Message from the CEWIL Board - July 2021

As many of us enter summer mode in full force, the Board would like to begin by wishing everyone the opportunity to recharge their batteries this time of year. The past 17 months have been emotionally heavy for many reasons. Taking time to reconnect with the things that are meaningful to you is vitally important.

The CEWIL Board and staff continue to work hard these summer months to push forward the strategic initiatives set forth earlier in June. At the July board meeting, the 2021/2022 budget will be approved and subsequently shared later in the year in preparation for the AGM. In addition, there are many exciting projects on the horizon that we look forward to sharing in an upcoming newsletter.

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Special Advisor (Consultant) posting has been finalized and will be posted shortly. A special thank you to the EDI Committee for their support in crafting a posting that genuinely reflected what CEWIL is looking for in an individual. We are asking that our members please share this opportunity widely.

We are also delighted to announce the rebranding of one of our CEWIL committees. The Professional Development Committee will now be renamed as Learning and Development (L&D). Recognizing that “professional” can have colonial perceptions and definitions attached, the new name reflects the goals of the committee’s work – to provide quality learning and development opportunities through a multitude of lenses and perspectives. A sincere thank you to the L&D team for their work in bringing this change forward.

We are also pleased to announce formal partnerships with the following organizations: Canadian Council for Aviation & Aerospace (CCAA), Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC), ECO Canada, and Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). The strategic partnerships between CEWIL and these SWPP providers further foster student recruitment opportunities through Canadian universities, colleges, and polytechnics through co-op and WIL programs. They will also continue to grow the quality of information and relationships between partners and our members. Information regarding our partnerships will be available in the press release coming soon.

The iHub has now formally closed its Round 3 funding (Fall 2021). Once again, CEWIL was astounded by the quality of applications and WIL experiences happening across the country.  Reviewing the applications has been a rewarding and inspiring process for the iHub team! The team looks forward to sharing more success stories shortly. The iHub has received questions about future rounds of funding (i.e. Round 1- January 2022). At this time, we are unable to announce future rounds of funding but will do so as soon as it is possible.  Preliminary data from Round 1 is still being analyzed, but we look forward to sharing data in the near future.

Finally, one small piece of exciting information we can share is the Board’s interest and willingness to support a conference in the Summer of 2022. We are excited to say that there are plans for both in-person and online components so that all our members may participate how they choose. Location and other coveted details will be announced in early Fall, so please stay tuned!

Until then, we wish you time for reenergizing and reflection.