Roberta’s decades-long career has been spent supporting the CDP profession, from among the first CDPs to get certification, to teaching thousands of hours of courses & programs, to giving countless presentations to career professionals in BC, across Canada, and around the world, and to writing multiple research papers, textbooks and training guides to improve the field of career development. She has made so much contribution to knowledge development in the field through her relentless work.

Last year, as a response to COVID, Roberta fast tracked a co-authored publication “Career Recovery: Creating Hopeful Careers in Difficult Time”, and worked diligently with many organizations, institutions and associations to pivot quickly to e-learning.

She collaborated with the Union Gospel Mission to support the staff in deepening their understanding of resiliency and incorporating hope and self-care strategies within a personal “resilience plan”.

Roberta also combined her educational and scholastic work with an entrepreneurial spirit. She founded Life Strategies in 1993 to provide career coaching, counselling and consulting services to clients. Life Strategies has since become an award-winning organization, highly respected in the career development community.

Megan Hamlet, of Nanaimo BC is being recognized for her role as a learning innovation specialist working tirelessly with ETHOS to create, present and engage others in the field of career development.

She has being working to develop strong relationships with other Employment organizations, employer networks, presenting webinar training for ASPECT, all while supporting clients in their efforts and allowing them to feel heard.

Her collaboration with learning institutions and Employment services has built a bridge between clients to new learning and training opportunities. Over the last 3 years, Megan has aided in the development of online learning modules designed to deliver job search and job sustainment workshops.

It is through her continued support to clients, her sharing of knowledge through webinars, and keynote sessions that Megan proves time and again that she is here to educate and bring people and ideas together to create positive results.

This agency represents people living in one of the truly beautiful and naturally abundant areas of this province. The North Island Employment Foundations Society has been a part of this diverse and scenic region for almost 35 years now.

With their head office located in Campbell River and smaller offices located in Port Hardy and Port McNeil the North Island Employment Foundations continues to serve the residents of this sometimes geographically challenging location with effective and programming.

This agency takes a client centered approach to providing the needs of the many small communities and cultural diversity of these communities as they provide their services in person or online.

The North Island Employment Foundations Society was part of the pilot project to have staff certified through BCCDA and continues to maintain these high standards of hiring and training staff to become Certified Career Development Professionals.

They now have nearly 40 staff, the North Island Employment Foundations Society has truly become a part pf the fabric of this region by providing programming that is as unique and diverse as the people and the communities they serve.

Gitxaala (git-gath-la) Nation’s Continuous Learning Centre partnered with Bird Construction in March 2020 for a joint venture aimed to enhance opportunities for nation’s members to join construction industry workforce. Other collaborators in this project included ITA, JGC Fluor; prime contractor for LNG Canada and BC Regional Carpenters Council.

Together, these partners designed and implemented the Introduction to Carpentry Training program for Indigenous participants. The program was designed to help Indigenous participants enter the field of carpentry. The program concluded last year in October.

Nomination notes indicate that Bird has proactively been working with Gitxaala Nation to employ program graduates and is being acknowledged for their inclusive, engaging and ethical hiring practices. The success of the joint venture is being credited to the mutually respectful relationships and open communication between all stakeholders.

Bird Construction is a large company, with operations across Canada. The company operates with integrity, has strong corporate governance, and strives to be a positive contributor to the overall well-being of Indigenous Peoples and groups. Bird invests time and resources in local communities to build and strengthen relationships. Bird is committed to respecting and promoting the rights of Indigenous peoples.