Alright, Now What‪?‬ Canadian Women's Foundation

With Liza Vityuk at McKinsey & Company. Discrimination based on gender and other connected factors like our race and ability impacts our health in so many ways. In honour of International Day of Action for Women's Health, we’ve focused on gender and health matters we may know bits and pieces of but probably need to learn more about.

Our guest Liza Vityuk is Partner at McKinsey & Company. She has more than 15 years of experience in commercial and growth strategies, building digital businesses, and improving customer experience globally. Liza is the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in Canada, overseeing efforts for more than 1,300 colleagues. She joins us to speak to McKinsey Health Institute’s 2024 report, “Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies”. It points to some big findings.


While women live longer than men, they spend 25% more of their lives in debilitating health.  


 The study of biology defaults to the male body, which results in many treatments being less effective for women. 


 Women face more barriers to care, timely diagnosis, and good healthcare treatment.  


And health burdens for women are systematically underestimated, with datasets that exclude or undervalue important conditions.  



This is our last episode of Alright, Now What? for few months. We’re taking a summer break and will start up again in the fall with more great topics and guests. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. 

Relevant Links: McKinsey Health Institute’s, “Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies” report 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

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With Carissa Gravelle at Heart and Stroke Foundation. The link between experiences of discrimination and your health and wellness is undeniable. It's all about the “social determinants of health”. Discrimination based on gender and other connected factors like our race and ability impacts our health in so many ways. For example, we get treated differently based on our gender in healthcare settings. Our access to relevant health services and options differs wildly depending on our gender. Even the medical research that gets funded and acted on depends on our gender.  

In honour of International Day of Action for Women's Health, we’re focusing on gender and health matters we may know bits and pieces of but probably need to learn more about. 

Our guest Carissa Gravelle is passionate about anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, young people, under-represented populations, mental health, and wellness. Carissa has worked in the non-profit sector for over a decade spearheading equity, diversity, inclusion, and access initiatives. Carissa works to advance health equity for marginalized populations and believes in the importance of educating through storytelling and meaningful conversations to change perceptions and inspire social change. 

Relevant Links: Heart and Stroke Foundation 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor. 

Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation 

LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation 

Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation 

TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn 

X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Dr. Saskia Sivananthan, healthcare leader and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University. The link between discrimination and your health is undeniable. Discrimination based on gender and other connected factors like our race and ability impacts our health in so many ways. For example, we get treated differently based on our gender in healthcare settings. Our access to relevant health services and options differs wildly depending on our gender. Even the medical research that gets funded and acted on depends on our gender.  

May 28 is International Day of Action for Women's Health. For the next few episodes, we’ll focus on gender and health matters. 

Our guest Dr. Saskia Sivananthan is a healthcare leader and advocate building strategies and solutions for older adults. As Affiliate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University and former Chief Research & Knowledge Translation Officer at the Alzheimer Society of Canada, she shines a spotlight on the needs of people living with dementia. In 2020, she was appointed to the federal Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia, and she has worked with many bodies and organizations including the OECD. Dr. Sivananthan is a neuroscientist and health data scientist who has contributed to several international publications, articles, and reports.

Relevant Links: Alzheimer Society of Canada, Egale’s Help Us Remain campaign 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor. 

Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation 

LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation 

Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation 

TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn 

X: @cdnwomenfdn

With The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. As the Department of Finance Canada notes, the federal budget is “a blueprint for how the Government wants to set the annual economic agenda for Canada.” 

As Canada’s public foundation for gender justice and equality, government spending decisions are always a key topic for the Canadian Women’s Foundation. The focus of government spending affects all our lives, every single day, in so many ways. Government investment decisions are powerful tools that can maintain things as they are or profoundly change them, for better or for worse. 

The 2024 Federal Budget was recently released and we co-hosted an analysis of it with Oxfam Canada and other national feminist voices. We discussed how investments stack up for women and gender-diverse people and for moving the needle on gender equality. 

In this bonus episode, we speak with the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on this very topic. 

Relevant Links: Feminist Federal Budget Response 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor. 

Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation 

LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation 

Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation 

TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn 

X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Tracey Lindeman, author of BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care. The link between discrimination and your health is undeniable. The World Health Organization describes social determinants of health as “non-medical factors that influence health outcomes”, the “conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.” 

Discrimination based on gender and other connected factors like our race and ability impacts our health in so many ways. For example, we get treated differently based on our gender in heathcare settings. Our access to relevant health services and options differs wildly depending on our gender. Even the medical research that gets funded and acted on depends on our gender.  

May 28 is International Day of Action for Women's Health. For the next few episodes, we’ll focus on gender and health matters. 

Our guest Tracey Lindeman is a longtime freelance journalist. She’s published in The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBC, Fortune, and more. She is author of BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care. She is from Montreal and currently lives in western Quebec. 

A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence. 

Relevant Links: bleedthebook.com 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor. 

Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation 

LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation 

Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation 

TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn 

X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Catherine Abreu of Destination Zero. I’ve heard people say, “climate disaster knows no bounds” and “it discriminates against no one.” There’s a sense in which that’s true. But impacts of climate change affect different people in Canada and around the world differently, depending on who they are.  

Women, girls, and gender-diverse people often experience harsher impacts of climate change, especially if they are marginalized due to racism, poverty, and other factors. They’re also an important part of effective climate solutions. Gender equality itself is a climate crisis solution. 

Our guest Catherine Abreu is Founder and Executive Director of Destination Zero and an internationally recognized, award-winning climate justice advocate. Recognized for her diplomacy, communication, and coalition-building skills, she's one of the world’s top 100 climate policy influencers according to Apolitical. Catherine was named the 2023 National Hero by Canada’s Walk of Fame. She’s a member of Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body, the expert body tasked with providing advice to government on pathways to meet climate commitments. She is an advisor to the Canadian Climate Institute and sits on the Boards and steering committees of several organizations, including Climate Action Network Canada, the Global Gas and Oil Network, and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Catherine is the recipient of the 2020 Jack Layton Progress Prize. She is a vital figure in climate policy and action, shaping global discussions on the transition toward clean energy. 

Relevant links: destinationzero.earth 

Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠ 

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor. 

Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation 

LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation 

Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation 

TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn 

X: @cdnwomenfdn