volunteers for the Speakers Bureau.

To find out more please see Get Involved