2017 Leave for Change participants complete their mandates

Durham College (DC) is pleased to welcome back three of its employees who were selected by Uniterra to represent the college as part of the Leave for Change program.

 The first Leave for Change participants to represent the college overseas turned their vacations into short-term leaves to share their unique skills and experience to assist with projects in developing countries.

The employees were:

  • Dale Burt, professor, Mediation-Alternative Dispute Resolution Graduate Certificate program, School of Justice & Emergency Services. Dale worked within the School of Economics at Danang University in Danang, Vietnam, as a teaching methodology advisor for the month of July, 2017. Using interactive teaching approaches, Dale created and shared tools to assist in designing more modern and dynamic teaching plans.
  • Cosette Kazarian, intranet specialist, Communications and Marketing. Cosette travelled to Colombo, Sri Lanka, in mid-January, for four weeks, where she worked with the University of Vocational Technology. During her time away, Cosette helped review their website, create a social media strategy, and created and updated marketing materials.
  • Kim Sharpe, program assistant, School of Continuing Education. Kim travelled to Kathmandu, Nepal, in June, 2017 where she worked with the National Youth Federation of Nepal to train their members. She was the first participant in the role and made a significant impact by sharing her experience and education with participants.

The agreement between DC and Uniterra allows DC employees to transform vacation time into professional and personal development opportunities. Employees enjoy three to four weeks in developing countries, where they participate in work mandates in their respective fields. During their time abroad, participants contribute their skills and expertise to a development project, paired with professionals from non-governmental organizations in their host countries. DC is pleased to continue the partnership with Uniterra in 2018 and this year’s participants will be announced shortly.