The Immigrant Welcome Centre presented its annual Ambassador Award at our Annual General Meeting on Sept. 23. This year’s recipient was the Campbell River Art Gallery (CRAG)!
The CRAG’s commitment to education includes removing whatever barriers are in place that hinders anyone’s access to that education. They strive to create a cultural space that is welcoming and reflects the experiences of all the diverse members of the community. As the CRAG director said in their thank-you letter:
“We need to reflect the world in which we live and use the art we are celebrating to make that world a better place, or at least the people in it be better understood by each other. And that can only happen through discussion and by engaging with topics like cultural identity, and the history of place and environment in critical ways. We do this through a series of programming offerings, community outreach initiatives and workshops that, we hope, serve to enlighten and enrich the lives of those who take part in them. Having said that, we also need to ensure that those programs and initiatives are inclusive for everyone in our community, whether they’ve been here their whole lives or they’ve only just arrived.”
Our Ambassador Award honours a community member or organization in the North Vancouver Island region who demonstrates exceptional leadership qualities in creating a community or organizational environment that welcomes and includes all newcomers, acknowledging their diversity, humanity, and value.
Criteria:
The individual or organization nominated must demonstrate several of the following qualities:
- Takes leadership to increase the community’s capacity to welcome newcomers;
- Takes initiatives that inspire a high level of commitment from community stakeholders and leaders;
- Builds capacity by supporting newcomer’s participation in the community;
- Gives newcomers access to resources, tools, and connections that build a stronger community;
- Communicates in a open, sensitive, clear and effective way;
- Maintains a high standards of integrity and leads through example;
- Goes beyond expectations to ensure activities increase newcomer and community engagement
The CRAG meets and exceeds all these benchmarks and we are proud to partner with them in the community.
