In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re proud to announce the recipient of our Annual Musket-Funded Female AZ Scholarship to the Commercial Heavy Equipment Training (CHET) school. But this time there’s a twist . . .
The scholarship was specifically created for females—as an underserved community in transportation and logistics—Musket’s mission is to recruit more women behind the wheel. This scholarship complements existing efforts to remove gender stereotypes and to recruit a balanced workforce.
This year’s winners are Gissela M and Shira K!
“We are very excited to announce two scholarship winners this year on International Women’s Day,” stated Sophia Sniegowski Begidzhanov, Corporate Communications Officer for Musket Transport. “Since we established this program in 2021, we have noted an increase in applicants and had four finalists. This year Musket is in a position to fund training for two females at CHET, Gissela and Shira, congratulations to you both! We look forward to supporting their journeys in commercial driving.”
Both recipients of the scholarship will receive full funding to complete the AZ Training Program at CHET.
Meet the Scholarship Winners
Gissela is a university graduate who long pursued a career as an armed security driver. Her experience in that particular field made her proud to be an example to other girls and women when they saw her driving or loading and unloading a truck. This gave her a passion for driving a larger truck where she could travel to other provinces and into the U.S. “I hope to be part of the small percentage of women at CHET/Musket Transport changing the face of what a truck driver looks like,” says Gissela, “and who continue to succeed in male dominated industries.”
Shira comes from a non-profit office-based background and has been searching for a career change. Determined to never work in an office again, she felt drawn to the trucking world as someone who naturally enjoys driving and wants to see more of our beautiful country through her work. “I appreciate that each day of driving might present new challenges and adventures,” says Shira. “I love that idea that at the end of the week, there will be objective evidence of what I’ve accomplished.”
Musket has long stressed the importance of engaging women in this industry and breaking down the barriers of entry. Most people are unaware that truck driving is not considered a skilled trade by the federal government. Unfortunately, this prevents women from pursuing funding options since the government created bursaries for women and youth but only specifically for skilled trades.
The costs of training tend to be one of the biggest barriers to entry as there is no apprenticeship program and the costs are comparatively high to other trades programs (due to the cost of equipment and space required for truck driving). CHET continually goes above and beyond to make sure there are funding options available for those wishing to pursue training and the launch of the female scholarship by Musket was specifically designed to help close that gap for women.
Aside from costs, there’s a lot of rebranding that we have to do because most women either don’t consider truck driving or, if they have an interest in it, consider it to be an overwhelmingly male dominated industry. Statistically this is true, but at CHET and Musket we are known to create a warm and inviting environment for female drivers.
We believe visual campaigns aid in removing that specific barrier of entry – public perception. We recently shared a teaser video for a music video we’re working on with one of our female drivers, Rain. She creates raps about her life on the road and this specific one, “If I Can Do It, You Can Do It Too”, speaks to being a female driver and previously working as a social worker. Shelley from Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada compliments this content creation effort, using our female driver group shot in one of her recent event posters.
Meet the Scholarship Judges
Our panel of judges for the scholarship included the CHET Operations Manager, the Corporate Communications Officer for Musket, the owner of iMVR—the company that created the VR equipment and program we train students on—, and the CEO of Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada. Learn more about our panel of judges:
Vickie deVos, CEO & Founder of Fleet-Tax Compliance Services & IMVR Canada Inc.
Vickie deVos is serving her 3rd year as Chairman of the Hamilton/Niagara Fleet-Safety Council and an active Board Member of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada.
Vickie’s vision was to create a VR tool that allows professional drivers to develop, repeatedly practice and become comfortable with various driving techniques through their carrier. This understanding and comfort will create a more confident, professional driver and inherently led to increased road safety.
After spending many years leading our sister company, Fleet-Tax Compliance Services, and speaking to many carriers through our workshops, she seen the need for a system to enhance training and share our compliance knowledge.
The vision for iMVR is simple, use Virtual Reality to enhance road safety through a fully immersive driving product that is customizable, portable, easy to use and quickly creates a positive ROI for your organization.
Shelley Walker, CEO of Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada
This non-profit organization, with the mission to bridge barriers, empower women and provide a positive platform for education, mentorship, networking and development within the trucking/transportation industry.
She has over 30 years’ experience in Trucking/Transportation industry. Shelley has a history of supporting the Transportation/Trucking industry as a reputable and respected leader, spokesperson, and professional driver. Shelley is well-versed in the undertaking of several charitable initiatives, community campaigns and public outreach.
Her many skills include Management, Keynote Speaking, Leadership, Safety & Training. Shelley has a strong interest in philanthropy, promoting women within the industry and empowering teams and individuals.
In 2019 Shelley was awarded the Courage Award from the Nova Scotia Trucking Safety Association (NSTSA). In 2020 Shelley was inducted into the PMTC Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers, and was awarded the 2020 Woman of InspirationTM Awards Rural Leader.
Sophia Sniegowski Begidzhanov, Corporate Communications Officer, Musket Transport
With over 10 years of experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, Sophia has been a champion for the initiatives she’s led, providing positive influence and change for Canadians today. She also has been a big proponent for drawing attention to the transportation industry, bringing forward proposals and innovative strategies for new standards and methodologies. Sophia is currently the Corporate Communications Officer for The Musket Transport Ltd. and Commercial Heavy Equipment Training Ltd. – CHET.
As the Corporate Communications Officer, Sophia has spearheaded initiatives such as Musket and CHET’s gender-balanced recruitment strategy, Truckers Against Trafficking training for students and drivers, Toys for Tots annual toy storage and transportation, Climate Smart certification, among many other environmental and community-based projects. In representation of Musket and CHET, she has been an active member of the Peel Goods Movement Task Force and the Smart Freight Centre.
Philip Fletcher, Operations Manager, CHET
Phil worked for 12 years as a driver and commercial truck driving instructor before assuming the role of Operations Manager at CHET in 2015. He has over one and a quarter million accident-free miles under his belt, giving him an intimate understanding of drivers’ needs and challenges. Phil’s strong background in financial security and experience running his own firm made him well-suited for his position as Treasurer at the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO) in 2017. Later, Phil got appointed to Vice Chairman at the TTSAO Board of Directors 2019-2023.
As the CHET Operations Manager, Phil has ushered in additional funding programs to remove the financial barriers facing many individuals interested in pursuing a commercial license. He has championed additional research projects with the Smart Freight Centre such as the City Logistics for the Urban Economy Research (CLUE) Project. Over the last 7 years, Phil has also increased the amount of corporate training customers and employer partners for CHET graduates.
“It is well-known that we need more female representation in the industry,” says Begidzhanov. “Women make up half of the labour force in Canada and only 3% in transportation and logistics. It is a privilege to be in a position to offer an annual scholarship to remove the financial barrier of entry for women to get their commercial license. Since truck driving is still not considered to be a skilled trade by the federal government, we are precluded from multiple funding programs set up for women and youth to enter into the trades. This is the reason that Musket has made a personal commitment to encourage more women to join our industry.”
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