Welcome to Apar Initiatives Blog! Here you will find the background on who we are and what we do, as well as summaries of all events we have been involved with and have planned within the community and our cohort. My name is Tess and I am the Communications Manager at Apar and will be writing posts to keep you up-to-date with the work we are doing.

Apar is operating primarily online for the foreseeable future until it is safe to meet in person. This blog will also serve to raise awareness about female underrepresentation in STEM careers and will start by inspiring confidence and building a solid network for our youth. 

APAR Initiative was founded in 2018 with a purpose to inspire innovation and creativity in our next generation of leaders. Our Vision is to empower girls to develop their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and leadership capabilities without any limits or bounds. We work towards achieving this vision by enabling a platform for mentorship opportunities and community building, educating, and advocating for girls to think and dream big. This program aims to develop the foundation for superior leadership and critical thinking skills. Our mission is to instill confidence in the next generation of capable female leaders. 

We are a team that values collaboration, empathy, and trust and we lead by example. We have built our programs in order to foster continuous learning opportunities amongst community peers. We value diversity and inclusion amongst all partners, members, sponsors, and volunteers and we work towards achieving our vision by: 

-leveraging education and advocacy as tools to encourage girls to broaden their horizons

-nurturing self confidence in girls through meaningful mentorship opportunities.

– creating a positive environment where girls can build lasting friendships and networks.

At Apar, we have several programs and events that engage local youth to help further these objectives.  We are propelled by statistics such as this; “Women represent the majority of young university graduates, but are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science (STEM) fields. Women are always less likely to choose a STEM program, regardless of mathematical ability.” from Statistics Canada.

This drives our goal to support girls in developing capabilities to inhibit self-selection out of STEM disciplines. In conjunction, we also recognize the importance of developing strong EI and interpersonal skills throughout their education and career, and always keep this top of mind.