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Flippin' Ageism: Entrepreneurs over 50

  • 23 Mar 2023
  • 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Online, Rural Women's Business Centre in Central Bedeque or the Rural Action Centre in Montague

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Join us for Flippin' Ageism: Entrepreneurs over 50 with Lisa Taylor, President of Challenge Factory, author of The Talent Revolution: Longevity and the Future of Work, Associate fellow at the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), and one of the WXN’s 2022 Top 100 Most Powerful Women award winners.

This event will take place virtually on March 23rd from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm AST, or you can join us in person at the Rural Action Centre in Montague or Rural Women's Business Centre in Central Bedeque to watch the presentation with a group.

How old is 'old'? 

We have a looming deadline. In 2030, the last of the baby boomers will reach 65 years old. Despite what headlines say, Canada’s aging population is not a problem. It's an opportunity. We need to reject outdated notions, like 68-year-olds being a burden on society, by re-evaluating our personal and collective relationships to age.

When we couple this looming deadline with the facts that many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are owned by 50+ entrepreneurs, and that 90% of the country’s workforce is employed by SMEs, we should start asking questions like:

• Ageism is real, but what can we do about it? Let’s explore the intersectional barriers 50+ women face as entrepreneurs and in the workforce.

• What if we restructured career patterns to balance personal and professional commitments all the way through our working lives, including new roles and opportunities for people in their 70s and 80s?

• How can we address ageism in the employment and financial planning sectors to normalize later-life work and foster long-life financial independence?

• How are work, careers, and labour markets changing as populations age and social values continue to shift?

All are welcome to attend, whether you are a 50+ entrepreneur, business owner, working in business, or just interested in learning more. Following the presentation, there will be time for Q&A and discussion.

After Lisa's presentation, there will be an informal discussion from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AST including two local PEI business women.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Atlantic Canadian Women in Growth Partnership.

Meet Lisa Taylor, Founder and President, Challenge Factory

I thrive when working with disruption. In 2003, I started researching how to provide people in their 50s and 60s with new experiences that would break them out of routine career patterns and challenge the “successful, but not satisfied” mindset that seemed pervasive in my corporate career. The spark of an idea for Challenge Factory was born and, in 2012, as the oldest baby boomers were turning 65, I launched my own business. Challenge Factory was the first company in Canada to offer career services specifically designed for older workers. Our purpose was to enhance work for employees of all ages by re-engaging those who had been left to languish. My unique background in older worker career development and workplace engagement led to my appointment as an Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing (Toronto Metropolitan University). I am proud to have been recognized as a WXN 2022 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award winner.

I’m passionate about not wasting potential and believe that we need new models, tools, examples, and heroes to help us shed outdated career and work-related thinking. I love making sense of complex concepts and use my MBA in Strategic Management and Public Administration (York University) to bridge corporate and policy considerations when shaping the Future of Work. My ability to link real-world practice and public policy resulted in my selection as one of five members of Team Canada at the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy. 

My work has been recognized in Canada, Singapore, and Scandinavia, and I am the co-host of two podcasts and the author of five books, including The Talent Revolution: Longevity and the Future of Work  (University of Toronto Press) which I wrote with Fern Lebo, and the Retain and Gain series of career management playbooks (CERIC). I’m often asked to provide media commentary and can be counted on to provide a different and informed view of daily events.  

I sit on the Boards of Directors of CERIC and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR-A) and I’m a member of the Association of Professional Futurists. I’m also an active community leader within my synagogue. Being connected to different communities matters a great deal to me and I seek out opportunities for meaningful volunteerism that helps people and communities thrive.