Speaker series event focuses on decent work and economic growth

The City of Kitchener, in collaboration with the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre, is hosting a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Speaker Series focused on the contributions of organizations and entrepreneurs to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets. Waterloo Region is fortunate to be home to so many organizations and entrepreneurs impacting our community's social, environmental and economic sustainability.

This month, the SDG Speaker event will explore goal number 8 – decent work and economic growth, looking at employment trends in our region, implementing a living wage and making space for equity-deserving groups in the workforce. By creating opportunities for everyone to secure a job that is productive and delivers a fair income, we can foster security in the workplace and social protection for families. Providing decent work for all also affords better prospects for personal development and social integration, positively impacting the economic growth in our region.

The panel of speakers will include

• Anne Coleman, Campaign Manager, Ontario Living Wage Network,
• Trevor Charles, Founder, Metagenom Bio,
• Jolene MacDonald, Founder & Creative Director, Accessibrand, and
• Charlene Hofbauer, Executive Director, Workforce Planning Board Waterloo Wellington Dufferin.

This networking event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 15, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at Kitchener City Hall (200 King St. W.) to raise awareness and accountability for the sustainable development goals. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Little Mushroom Catering, a local living wage employer. To register for this upcoming session, visit SDGSpeakerSeries.eventbrite.ca.

Over the next year, the City and community partners will invite speakers to present topics related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as part of a series of seventeen sessions. Topics for future sessions will be announced closer to the session dates.