Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.” – Agha Hasan Abedi
I lead a professional and passionate team in the areas of Community Services, Educational Partnerships, Business Development and Student Transportation. The Community Services (CS) unit develops and delivers projects and services that assist a diverse clientele to overcome barriers and achieve their goals in the areas of settlement, employment, language and/or skills development. CS is responsible for the largest Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program in Canada and the largest Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) program in Ontario. Other programs include Next Steps Employment Centre, the On The Line youth employment program, the Newcomer Services program and Ontario Works programs, among others. For Student Transportation, I am responsible for the strategic planning and management of the Board's busing and transportation services and working with schools, parents and the Board to focus all attention and resources toward ensuring safe, effective, parent and student-centred operations. Business Development's focus areas are on Fundraising, Distribution of Materials, oversight of the Advertising policy, expanding opportunities for staff through the Employee Discount Program and supporting schools in securing Grants, Donations and Sponsorships.
Instructed Public Sector Financial Management in the Public Administration post graduate diploma program.
Provided support, vision and guidance to a team of over 30 professionals as they assisted persons with mental health challenges through case management and housing services. In this brief time, we updated the name (formerly Madison Avenue Housing and Support Services), community profile, mission and vision of the organization. We also completed the collective bargaining process, increased contract compliance, provided extensive training to all staff in recovery programming as well as case note documentation, expanded corporate partnerships by adding donors for the housing program, expanded the Art Expression programming, added significant new programming (including the RISE program funded through IRCC for the first time, as well as a partnership with CAMH for new housing) and grew funding by over 40 percent and staffing from 18 to 31 FTE.
Applied for, developed and implemented new projects to support clients in the areas of settlement, employment, language and/or skills development.