Every week, the Timmins Kinette Club is celebrating women in the community with its Modern-Day Rosie initiative. The campaign honours Timmins women who are innovators, volunteers, freelancers, entrepreneurs and visionaries empowering other women. TimminsToday has partnered with the club to introduce our readers to the inspiring local leaders. To submit a nomination, email [email protected].
The first Modern-Day Rosie is Jen Vachon.
Jen Vachon was nominated because of her caring leadership, her collaborative attitude, and her empathetic empowerment of other leaders.
Jen is the executive director of Anti-Hunger Coalition Timmins — a local food security organization that focuses on increasing access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. She is a volunteer with the Timmins & District Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Committee, which focuses on identifying and supporting opportunities for improvement within the hospital alongside promoting and creating new opportunities for communication and collaboration among patients, families, and staff.
Jen is inspired by the issues and inequities in our community and the work that needs to be done to address them.
“I'm inspired by the many organizations and individuals that work hard and work together for change. I set out to do what I can to have a positive impact on our community and to do so collaboratively. I genuinely get really excited (and inspired!) when people and organizations come together to address local issues.”
Jen lovingly shared how many role models and mentors have shared different qualities such as compassion, determination, and strength. They are critical thinkers and are open to other perspectives; they do their very best to prioritize their health and personal/professional interests. Her mentors inspired her to continue working toward her goals and have been huge supports along the way, encouraging and teaching valuable lessons empathetically.
Jen shared her thoughts on Modern-Day Rosies.
“There is a wealth of female leadership in our community in the form of business owners, leaders within non-profits, artists, educational institutions, municipal politics, and so on. In all the relationships I have with women in these various roles, one of the common threads I see among us is the constant support for one another both professionally and personally. I think female leadership is molding our community by demonstrating the power of working collaboratively and supporting one another to address community needs.”
