Our Story

2019 – 2022

240
Workshops Offered

WESTEM has supported women entrepreneurs by offering workshops on various topics to help them build and grow their dream businesses.

104
Tech focused workshops
136
Entrepreneurial focused workshops
793 WESTEM Clients

WESTEM served 793 women entrepreneurs across rural Alberta. WESTEM supported these entrepreneurs by connecting them with resources including business advising, workshops, and networking opportunities.

25%

Approximately 25% of WESTEM clients, were from underrepresented audiences including Indigenous and new Canadian entrepreneurs.

688
Workshop Attendees

WESTEM offered specific programming to meet the needs of our clients which resulted in over 688 workshop participants.

Over 1,300
Business Advisory Sessions Held

WESTEM had an impressive team of 20+ women business advisors who held over 1,300 one-on-one coaching sessions with WESTEM clients.

793 WESTEM Clients

WESTEM served 793 women entrepreneurs across rural Alberta. WESTEM supported these entrepreneurs by connecting them with resources including business advising, workshops, and networking opportunities.

25%

Approximately 25% of WESTEM clients, were from underrepresented audiences including Indigenous and new Canadian entrepreneurs.

240
Workshops Offered

WESTEM has supported women entrepreneurs by offering workshops on various topics to help them build and grow their dream businesses.

104
Tech focused workshops
136
Entrepreneurial focused workshops
688
Workshop Attendees

WESTEM offered specific programming to meet the needs of our clients which resulted in over 688 workshop participants.

Over 1,300
Business Advisory Sessions Held

WESTEM had an impressive team of 20+ women business advisors who held over 1,300 one-on-one coaching sessions with WESTEM clients.

10,824
Website Users

The WESTEM website had over 10,824 users who visited the site to explore our workshops, ecosystem event calendar, WECast, resources, and mentorship programs.

2,450
Social Media Followers

WESTEM used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to grow an online community of over 2,450 followers.

National Recognition
WEcast

Our podcast initiative, WEcast received national recognition from the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) by winning both the Marketing Canada Award in the Social Media/App category and the 2022 EDAC Cup.

About Us

The Women Entrepreneurs-in-STEM (WESTEM) program was a three year pilot project centered around empowering, supporting, and training women entrepreneurs in southern Alberta.

With funding from the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, Economic Development Lethbridge and Tecconnect created the WESTEM program with the focus of working with professional women in STEM fields, and helping all female entrepreneurs incorporate emerging technologies into their business as well as access mentorship, training, and networking opportunities.

The WESTEM program focused on advancing gender, rural-urban, and racial equality in entrepreneurialism. This was achieved by supporting under-represented women in rural and remote regions of southern Alberta and creating a female-based community of practice and a highly collaborative and streamlined network.

Over the last three years, WESTEM served 793 women entrepreneurs across rural Alberta, offered 240 virtual workshops, and held over 1,300 coaching sessions led by female business advisors. WESTEM grew from zero followers to building an online community of over 2,500 across social media platforms.


WESTEM made substantial impact, grew connections, and helped create more vibrant communities by facilitating small business growth.

You have a vision.
We can help you get there.

In order for us to streamline programming best suited to your needs, please complete the following survey:

Join the Community!

Join our WESTEM community and get all of the latest news and updates on Women Entrepreneurs-in-STEM. You’ll be the first to know about events, programs, and get access to resources that will help your business grow!

We're Here to Help

In order to get started, please reach out! You can contact us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or by traditional email or phone!

westem@chooselethbridge.ca

Send us a Message!