Communications Lead – Mustard Seed

Dear Sir or Madam:

Please consider me in your search for a Communications Coordinator, Team Lead. I have extensive experience in communications and a demonstrated interest in the world’s wellbeing.

Graduating with numerous courses extra to my degree, I joined The University of Calgary as a Communications Officer II. In this position, I worked with university administrators to implement communication plans for students, staff and the public. I also served as co-editor of the bi-weekly tabloid, Gazette. In this role I was often called upon to create copy that made technical information accessible to a general audience. My article on digital mapping, New ways to slice the mapping pie, and its commissioned illustration, is an example. My profile of Beatrice Medicine, illustrates another aspect of my writing duties. I was also called upon to provide photography, illustration and page layout skills

After almost five years with the U of C, I accepted a position as a Journalism Instructor at Grant MacEwan, where I taught newswriting, graphic design and photography, among other subjects. Relocating to Vancouver, I joined Southam Business Communications in Vancouver 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 where I worked as a weekly and daily reporter. Sample stories include the development of an underwater camera, for The Nanaimo Business Examiner, and Sam Struhar’s fight for justice with the WCB, for The Nanaimo Daily Free Press.

I then joined forest equipment manufacturer T-MAR Industries in Campbell River as the company’s Marketing Manager. Part of my B2B duties included conducting customer surveys; producing advertising copy, brochures and videos; designing booths and representing the company at trade shows, like the Truck Loggers Convention in Vancouver; and launching the company’s newsletter, The T-MAR Times.

In 2002, I began 10 years overseas teaching, primarily art and mathematics, in Libya, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, the UAE and Japan. I believe my experience in education and interacting with students and parents from so many religious faiths and cultures would be helpful in communicating the Mustard Seed’s message to its many audiences.

Highlights of this period include co-authoring mathematics workbooks for vocational students in Al Ain, UAE and producing a student-illustrated video of my children’s story, The Apple of Albert’s Eye, which visualizes my belief in a connected world. Albert’s life mirrors human experience but from an apple’s point of view as he first becomes aware of himself and realizes the obvious connections he sees to his “family tree” and those around him. Albert’s sense of belonging is challenged by the loss of Claira to a windstorm; Tyler’s teasing about his superiority in strength and size; and by Walt, a surviving apple from the season before, who tells a terrifying story of the passing of the seasons and everyone being taken away. Albert eventually finds his fulfillment in being prized for his diminutive size and helping a young disabled girl to grow and thrive.

Returning to Canada in 2012, I relocated to Prince George, BC and served as a Residential Care Worker for the Prince George Association for Community Living (AiMHi) and as a Community Support Worker for Thompson Community Services. In both these cases, I worked with individuals dealing with a number of physical and cognitive challenges, including autism and depression. In addition to informal counseling, my duties included medication administration, client recreation and development activities, cleaning, budgeting, grocery shopping, maintenance and meal planning and preparation.

Other relevant experience includes my time spent as a Licensed Property Manager in Prince George and Courtenay, BC. I know what it’s like to work with people facing the challenge of needing to find housing on a limited budget. My work also involved using database software to maintain records of tenant, landlord and service provider activities. I have a working knowledge of MS Office, Illustrator, Photoshop and Movie Studio.

My return to Canada also provided me with the opportunity to launch my WordPress website to highlight my creative abilities in writing, photography, art, music and video production. I invite you to explore the links to each of these areas of my artistic expression. Much of my work emphasizes my belief in life as a positive experience. My Happy Face Series is an excellent example. 

My video scripting and production abilities are illustrated my application for the position of Traveling Ambassador for Air Transat.

Prior to my recent return to Edmonton, the city of my birth, I served as a volunteer with the Salvation Army’s food recovery program in Prince George.

Thank you for the time taken to read this letter and to view or read samples of my work on the webpage provided. 

Your organization takes its name from Christ’s comparison of the planting of a seed to the planting of an idea in the mind. With proper care and minding, one grows into a tree that supports life on earth and the other into a state of mind called Love. I belief I can help your organization forward both those goals by serving The Mustard Seed and God in the position of Communications Coordinator, Team Lead. Accordingly, let me suggest that we meet to discuss the contribution I could make to the Mustard Seed in filling this role.

.