Throughout Canada, there are thousands of organizations established to help immigrant women adapt to new environments, cope with difficulties, learn about Canadian customs and traditions, find work and encourage social interactions while building support systems and nurturing friendships.
One of them is the Immigrant Women in Business Foundation, founded in Toronto in 2017 by former NHL player Stephan Clarke and his wife Svetlana Ratnikova, herself an immigrant from Russia. Today the foundation assists several thousand women who have come to Canada from all over the world.
The Foundation holds meetings and lectures where invited guests and members of the organization share their personal experiences, provide advice and recommendations, and arrange fundraising events.
On March 8 2018, International Women's Day, our film crew attended the fund's festive meeting. Our team met with its participants and organizers, discussed upcoming projects, plans for the future and, it was here we found our interview subjects, our Dream Big heroines. We are honoured to share the extraordinary stories of these exceptional women through the Dream Big project.