Durham College (DC) is proud to share that Kelly O’Brien, general manager of the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (CFF), was presented with a Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Leadership Excellence Award for Managerial Staff at the association’s annual conference on May 6. Presented in Niagara Falls, this award is in recognition of Kelly’s tremendous leadership and track record of success.

An inspiration to not only her team but also to the students studying in the CFF, Kelly works diligently each day to seamlessly integrate business operations of the CFF into all culinary, hospitality and horticulture curriculum, resulting in a powerful example of serving both students and the community at the highest possible level. Under her leadership, business operations at the CFF have also enjoyed three ‘best-ever’ years in a row, growing significantly in the number of customers and guests to the centre, and also the amount of students who work and volunteer annually.

In addition, Kelly is very active in the community, committing her team and students to improving the lives of others through skills and confidence-building activities, such as cooking sessions with patients at the regional mental health hospital. As well, she continues to establish partnerships with local businesses that benefit not only the college broadly, but the students and the partners. When not overseeing CFF operations, Kelly teaches marketing and leadership to students as a part-time instructor in the CFF, and contributes to the centre’s broader academic planning and operations.

Congratulations Kelly on your well-deserved award. The CICan Awards of Excellence recognize best practices from institutions across the country, as well as individual leadership and achievements, for more information on this year’s awards, please visit the CICan website.