AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
their careers to non-profit organizations and high-impact, capacity- building projects. Some readers may also recognize Mr. Garossino’s name from his days as a competitive figure skater. He and his sister, Karyn, competed together in ice dancing in the 1988 Calgary Olympics, and they took home gold at the 1989 Canadian Figure Skating Champion- ships. An interest in sport sponsorships, nurtured through his in- volvement with the national figure skating team, led him to complete a bachelor of physical education degree in sport management and marketing from the University of British Columbia in 1993. After university he worked on sponsorship programs for a marketing agency, from the giving end for corporate clients and the receiving end for not-for-profit clients. From there, he moved into fund-development roles with several not-for-profits and eventually into the corporate realm as a Community Involvement Advisor at Encana, managing the company’s education portfolio. “I’ve always been interested in the space between business and community — the ways in which they connect with each other, the ways they need each other. The space between them can be difficult to navigate, but that tricky space has always appealed to me,” he says. “The two often are thinking about the same things and wanting to achieve similar things. But the languages they speak are very different, and the primary motivations are very different. So a lot of time it comes down to almost an interpreter role — to be able to understand both languages.” During his eight years at Encana, Mr. Garossino managed fund- ing relationships with a wide range of community partners, includ- ing post-secondary institutions, science and outreach organizations, and other education-focused not-for-profits. He also completed a certificate in corporate community involvement from the Boston College Centre for Corporate Citizenship. “Part of what prepared me for my new role with AEF was the work I did at Encana. My role with AEF puts me back into a similar space, but from a slightly different perspective,” says Mr. Garossino.
“We’re not going to be immune to the challenges faced by all non-profit organizations, given the current economic downturn. I don’t have any illusions about the speed at which we’re going to open the flood gates of revenue flow,” he notes. “We’ll have to temper our expectations, especially when engaging engineering and geoscience corporations.” Still, there’s plenty of reason to connect with corporate Alberta, even in a struggling economy. “When companies have no money to give, what they have to give is their time and perspective. Now is a critical time to build and maintain those relationships. You build bridges before you need them. That will be a big part of what I’m doing in the next little while,” says Mr. Garossino. He’ll also focus on strengthening relationships with Members. Individual donations from APEGA Members totalled $190,500 in 2015. AEF wants to increase the number of individual donors from 4,000 to 5,000, and to increase the average donation from $75 to $100. That would mean $200,000 more annually. “We would like to inspire more APEGA Members to be more actively involved in supporting the foundation, so we can make a bigger impact in the community and on students,” he says. APEGA has a large membership, and many Members want to give back to the professions that have helped them achieved suc- cess. “They’re really motivated to do that, so that gives us a great starting point.” Mr. Garossino will also be connecting with educational organi- zations, institutions, and students — groups the foundation supports — to better understand their needs. He’ll be working closely with the AEF Board of Directors to define a strategic engagement and revenue generation plan to help meet its long-term goals. “There are some really important and valuable outcomes that can be achieved. I think the impact the foundation has could be increased dramatically. That potential exists; it’s possible and really exciting,” he says. “Our invitation to all APEGA Members is to join us and help us achieve those outcomes.”
MAKING A BIGGER IMPACT
Each year, the foundation, which operates at arms-length from APEGA, awards about 50 scholarships and bursaries worth about $195,000 in total. Another $95,000 is granted to science outreach organizations. Among the business plan’s aims are to: • increase outreach funding • boost the number and value of scholarships and bursaries, with a focus on students in financial need • provide more financial support groups underrepresented in the engineering and geoscience professions, including young wom- en and Aboriginals One of Mr. Garossino’s challenges will be to boost donations to meet these aims. To do this, he’ll be reaching out to corporations and APEGA Members for support.
FOUR WAYS TO DONATE
Giving to the APEGA Education Foundation is straightfor- ward. There are four donation options. 1. Attach a cheque for the foundation to your annual APEGA membership renewal form and mail it in. 2. Donate online anytime through the APEGA Member Self- Service Centre. 3. Donate online or begin monthly donations through CanadaHelps.org. 4. Download a donation form from the AEF website at apega.ca/AEF and mail in a cheque.
62 | PEG SPRING 2016
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