FOUNDATION CONNECTION
Asked and Answered: APEGA Foundation Jams a Path To New Social Innovation Prize
BY PETER MYERS, P.ENG. APEGA Foundation President
For almost 20 years, the APEGA Foundation has been a conduit for engineers and geoscientists to give back to their professions, allowing them a direct way to support de- serving students in engineering and geoscience programs. The organiza- tion, known for most of that time as the APEGA Education Foundation, created and awarded scholarships, bursaries, and endowments. We also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to outreach programs pro- moting the applied sciences to K-12 students across Alberta. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done. But a few years ago, we started to ask ourselves, how could we have more impact? How could we inspire, empower, and support engineers and geoscientists to make more of a difference in our world?
At that time, we worked with a consultant to craft a new mission and vision: MISSION The APEGA Foundation instills pride in APEGA members by investing in engineering & geoscience related initiatives in Alberta for the benefit of the professions and society. VISION Strong, diverse, sustainable profes- sionals that are understood and valued. Late last year, we committed to bringing these words to life by em- barking on a process called the Idea Jam. Our goal was to create one or two key initiatives to move the needle on an issue and give applied
scientists a reason to celebrate. In November 2017, we held Phase 1 of the Idea Jam, a question- storming session. This phase tasked the board of directors of the foundation with, as you may have gathered, asking questions—and questions only. No challenges or justifications allowed. We simply put forth questions that puzzled us about the professions. Much came to the fore. We asked questions about: • the education system • adaptation to climate change • new technologies • diversity in the professions • culture • our willingness to engage in the political process and policy- making
“From our questions, we realized our reason for existence: to build a stronger engineering and geoscience community— one that connects, empowers, and inspires APEGA members to be leaders in the creation of sustainable solutions to the province’s and the world’s greatest challenges.”
44 | PEG WINTER 2018
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