Female business owners from diverse cultural backgrounds gathered in Montreal Sunday for an uplifting event that was the first of its kind.
The Multicultural Women Entrepreneurs Exhibition took place in the Community Resource Centre in Cote des Neiges with the goal of shining light on budding businesses and fostering an environment where women help each other.
“It’s the first time for the city of Montreal, where we’ve brought so many multicultural women together to expose their products and services and to just network and get to know each other,” said Gemma Raeburn, organizer of the event and president of Playmas Montreal.
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Some in the room specialized in beauty products, others in fashion or food. There was a huge variety of products on offer.
Michele Jean-Jacques DJ’d the event and also displayed her art and fashion designs.
“My bags are made of recycled materials, they’re chic and cute and they’re all different,” she explained to Global News. “This is amazing. We need that. We need to see and discover, we need more visibility. It’s a great initiative and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Gemma Raeburn is one of four women who came up with the idea to bring as many female entrepreneurs together in one room as they possibly could.
“We know that women contribute a lot to the economy, socially also. We don’t get an opportunity to have a space to come together and show it,” she said.
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Akilah Newton of Big Dreamers was on hand displaying her books, puzzles and other products designed to make Black children feel represented.
“Montreal really is a cultural mosaic. So it’s so great to see all the different companies that are being represented today and the different cultures that are being represented,” she told Global News.
Raeburn feels cultural communities are not always in tune with those living right beside them, and the event was designed to change that. People from different backgrounds all got a chance to share and mingle in one room.
“We have Iranians, we have Moroccans, we have Africans, we have Caribbean,” Raeburn said, explaining that over 30 different cultures were represented.
“I think it’s really great to see the different variety and that we could be supportive of each other,” said Dawn McNichols of Dawn Caribbean Delights, as she served jerk chicken and other Caribbean food.
Raeburn says there is already a waiting list of dozens of entrepreneurs who want to take part in the next version of the event.