Please consider me in your search for a Communications Coordinator. 

After completing my Education degree at the U of A (with a major in art) and serving as a writer/production editor for the Students’ Union, Gateway, I joined The University of Calgary as a Communications Officer II. In this position, I worked with university administrators to develop and implement strategic communications plans for students, staff, faculty and the public. As co-editor of the bi-weekly, Gazette, I researched and wrote news and feature articles on virtually all Faculties. I also profiled new staff members, like Beatrice Medicine, and supplied photography, illustration and design skills.

After almost five years with the U of C, I accepted a position as a Journalism Instructor at Grant MacEwan. Moving to Vancouver, I joined Southam Business Communications as Western Editor for Canadian Forest Industries Magazine, providing copy on all aspects of the business including harvesting, safety and milling. I then settled in Nanaimo writing for The Nanaimo Business Examiner and Nanaimo Daily Free Press, among others.

As Marketing Manager for forest equipment manufacturer T-MAR Industries, my duties included building brand awareness, conducting customer surveys; producing advertising copy, brochures and videos; and launching the company’s newsletter, The T-MAR Times. My duties also included designing and overseeing the installation of the company’s booth at the Truck Loggers Convention in Vancouver.

A downturn in the industry led to 10 years overseas teaching in Libya, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, the UAE and Japan. In that time, I developed lesson materials using language carefully chosen for ESL students that ranged in age from grade-three to adult. A highlight of this period is the production of a student illustrated video of my children’s book, The Apple of Albert’s Eye. It is an excellent example of my creative writing ability. Albert, a newly born apple, wakens one day, (much as we do) to an awareness of his self as a separate being with an obvious, yet deniable, connection to those around him and his “family tree.” Albert seeks the “sweetness” in life and, despite being smaller than others and being teased for it, eventually finds his fulfillment in helping a young disabled girl to grow and thrive. My video application for the position of Traveling Ambassador with Air Transat, filmed in Dubai, demonstrates my comfort in front of a camera.

Returning to Canada in 2012, I relocated to Prince George, BC and launched my WordPress website to highlight my creative abilities in writing, photography, art, music and video production. I have expertise in MS Office (including PowerPoint), Photoshop, Illustrator and a variety of video editing programs.

You seek someone who’s values are aligned with yours and I sincerely believe I am that person. I use my website, blog and twitter account to promote my belief in an inclusive world based solely on Love, which I believe has no opposite. I use my website, blog and twitter account to promote my belief in an inclusive world based solely on Love, which I believe has no opposite. My Happy Face Series, visualizes that belief.

While in Prince George, I worked as a Community Support Worker for Thompson Community Services and as Residential Care Worker for the Prince George Association for Community Living (AiMHi). My clients, many with an Indigenous background, dealt with a variety of physical and cognitive challenges, including autism and depression. I believe this experience gives me an understanding of some of the issues faced by those you serve.

I especially like your statement that Boyle Street “clients are experts in their own life” because, to me, it recognizes that we are all owners of our experience. We can help others to change, if they so choose, but can also provide the same support and love, if they do not.

You also seek a risk taker, someone who isn’t afraid to try new things and to learn and improve through the experience. Again, I believe I am that kind of person. The video that follows, set to my song, Brand New Song, features images of my art and speaks to my belief we can “get together” to see the world in a different way. It also references my belief that we need to look for innovative approaches to the epidemic of drug overdose deaths in Canada.

I would welcome the opportunity to meet to discuss the contribution I could make to your organization in filling this role and invite you contact me in that regard.