DIRECTIONS.” He wasn’t exaggerating. When I called her at Sobeys’ Head Office in Stellarton, N.S., Ms. Forsythe was eager to speak with me. “We’ve been connected to DIRECTIONS for a number of years. They give our stores the opportunity to take-on outstanding leadership roles in their respective communities and we’re now working to formalize that connection. Sobeys is very interested in hiring folks throughout the community who have different abilities. Our store managers are very focused on delivering our promise of equal opportunity employment. Our biggest asset on that front is working with groups throughout our communities who endeavour to reflect their citizens and values, today and in the future as well. DIRECTIONS and similar groups throughout Atlantic Canada do just that. We build bridges together, which strengthens our business and gives a new purpose to their clients. There’s nothing that community leadership can’t transcend” she said
In late March, Spotlight on Business Magazine had the opportunity to speak with the Senior Director of Human Resources and Retail at Sobeys Atlantic, Stephanie Forsythe. The opportunity arose after speaking with five representatives from the DIRECTIONS Council of Nova Scotia, a non-profit vocational services society for citizens with disabilities. On the phone that morning was: Heath Spencer, Executive Director of the Shelburne Association Supporting Inclusion (SASI); Deborah MacLean, Executive Director of the Haley Street Adult Services Centre Society in Sydney, N.S.; Melanie Singleton, the Operations Manager of New Boundaries in Windsor, N.S.; and Jeff Teasdale, Executive Director of the CACL (Canadian Association for Community Living) in Antigonish, N.S.. The fifth voice that morning was that of Mike Townsend, the Executive Director of the DIRECTIONS Council. It was Mr. Townsend who encouraged me to reach out to Ms. Forsythe, who he described as “really motivated to strengthen their [Sobeys’] connection with
This notion, I’d already learned, is the driving force behind DIRECTIONS.
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APRIL 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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