Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) welcomed seven new members to its board of directors, including President and CEO of Six Nations Polytechnic Rebecca Jamieson.
The new directors were elected during CICan’s annual general meeting, held virtually in June. All new members, both At-Large and Regional Directors, are leaders of CICan member institutions.
The newly appointed directors are also representative of CICan’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in governance under the Government of Canada’s 50-30 challenge. The board now includes at least 30 per cent representation of equity-deserving groups (including Indigenous people, racialized persons, people living with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ2+ community), as well as a balance of urban, rural, and remote regions.
The new regional directors are; Dennis Johnson, president and CEO of College of New Caledonia (British Columbia and Yukon); Ray Karasevich, president and CEO of Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut); Alice Wainwright-Steward, president and CEO of Lakeland College (Alberta and Northwest Territories); and Pierre Zundel, president and CEO and director general of Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (Atlantic).
Peter Devlin, president of Fanshawe College (Ontario), and Nathalie Vallée, director general of Collège Ahuntsic (Québec), were re-elected to the board as regional directors.
The new at-large directors are; André Gobeil, director general of Cégep de Chicoutimi; Rebecca Jamieson, president and CEO of Six Nations Polytechnic; and Ajay Patel, president and CEO of Vancouver Community College.
The two categories of directors were introduced in 2020 and allow for competency-based leadership on the board while also ensuring that members from across the country have a voice in governing their association.
“It is exciting to be working with so many new names and faces on our board. They will bring a new set of experiences and perspectives that will help us grow and expand as an association. I would also like to give a special thanks to all outgoing members of our board for their invaluable contributions to our organization and the college and institute system in Canada,” said Denise Amyot, president and CEO of CICan, in a July press release.
According to CICan, CICan is the national and international voice of Canada’s largest post-secondary education network. It advocates, builds capacity, and drives knowledge to strengthen Canada’s publicly supported colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics.