What do you do at the CIC?
I am the Awards Coordinator and Governance Associate at the CIC. I facilitate the coordination of the awards portfolio for all the constituent societies and conferences. I have the opportunity to help celebrate achievements and outstanding contributions to the field of chemistry! It is exciting to recognize individuals who participate in advancing chemistry knowledge and education. As an Awards Coordinator, you will find me corresponding with the nominators, nominees, and selection committee. I liaise with the Directors of Awards in the constituent societies, subject divisions, sponsors, and other award stakeholders.
As the Governance Associate, I provide administrative support to the CIC along with the constituent societies for the Board of Directors and sub committee meetings. I arrange and document the Board meetings and Annual General Meetings. I get the chance to interact with the Board Members and help document important discussions/decisions.
How has your background led up to this work?
I graduated with a BA in Linguistics, during which I also completed a Carleton Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate (CTESL). During my time as an Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies graduate student, I worked at the Elsie MacGill Learning Centre (EMLC). The EMLC focuses on providing engineering and linguistic academic support for engineering students. I helped students improve the presentation and clarity of their thoughts and innovative ideas on engineering topics.
After graduation, I worked at Elections Canada as a Procedures Officer. I applied my research and documentation knowledge on the Field Logistics team while learning more about governance and logistics. I helped process the leases to set up approximately 500 electoral offices for the 2019 election.
I initially interviewed for a copyediting position at the CIC because of my experience with linguistics and engineering writing. My background in field logistics and documentation was discovered to be a better fit for the Awards Coordinator and Governance Associate position.
What else should people know about CIC?
The Chemical Institute of Canada National Office is a team of hard-working and dedicated staff who are committed to serving the members and constituent societies. The Board members and sub-committees/groups are full of passionate and committed individuals who contribute their time and energy to improving the CIC’s governance initiatives. It is inspiring to be surrounded by such committed and accomplished individuals who volunteer their time. It is particularly nice to celebrate these outstanding individuals through the CIC Awards program as a CIC Fellow (FCIC) or Honorary Fellow (HCIC). The CIC Fellowship is a senior class of membership that recognizes the merits of CIC members who have made outstanding contributions across multiple areas including CIC and constituent society activities. Also, the CIC offers a wide range of scholarships, competitions, and awards to celebrate accomplishments.