Gamechanger Gala

Last night was a mighty special night as my pal, Stéfanie Von Hlatky, was awarded the Nichola Goddard Game Changer Award by the CDA Institute.  I wanted to mark the occasion by explaining the award and why Stef was so very deserving and then follow up with a few notes and observations about the night.

The CDA Institute is the think tank associated with the Conference of Defence Associations, which, in turn, is essentially a collection of veterans groups associated with various specialties.  CDAI is a key player in our various efforts to build the Canadian Defence and Security Network.  I have been to many of their events--the big Ottawa Defence and Security Conference each February, brownbags and roundtables and other stuff.  This was my first Vimy Gala, which is their big social event of the year where they give out the Vimy Award to some very big notables in the Canadian defence world: chiefs of defence staff, key senior officers, politicians and even a prof (David Bercuson, another key partner in the CDSN).  For non-Canadian readers, Vimy was the big battle in 1917 that helped to shape Canadian identity and especially the identity of the Canadian armed forces as it was the first time the Canadians commanded themselves, and Vimy Ridge was a target that many of the allied powers had tried to take, but only the Canadian forces managed to do so.  This year's winner is Lt.Gen Christine Whitecross, who is the highest rising woman in the CAF and now commanding at NATO HQ in Naples if I remember correctly.

The Nichola Goddard Game Changer Award was named after the first Canadian female soldier to die in combat.  Goddard was a FOO--forward artillery observer--who died in Afghanistan in 2006.  Her parents were present last night, making everything have more meaning.

Stef received this award despite her youth because she has made a huge impact on Canadian defence scholarship and on the Canadian defence community in a very short time.  I have often said that she is the future of Canadian defence scholarship, but that is wrong: she is its present as well as its future.  She has written smart stuff about alliances, Canada's role in the world, and gender and defence.  She helped create and energize Women in in International Security-Canada, which promotes women in academia and elsewhere in security stuff, which has tended to be a male dominated environment.  She has become a consultant to NATO, helping them improve their gender issues.  She is ambitious in the best sense of the term--she works hard to be the best she can, she helps others reach their potential, and, along the way, is making Canada and NATO better.

And, yes, she is a pal.  Folks last night asked how I know her.  It started with her running the research institute that was shared between the Université de Montréal and McGill.  Her super-competence and relatability made it easy for me to work with her, and a friendship was born.  She noted last night that it is rare to find folks who have so much in professional interests in common and have so much friendship.  I joked back at her, but she was right, and I was touched.  Ever since our time in Montreal, we have kept running into each other--Canada is a small country in many ways.  Until her sabbatical, she ran the Centre on International Policy and Development at Queens and brought me down to Kingston for talks and the big Kingston International Security Conference.  I included her in an edited volume project where I really needed her cameraderie as well as her expertise.  We have summited together--hanging out at the Warsaw and Brussels NATO meetings. And lately, she has been the keystone of the CDSN effort.  She not only brought along her KISC partners, giving our partnership real heft and international linkages, but wrote first drafts of key documents, vetted my proposals, linked me with key people, and served as a source of much advice and solace.

So, I was not surprised that she gave a great five minute acceptance speech.  What made Stef's brief talk so special was that she expressed clearly and quickly the challenge women in and near the armed forces face: they want to be treated equally but their identities always matter.  The audience found her speech compelling, giving her a long standing ovation.  The women in the audience crowded her after the event was over, making it clear that they appreciate the path that she has been breaking and, indeed, the games she has been changing.

I did learn some non-Stef stuff along the way:

• My table was next to the one sponsored by Irving Shipyards.  Awkward! 
• On the other hand, open bars sponsored by defence contractors do, indeed, make me a bigger fan of defence contractors.
• I really suck at tying bowties.  I inherited my father's tux, and this was my first time wearing it.  I think I need a bigger bowtie.

• Military bands are really good, but also really loud--making it hard to hear people at dinner.
• My rep in this town is thoroughly established.  After two people asked me at an event last week why I didn't ask questions, a guy at the bar last night asked me the same, even though there was no Q&A.  He complimented me on asking polite but edgy questions at the various events in town.  Hmmm.

• Oh, and I kind of felt like a rat following the Pied Piper:  

It was a great night, and I was and am so proud to call Stef VH a friend and a partner in our various networking efforts.