World leaders gathered in Toronto June 26-27 for the G20 Summit, but just 10 days earlier girls from each of the G20 countries, including a representative from the African Union, gathered in Toronto for a different kind of summit.

University of Ottawa student Leah Stuart-Sheppard was chosen to represent Canada at the first annual G(irls)20 summit, kick-started by former MP Belinda Stronach.

The goal of the summit is to address issues pertaining to the lives of women and children. Stuart-Sheppard, 19, said she wanted to represent Canada so she could help facilitate change. “There was a lot of emphasis on creating tangible solutions . . . and that is very appealing to me.”

The international development and globalization major said she is a good choice to represent Canada.

A community volunteer, Stuart-Sheppard fundraises to help send underprivileged Kenyan children to university while also helping with Ottawa’s high school civics program.  “I think I’ve got a good range,” she said.

The summit is a necessity, according to Stuart-Sheppard. “I think it’s incredibly important because girls and women aren’t being equally represented at the G20 table. I mean, there are only two female leaders,” she said.

That said, Stuart-Sheppard said she doesn’t think the world leaders are failing women. Instead she said there is work still to do to establish women’s rights and that every country is at its own stage.

“There’s an assumption that we’re all done and finished, but we do still need to keep working,” she said.

Stuart-Sheppard said for her the summit has highlighted the importance of listening. If Stuart-Sheppard had been given the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Stephen Harper before the summit, she said she would have focused on education. Now, she said the greater emphasis should be on listening — “especially to those not at the table.”

For now Stuart-Sheppard said she hopes to bring back what she’s learned to U of O. “I’m going to try . . . to bring it to the work I already do and hopefully expand to focus on girls and women and giving them a voice.”