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The Justice Institute of British Columbia Foundation reported on a successful year at its June Annual General Meeting (AGM), in which donor generosity saw over $600,000 received and more than $750,000 disbursed in support of justice and public safety education at ������ý.

Supporting education and student success

��������’s paramedic programs benefited from several donations. A $100,000 gift from an anonymous supporter enabled the purchase of two iSimulate systems for each of the four campuses delivering primary care paramedic training. This system is an advanced patient monitor simulator that mimics the monitors and defibrillators used by paramedics. Read how this gift is transforming paramedic student training.

Additional support for paramedic training came from Peter W. Webster, LLD, founding Chair of The ������ý Foundation and ������ý honorary degree recipient. Through gifts from The Pender Fund held at Vancouver Foundation, Webster is supporting a ground-breaking training exercise developed in ��������’s system that will simulate a mass-casualty incident focused on the role of paramedics.

������ý completed scaling the program, a free, online source for disaster planning tools and strategies, thanks to a $300,000 three-year grant from Vancouver Foundation. Also, the ������ý Community Public Safety Award, supported by BC Hydro, helped cover the cost of specialized emergency management training for four communities during the year. 

Giving Tuesday 2021 in November raised more than $23,000 to expand the use of immersive technology, such as virtual reality and 360-degree video, to make emergency responder training more effective, easier to access, safer, and less impactful to the environment. 

Almost 100 ������ý students received awards, bursaries and scholarships totalling close to $350,000. Recipients represented 19 programs or courses across all three ������ý schools. New awards included the Blackbird Security Indigenous Bursary for Indigenous students, the first award in Basic Security Training, and the International Academic Excellence Award, the first award for international students.

Long-time donor Safetek Profire increased its support for students in the full-time Fire Fighting Technologies Certificate program with a $20,000 commitment to fund up to four bursaries annually with a preference for Indigenous learners.

“We are grateful for the generous support of donors who continued giving to improve training and fund awards for students in areas such as paramedicine, firefighting, and emergency management,” said Tracy Campbell, Executive Director of The ������ý Foundation. “Their gifts are making a difference at a critical time for students and our province.”

The ������ý Foundation Board of Directors

The ������ý Foundation bid farewell to current Chair Dave Mitchell and Treasurer Gurpal Siekham, who both served six years, and Director John Tallon, who served three years. Mitchell thanked directors and ������ý Office of Development staff for their hard work during another challenging year.

Three new directors were welcomed and bring a wide range of skills and experience to the Board: Beatrix Nicolato, PRIMECorp; Lisa Paull, New Relationship Trust; and Tanya Ponnan, Ponnan Consultancy Solutions.

Kathy Wunder, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police – Technology Committee, was appointed the new Chair; John Oakley, Emergency Management BC, as Vice Chair; Curtis Campbell, RBC Royal Bank, as Treasurer, and Louise Nagy, LifeLabs, was reappointed Secretary. Incumbents Jennifer Killam, Sean Millington, Wayne Schnitzler, Emily Walmsley, and Terry Wong continue as directors. 

“I’m looking forward to building on the success of the past few years under the inspired leadership of Dave Mitchell,” said Wunder. “I want to thank Dave for his commitment to supporting student success and developing the Foundation, especially the Board, which now has increased representation of diverse groups to better reflect the ������ý community.”

ABOUT THE JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOUNDATION

For almost 30 years,  (The ������ý Foundation) has inspired giving for important needs that enhance education, training, student learning, and applied research at ������ý. These needs most often include student financial support in the form of awards and bursaries, highly specialized training equipment and technology, and funding for innovative new initiatives. The ������ý Foundation is proud to be building meaningful relationships with communities to support Canada’s leading public safety educator.