We are pleased to announce the recipients of the President’s Service Awards for Excellence and the President’s Staff awards, presented by the university annually to recognize staff members who demonstrate outstanding achievement and excellence within the UBC community.
View photos from the virtual award reception.
President’s Service Awards for Excellence
The President’s Service Award for Excellence is presented each year to up to five outstanding staff members. The PSAE acknowledges staff who have made outstanding contributions to UBC, and who excel in their personal achievements.
This year’s President’s Service Awards for Excellence recipients are:
- Kirsten Cameron, Academic Support Manager, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
- Cheryl Dumaresq, Managing Director, Office of the Vice Provost International
- Ryanne James, Bridge Through Sport Program Coordinator, First Nations House of Learning
- Adrienne Vedan, Director, Aboriginal Programs & Services, AVP Students, UBC Okanagan
- Bernhard Zender, Engineering Technician, UBC Engineering Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy
President’s Staff Awards
The President’s Staff Awards at the Vancouver campus recognize the personal achievements and contributions that our staff make to UBC, and to the vision and goals of the University.
This year’s President’s Staff Awards recipients are:
President’s Staff Award for Leadership
President’s Staff Award for Emerging Leadership
President’s Staff Award for Enhancing UBC Experience
President’s Staff Award for Creativity & Innovation
President’s Staff Award for Community Engagement
President’s Staff Award for Advancing Diversity & Inclusion
President’s Staff Award for Wellbeing
President’s Service Awards for Excellence
Kirsten Cameron, Academic Support Manager
Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Over the course of nearly two decades, Kirsten Cameron has progressed from temporary administrative roles to her current leadership role as Academic Support Manager in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS).
She is the face of G+PS – her intricate knowledge of policies and processes, as well as her focus and attention to service, impacts support for over 13,000 annual applicants, 10,000 graduate students, and the faculty and staff of more than 100 graduate programs across the university. Kirsten carries extensive, detailed knowledge of historical and current policies, processes and programs within a changing landscape of graduate education.
In her advising approach, Kirsten uses the highest amount of tact, reassurance and kindness. She is generous with her time and effort, and is dedicated to the improvement of advising at UBC. If she doesn’t have the answer to an inquiry right away, she will dedicate the time and energy to research and consult with others until the answer is known and the best answer is provided. That, combined with her warmth, integrity, and fairness has earned her the reputation of being the “go to” for every graduate program on campus.
Kirsten sits on the organizing committee for UBC’s annual Advising Conference, volunteers with the Vancouver Volunteer Corps, Emergency Social Services (ESS), and ESS Pet Services, and serves as an excellent UBC ambassador in the community.
Through change and challenging times, Kirsten takes care to instill confidence, mentor and support her team throughout their careers. She makes a positive impact in her office with continuous actions of selflessness and service to her staff and colleagues, and it reverberates throughout her team.
Cheryl Dumaresq, Managing Director
Office of the Vice Provost International
Cheryl Dumaresq is broadly recognized as an invaluable colleague who is collaborative, supportive and unwavering in her commitment to the university, its mission and its people. As an advocate for ‘one institution’, she has an exceptionally high level of integrity in all aspects of her work, and has built deep and meaningful relationships across UBC and beyond.
Cheryl goes above and beyond to bring people together, from all organizational levels, to address complex and systemic issues. In her former role providing academic advising in the Faculty of Arts, she brought colleagues outside of her purview to address systemic issues that create inconsistencies for students – as well as those who support the student experience – and evolve UBC as a whole. Her leadership meaningfully impacts students, academic advising, and advisor professional development within the Faculty and across the university.
Cheryl has demonstrated her leadership in the planning and implementation of valuable and innovative initiatives like the Assigned Advisor Program, the Online Advising Management System, Broad Based Admissions, major curriculum changes, and substantial support of departmental Advisors.
At the Office of the Vice-Provost International, she manages another complex portfolio with many stakeholders, and navigates challenging and high-pressure situations with calm, focus, and ease. No matter what the task or project, she takes UBC’s Focus on People initiative to heart; she encourages empathy and understanding, and she shows genuine and steadfast compassion for people. Her motivation is rooted in service and empowering others with resources, knowledge, and support. As a true team leader, she provides her teams with a solid foundation and she always celebrates and amplifies the successes of her team ahead of own.
Ryanne James, Bridge Through Sport Program Coordinator
First Nations House of Learning
Ryanne James demonstrates sustained and exceptional contribution to UBC through long-term and sustainable Indigenous community engagement and youth outreach.
Ryanne’s contributions to the UBC Indigenous student community are extensive. She excels with her ability to recognize the strengths of her colleagues, students and community youths to work collectively in creating diverse, inclusive and safe learning environments. One example of her dedication to the Indigenous student experience is her embracing of the Indigenous Student Collegium, which is a new initiative of the UBC Collegia program. It allows the First Nations House of Learning (the Longhouse) to be a “home away from home” for Indigenous students to relax, build community, meet with Indigenous faculty, and receive support. Ryanne has also helped eradicate barriers by fostering UBC’s partnership with Indspire, a national charitable organization that provides educational funding for Indigenous students.
Over time, Ryanne has built a significant rapport with one of UBC’s host Nations, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) People. As a non- xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, she has proven her commitment to constantly learn and facilitate relations with the community. Recognizing that this role goes beyond traditional work hours, she instead focuses on culturally appropriate relationship-building, often attending ceremonies, participating in community celebrations and family events, and rising to meet many challenging community needs with enthusiasm, inclusivity and positivity.
Ryanne leverages strong connections and coordinates many programs that help xʷməθkʷəy̓əm youth feel engaged, empowered and supported. Her current role with the long-standing joint xʷməθkʷəy̓əm-UBC youth program Bridge Through Sport, allows her to foster connection and bridge the social, economic and educational gaps between the two communities.
Beyond UBC, Ryanne served as President of the First Avenue Athletes Village Cooperative, participated in the Olympic Village President’s Council, and helps advise the City of Vancouver regarding community engagement and housing concerns.
Adrienne Vedan, Director and Senior Advisor
Aboriginal Programs & Services, AVP Students, UBC Okanagan; and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal on Indigenous Affairs
Adrienne Vedan is paving the way for Indigenous learning, opportunities and connections, and her impact is felt across the university and beyond. She is a leader, researcher and author who diligently champions inclusion and celebrates diverse Indigenous backgrounds and voices.
Adrienne has made outstanding contributions through excellent work, commitment to community enhancement, and exemplary service. She is a role model for students, and has made a positive impact through her personal and professional support through Aboriginal Programs and Services at the UBC Okanagan campus (UBCO). Adrienne demonstrated creativity and innovation by developing the Aboriginal Undergraduate Research Mentorship program, which opens opportunities for students enrolled in science and engineering programs.
Adrienne centers her service around student wellbeing and their diverse needs. This includes robust and collaborative connection across many different units and departments; she initiated interdisciplinary projects to enhance access to post-secondary education, support students transitioning to UBC, and improve the student learning experience.
A recent example of this is her continuing work as the co-principal investigator on a provincial study examining Indigenous student pathways to post-secondary education. This project works with stakeholders to assess and evaluate Indigenous learning and will go forward to inform important policies and practices regarding more inclusive access and more student-centered pathways for Indigenous learners at the provincial level.
Another example of this is how Adrienne utilized a well-earned grant from the BC Ministry of Health to review health programs and services for Indigenous students at UBCO. She spearheaded an interdisciplinary committee to research and report. With this initiative, they not only connected positively with the Indigenous student community, but they were able to successfully identify clear opportunities for further training/education of health and wellbeing professionals and student support professionals who serve and care for Indigenous students.
Bernhard Zender, Engineering Technician
UBC Engineering Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Bernhard Zender is described as “…one of those rare individuals in our community that simply loves teaching, loves supporting students in their learning, and loves his job.” His passion is at the core of the Project Lab in Engineering Physics, and he has been able to use his expertise in technology, prototyping and robotics to ignite enthusiasm in others.
Bernhard is incredibly excited about education and learning within his highly-specialized field and this fuels his excellence in a very technical and demanding environment. His students and colleagues call him an integral member of the Engineering Physics program. He has developed workshops, activities and core course material for first year engineering students. He supports many student projects, advises and assists student engineering design teams, and expresses great care for students’ individual interests and pursuits.
Throughout the year, Bernhard avidly participates in frequent outreach activities, which have a profound and immediate influence on all high school and UBC students that participate. Whether on campus or in the community, he is an outstanding advocate for UBC Engineering Physics and values promoting the program to the fullest.
Bernard consistently and tirelessly devotes his summers to volunteering with ENPH 253, a six-week robot competition course that takes place in the summer term. He devotes countless hours to the organizing, set up and implementation of this course, as well as the training of students and maintenance of essential tools and equipment. This robot competition course has been described as a rite of passage for all Engineering Physics undergrad students, and it acts as a cornerstone event in Engineering at UBC, serving as a catalyst for strengthening relationships among teams and department members.
President’s Staff Awards
President’s Staff Award for Leadership
Lynsey Huxham, Technology Transfer Manager
University-Industry Liaison Office
After completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees here at UBC, Lynsey Huxham joined the University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) where she quickly took great responsibility for the handling of the mobilization and commercialization of technologies from the life science research community at UBC.
The financial, economic, and societal impacts of Lynsey’s work at the UILO have been incredibly significant. She has managed 500+ technologies, 1400+ agreements, and 400+ patents. She has also had a significant role in the formation and licensing of UBC inventions to many start-up companies, negotiated royalty-bearing licenses for UBC technology with existing companies, and non-exclusive licensing of biomarkers, biological materials and software programs developed at the university.
Most recently, Lynsey was the scientific lead in a significant five-year legal arbitration case, which required a high level of leadership, problem-solving skills, critical attention to detail, and effective communication with UBC’s external legal counsel regarding complex topics. The result was a successful award by the arbitrator to UBC of $7.8M, the largest single licensing payment ever received by the university.
Not only does Lynsey lead with excellence and drive, but the demands of her time and energy are met with grace and determination. Her vision and ability to persist and cultivate exciting and cutting-edge initiatives have established her as an important mentor and resource. Most notably, she is a respected member of the Innovation UBC Start-up Idea Competition team and she champions UBC’s Global Access Principles.
Roberto Rosales, Engineering Services Team Lead
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Since obtaining his graduate degrees in the Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering (ECE), Roberto Rosales has progressed into a realm of staff leadership that encompasses many roles – researcher, technical consultant, sessional lecturer, manager, mentor, and team leader.
Leading by example, Roberto elevated the ECE Engineering Services Team by cultivating trust, morale and an enthusiasm for enabling research, mentoring undergraduates and serving instructors. The team provides innovative and unprecedented technical and engineering support for both research and teaching, and their model of service delivery demonstrates their commitment to supporting world-class research as well as to provide an outstanding education and experience to our undergraduate students.
An advocate for students’ continued success, Roberto uses his influences to ensure world-class teaching and learning environments. In 2014, Roberto worked with students, faculty and staff to prepare for an external review with the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, which included a thorough assessment of labs and facilities with a distinct focus on health and safety. More recently, when the department learned that their teaching epicenter, the MacLeod Building, was due for a multi-year seismic upgrade renovation, Roberto enthusiastically identified the opportunity to enhance the range of technical services that can be provided for teaching and research.
Roberto demonstrated leadership as an inaugural member of the System on a Chip (SOC) Research Lab, recognized by peers as maintaining a professional, constructive, positive, and solution-oriented attitude. He is an expert in his field and is a valuable mentor for graduate and undergraduate students.
President’s Staff Award for Emerging Leadership
Laura Moss, Program Manager, UBC Internal Medicine Residency Program
Department of Medicine
Laura Moss is more than a program manager to many Internal Medicine residents and colleagues within the Department of Medicine; she is a kind and helpful mentor and advocate who goes above and beyond to address their concerns.
Laura leads with care, efficiency, and confidence. She values the betterment of her colleagues in her unit and across all departments she interacts with. She assists with the Postgraduate Medical Education Coordinators Advisory Group (PGMECA) and she sits on many other committees and working groups within the program. She offers colleagues encouragement, autonomy, and opportunities to attend events and workshops that allow them to improve their skills.
Laura’s program assistance experience is extensive and she has an acute understanding of each role within the office. After completing the Managing at UBC program, she has stepped into her new leadership role as Program Manager with not only the ability to accurately and respectfully perceive the needs of those around her, but also the willingness and desire to fulfil those needs.
In particular, the residents in Internal Medicine have undergone significant challenges in 2020, as they are front line workers within the medical system during the global pandemic of COVID-19. Laura continues to demonstrate her calm, compassionate and informed leadership style through constant communication with her staff, residents and health authorities, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all associated with the program.
Joanna Yang, Finance & Academic Manager
St. John’s College
Joanna Yang has proven that her keen ability to strategize, problem solve, and motivate her team has set her on a strong trajectory to becoming a capable and trusted leader at UBC.
Joanna is a patient supervisor and a wise mentor who is generous with her time. She acknowledges her team’s achievements with recognition and gratitude. And she is not afraid to stand up and advocate for vulnerable or marginalized groups. She has a deep and authentic commitment to inclusion and a keen awareness of the needs of her staff and the broader UBC community.
In a previous role for the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies (ACAM) program, Joanna took on the challenge of spearheading ACAM 390, a summer class that arranges paid summer internships for students after their summer field study. She coordinated this innovative pilot program that united substantial funding sources and support from several units including the Centre for Community & Engaged Learning, Go Global, the Vice-Provost International, Land and Food Systems, and Arts. This course is widely impactful and addresses student needs for networking, experiential learning, and funding for such endeavors.
At St. John’s College, Joanna focuses on the long-term objectives of importance and brings those insights into her day-to-day. She rallies her team to align their goals with the best interests of the College, the Vice-Provost International portfolio and the university. An example of her ability to motivate and call her teams to action is through her participation on the UBC Hot Lunch committee, where she has helped renew interest, growth and recognition in this event.
President’s Staff Award for Enhancing UBC Experience
Parvin Bolourani, Outreach, Alumni Engagement, Postdoctoral Fellows & Project Coordinator
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Truly inspiring leaders have a truly inspiring ripple effect. Parvin Bolourani demonstrates solid and inspiring leadership in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology (MBIM) by solving complex problems, promoting wellbeing, and motivating and supporting her teams, colleagues and students.
Parvin facilitates growth and change for students and postdocs by building community and partnerships, and embodies this approach in her work as well. She designs, coordinates, pilots, evaluates and refines a range of engagement opportunities, events and initiatives that cross department and disciplinary boundaries. She also assesses needs and reaches out to students and postdocs beyond MBIM who would benefit from participating in these events.
Parvin goes above and beyond to recruit the best facilitators, panelists, and speakers, in order to ensure that students and postdocs have the breadth and depth of knowledge they need for their education and career. Some examples of events she organizes include the MBIM/Computer Science Career Night and Networking Event, the MBIM Undergraduate Research Symposium, and Life Sciences Research Night, as well as many other panels, seminars, talks, and workshops.
She is also heavily involved with Day of Immunology, an outreach event for high school students to come to UBC and learn all about immunology at the Life Sciences Institute. This not only has the opportunity to positively impact prospective UBC students, but it also gives grad student volunteers an opportunity to lead and inspire others.
Angela Kaija, Manager/Administration
Department of English Language and Literatures
Administration is about making life better for all department or unit members by providing service. UBC administrators take care of their students, faculty and staff, ensuring that essential needs are met, that constructive collaboration takes place, and that resources can be accessed.
Angela Kaija demonstrates exceptional administration in the Department of English Language and Literatures (EL&L) by not only providing these services at a high standard, but by contributing to cultural continuity during leadership change, maintaining the integrity of the unit during logistical change, and by consistently leading and mentoring others.
Angela anticipates problems and often resolves them before they even occur. Her demeanour toward faculty, staff, as well as students is consistently respectful and helpful. She navigates challenges with a calming presence and practical advice, making others feel at ease and well cared for.
The EL&L offices have recently undergone a three-year renewal. During the necessary relocation of department members during the extensive renovations, Angela liaised effectively and efficiently with numerous contractors and stakeholders, she was a constant beacon of calm under pressure, and she handled logistics and ergonomic issues smoothly and seamlessly, making the change exponentially easier on everyone.
Her selflessness and dedication is felt beyond her department. She has volunteered at UBC as a narrator at the Crane Library, Centre for Accessibility, for visually impaired students, and she has repeatedly led a team in the UBC Library/United Way Spelling Bee. She has also volunteered at community food banks and hospitals.
President’s Staff Award for Creativity & Innovation
Holly Keller, Assistant Director, Production & Editorial Services
UBC Press
Holly Keller has raised the bar for sustainable quality, service and innovation within the realm of scholarly publication at UBC. Since joining UBC Press in 1992, Holly has been instrumental to the Press’s success story of survival, growth, longevity and strong reputation.
Holly is a creative and vibrant force at UBC Press, which has allowed them to establish a strong presence within the book publishing community in British Columbia. She’s supported large‐scale projects such as the magisterial four‐volume set of Birds of British Columbia and the influential “Democratic Audit Series”, which put UBC Press firmly on the map for publishing excellence in political science. Holly developed highly complex templates and stylesheets suitable for equally complex and broad cross-disciplinary undertakings. She has also leveraged the latest technology to streamline processes and workflows, and develop efficient and productive teams who take pride in their work.
An example of a project where Holly went well above and beyond for UBC Press is the 820-page, two-volume set Birds of Nunavut, where she stepped in under extremely extenuating and challenging circumstances to edit and coordinate a high-quality publication within mere months. Her dedication allowed for a successful publication in time for the 2018 World Ornithological Congress, where the book project received high accolades and appreciation.
More recently, in 2019 she was the animating force behind publishing Jody Wilson Raybould’s book, From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada, helping take the book from initial concept to full publication in record time, with unwavering drive, motivation and enthusiasm.
Anthony Winstanley, Education Technology Architect
Department of Computer Science
Anthony Winstanley has made outstanding contributions to UBC by not only enhancing, managing, and supporting excellent undergrad teaching facilities and computing environments, but by constantly researching and pushing boundaries to create innovative and unique solutions to challenging technical issues across campus.
Anthony’s intimate knowledge of data and data access management have proven essential to the operations of the university. He effectively bridges the community with an ever-evolving tech landscape. He has designed, developed and implemented many key departmental projects and initiatives, including the students.cs.ubc.ca project, GitHub for Teaching, Automatic Lecture Recording, exam scanning tools, and many more.
As well, Anthony enthusiastically reaches beyond his department to develop services and tools that can be integrated and administered by other departments. He partnered with UBC IT to establish a collaborative relationship and approach to building an Enterprise Lightweight Directory Service (ELDAP) as a solution for application authentication and authorization for all UBC organizations. This has a far-reaching and positive impact on the entire UBC community that uses CWL, particularly as it pertains to critical and essential tools like VPN, UBC Wireless, EduCloud servers, UBC Building Access Management System (ACMS), data management, and many others.
Anthony consistently maintains the highest quality of service to the Department of Computer Science and thereby greatly enhances the academic experience for students, teaching assistants and faculty. His long-term vision results in self‐sustaining longevity, flexible and effective solutions, and exceeded expectations.
President’s Staff Award for Community Engagement
Roxana Quinde, Coordinator, Global Partnerships & Global Resource Systems
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Roxana Quinde plays an essential role in the success of the Global Resource Systems (GRS) undergraduate program within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, a role she has contributed to since it was created nearly two decades ago.
She is recognized as a catalyst for the development of activities and values that integrate students within the larger scope of the global community, enriching their academic and cultural experiences. Her impact is seen in the way that graduates leave the program with a deep appreciation and respect for issues around diversity, culture, and global citizenship.
Roxana effectively and compassionately guides students through the GRS program, as she has in-depth knowledge of international university exchanges between UBC and its partner institutions, and she greatly informs and coordinates internships with these collaborating institutions. She is the Faculty’s International Relations contact, and she was instrumental in the creation of UBC’s Go Global program, and continues to be involved to this day.
Recognized for her excellence in the field, Roxana is consulted by others across the university on matters relating to international cooperative programs, student internships and exchanges.
Roxana goes above and beyond to be there for her students, prioritizing their wellbeing and care.
Tracy Wachmann, Public Interest Coordinator, Career Services
Peter A. Allard School of Law
Tracy Wachmann excels in enhancing the UBC experience for students at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and she has fostered and sustained deep community engagement between Allard Law and the larger social justice community in British Columbia.
Tracy brings extensive knowledge and enthusiasm to her work, and generously applies her expertise in a way that engages and benefits our community. Her drive to innovate and improve both her skills and the resources and programming she provides to students is inspiring. A valued team member, she is described as a key reason Allard Law’s Career Services Office enjoys a high level of success.
Tracy enables students to network and engage meaningfully with their community and with each other by organizing and implementing key community engagement events. Some examples include the annual Social Justice Forum, Social Justice Law Conference, Access to Justice Week BC, and the Public Interest Work Placement Program, among many others. These are all important ways that students can connect to local and provincial public interest organizations through networking, volunteering and working.
Demonstrating her own spirit of volunteerism, Tracy continuously dedicates her time to sourcing new and innovative resources and programs for bridging student experiential learning with marginalized communities who can benefit from access to low-cost or free legal services. She also sits on the West Vancouver Memorial Library’s Board of Trustees and the West Coast Environmental Law Board.
President’s Staff Award for Advancing Diversity & Inclusion
Sarah Cameron, International Transition Advisor
International Student Development
Sarah Cameron is dedicated to advocacy, inclusion, and enriching the experiences of international students at UBC.
Since joining UBC Arts Advising seven years ago, Sarah works closely with international students from a variety of backgrounds, and she listens to their unique needs, experiences and challenges on campus and within their communities. Focusing on her students’ strengths and successes, she worked with her teams and colleagues to find meaningful, long-term solutions and strategies to help students navigate their academic career. She takes great care to acknowledge and address many of their challenges to do with language, culture, societal customs, financial literacy, wellbeing, and even the vast emotional landscapes that an international student may often face.
At the International Student Development Office, Sarah is now able to deepen and broaden the scope of opportunities, resources and support available to international students, noting the unique needs of student refugees. Her important work with policy, process and education development, particularly around how UBC can more compassionately and effectively serve students and set them up for success, shows a collaborative, connected and community-focused approach.
Her greatly impactful initiatives like the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Exchange Program with McGill University and the University of Toronto, and the UBC Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (MCFSP), are just a couple of examples of the way Sarah has made strong and consistent strides to advise, mentor, advocate for, and personally commit to the wellbeing and success of UBC’s international students.
Fred Lee, Director, Alumni Engagement
alumni UBC
Fred Lee embodies what it means to champion inclusion, accessibility, equity and diversity. Leading by example, Fred connects his personal commitment to advocacy and the creation of space for equal opportunities to his career at UBC. He consistently ensures that diversity and inclusion are focal points within all of his initiatives at the university and within the greater community.
Fred actively demonstrates dedication and volunteerism within a variety of organizations and community service groups that seek to support many different kinds of vulnerable populations. His contributions are invaluable and widely felt throughout the communities he supports; from providing leadership through advisory councils and committees, to participating in charitable fundraisers, to connecting people through his storytelling and reporting. A notable example would be his extensive involvement with UBC CampOUT!, an impactful student leadership and learning program for LGBTQ2S+ youth and allies in BC/Yukon.
Fred then brings that same drive and energy to alumni leadership at UBC. He approaches projects, events and initiatives with integrity and consciousness. He finds meaningful and positive ways, both behind the scenes and on the front lines, to promote inclusion and equity, and make a difference for those who experience systemic barriers in our society. He uses innovative storytelling, advocacy, and empathetic leadership to amplify underrepresented voices, further committing himself to empowering alumni, faculty, staff and students within the context of community engagement and collaborative social justice.
President’s Staff Award for Wellbeing
Karen Reid, Operations Manager
Michael Smith Laboratories
Karen Reid’s remarkable dedication and leadership around promoting health and wellbeing at the Michael Smith Laboratories (MSL) makes her a major contributor to a healthy work environment for her fellow staff, faculty and students, as well as for others across UBC.
Karen demonstrates leadership within the MSL’s Safety Committee, and Science’s Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, which both promote safe practices and education for all unit members. She is involved in establishing foundational safety awareness by conducting thorough building orientations during the local onboarding process. Furthermore, Karen has an inclusive and wellbeing-focused lens with building operations; she encourages comprehensive policy training and education, environmental consciousness, and diversity and inclusion when it comes to accessibility and the use of building space for a wide variety of needs.
Leading by example, Karen promotes health and wellbeing with fitness initiatives. To engage and inspire members in her unit, she established a running group and an MSL team for the Vancouver Sun Run, supported yoga classes in the building, participates in Bike to Work week, and orienteering. She also encourages and supports a plethora of social activities, networking and community-building events among students and staff.
Ronyne Van Der Gracht, Bookstore Assistant
UBC Bookstore
The UBC Bookstore is a central and essential space for the entire UBC community and Ronyne Van Der Gracht uses her strengths to make each patron of the bookstore feel welcome, included, and valued.
Ronyne consistently goes above and beyond for her clients and her team at the UBC Bookstore. Her commitment to exemplary service, safety, and environmental enhancements are values that reverberate during each encounter with her. She is friendly, approachable, and goes out of her way to source books and items that are difficult to find.
Ronyne’s work environment matters; her book displays are thoughtful, creative, inclusive, impactful, and they not only drive sales but they increase awareness of socially relevant events, dates and topics. She cares about reusing and repurposing building materials in efficient and unique ways. A gardening enthusiast, Ronyne brings this passion to the bookstore with her commitment to the beautification of its surrounding outdoor spaces.
A notable example of this is the personal time and care she took to establish flower planters and bird feeders outside of her staff lunchroom area, complete with a bird identification book. This encouraged engagement, enjoyment of the space, and social interaction among colleagues. These kinds of initiatives consistently make Ronyne’s patrons and colleagues feel good about visiting and working at the UBC Bookstore.
Congratulations, all!
