Join us for an International Women’s Day Panel & Luncheon! The purpose of this event is to bring together diverse leaders from all over Massachusetts and the globe to discuss women’s leadership & ways to advance opportunities for all women and girls. Lunch will be provided.

Speakers:  

• Mary-dith Tuitt, MCSW Chairwoman (Moderator) 
• The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Consul General, Canada
• Ana Durán de la Colina, Consul General, Spain
• Fernanda Soza, the Executive Director of ChileMass
• With Welcome Remarks from the Co-Chairs of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators

About Our Speakers:

Mary-dith Tuitt, Chair of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women

Mary-dith Tuitt, Boston resident and a Community and Peer Veteran Specialist, was appointed to the Commission by the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators in 2011. Mary-dith was born on the Island of Montserrat in the British West Indies to Henrietta and Michael Tuitt. Tuitt presently serves as President of the National Association of Commissions for Women and has served as Chief of Staff for State Representative Gloria L. Fox, where she worked for the Constituents of Boston, providing support to the underserved communities of Boston, and has worked on various political campaigns. Over the years, Mary has always been involved and invested in enriching, enhancing and empowering her community. She served as a volunteer with Boston Public schools, various community youth groups, and with her church, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Columbia Road in Dorchester, MA. An alumnus of the Boston Public School system, Mary-dith graduated from Boston Technical High School in 1985. Shortly after graduation, Mary-dith entered the United States Navy, where she served fourteen years as a Navy Aviation Machinist’s Mate, first on active duty and then in the active & inactive Reserves. Mary-dith runs her own special events coordination business that specializes in design, planning, decoration and assisting her clients in making their dreams reality. 

Bernadette Jordan, Consul General of Canada in New England

The Honourable Bernadette Jordan was raised in a small fishing community on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. Bernadette graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with a BA in Political Science and began her career in the field of economic development. From there, she went on to a career in community news, spending almost 12 years as the special projects manager for the award-winning newspaper publisher Lighthouse Publishing. During this time, she received multiple awards and served as the president of the Atlantic Canadian Newspapers Association and as a member of the board of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association. In 2006, Bernadette left community news to take on a new role in fund development with the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore. Her work helped the foundation raise millions of dollars for health care in her community. In 2015, she ran for and won a seat in the House of Commons representing the riding of South Shore-St. Margarets by the largest margin ever in the riding and became the first woman to hold the seat. In 2019, she became the first Minister of Rural Economic Development and later that same year became Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard. This made Bernadette the first woman elected in Nova Scotia to hold a seat at the Cabinet table. After leaving politics in 2021, Bernadette went back to her fund development roots, accepting a position as the national director of philanthropy with Shelter Movers, a volunteer-powered charity providing free moving and storage services to people, primarily women and children, leaving abuse. She is the recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for her service to Nova Scotia and Canada. In 2023, Bernadette was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to serve as Canada’s Consul General in New England. She and her husband, David have three children.

Ana Durán de la Colina, Cónsul General, Consulado General de España en Boston

Ana graduated with a Degree in Law and worked as a Parliamentary Assistant in the European Parliament in Brussels before becoming a diplomat in 2008. As a diplomat, she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid in the Sub Saharan Countries Department and has held several positions abroad: at the Embassy of Spain in Pakistan (2012-2013) as the Head of the Consular Section, at the Embassy of Spain in Santiago de Chile (2013-2017) as First Secretary and at the Embassy of Spain in Slovenia (2017-2019) as a Deputy Head of Mission. Before her appointment as Consul General of Spain in Boston in 2021, she was assigned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid in the European Union countries department.

Fernanda Soza, the Executive Director of ChileMass

Fernanda is a lawyer from Universidad Católica de Chile, and LL.M from Boston College Law School, admitted to the Massachusetts’ and Chile’s Bar Associations, with a long experience creating teams and catalyzing ideas in very different areas. Fernanda founded a law office, was Director of a Law School, and a City Councilor in the south of Chile. She moved to Boston in 2013, receiving the Leadership Award from the Master of Laws program, served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and worked at Boston College as a Luksic Scholar.  In June 2018, she joined ChileMass and, a year later, she was appointed Executive Director. As such, she is responsible for overseeing the administration, programs, and strategic planning of the organization.