THUNDER BAY -- When Buffy Sainte-Marie was 23, she was a singer with too much money.
She used that extra money to start a scholarship foundation for Aboriginal students wanting to gain a higher education but didn’t have the means to get there.
“My biggest success was not my Academy Award,” she said, referencing the Oscar statue she won for co-writing Up Where We Belong for the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman.
“It was when I found out two of my grantees went on to become the founders and presidents of tribal colleges … that’s kind of the biggest investment for me.”
The singer-songwriter was in Thunder Bay Thursday as the keynote speaker for PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise's Exceeding the Vision event, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the peer lending project in Northern Ontario.
Sainte-Marie, addressing the media at the Valhalla Inn Thursday morning, said she came to PARO’s event to learn.
“You’re not here to ask me about PARO, I’m here to learn about PARO and I’m really, really thrilled to have been invited and spend some time with women who are doing things that are beneficial to the individuals involved as well as for the world at large,” she said, adding she believes a woman’s perspective in all aspects of life can bring ideas men wouldn’t normally think of.
When it comes to being a role model, it’s important for women to make an impact at the local level, she added.
“It’s one thing to be a big star globally. You have a certain way of reaching people. I’m not going to knock it, it’s wonderful, but where it really needs to carry over is at the local level – reserves, communities, cities, rural areas, everywhere,” said Sainte-Marie.
And that’s just what PARO was celebrating Thursday. The organization has helped 9,981 entrepreneurs start their businesses over the last 20 years.
Executive director Rosalind Lockyer said in 2013 they helped 113 women start businesses and worked with another 308 to expand their existing businesses.
“Just that group alone last year, they created 508 jobs. That is really significant,” she said.
The top 20 women over the last 20 years will be honoured Thursday evening and Lockyer said the women chosen are those that have given back over the years not just in business, but in various ways.
“It’s been a wonderful journey and a lot of people have come with me on that journey and it’s just amazing what we’ve accomplished in 20 years,” she said.
