Part 10: Eight

What a finale! On the tenth and final episode of the Searching For Izena podcast, we hosted a live recording at the downtown Stanley A. Milner Library to celebrate the year-long campaign and the election of a record number of eight women to Edmonton City Council in October 2021. The event was attended by past and present female Edmonton City Councillors and new Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. Several former council candidates also came to the celebration on December 12, 2021, the actual 100th anniversary of Izena’s historic win in 1921. The Searching For Izena Project started as a grassroots research campaign (during a pandemic!) by YWCA Edmonton and Parity YEG to mark a century of female leadership at Edmonton City Hall and to tell the long lost stories of these female political trailblazers. We also wanted to inspire more women to run and win, and our team is proud to be part of an historic year of firsts on Edmonton council. On this episode, our panelists look back at the project’s key findings and discuss what needs to be done next to ensure that the spirit of the Searching For Izena Project lives on long after the campaign officially wraps up.

Guests: Katherine O’Neill, Rajah Maggay, Jan Reimer, Keren Tang, Bev Esslinger and Nafisa Bowen