APEGA FOUNDATION
New Name, Changing Vision
The APEGA Foundation expands its mandate, with an added focus on strengthening and engaging the engineering and geoscience communities
The APEGA Education Foundation has a new and shorter name to better reflect its expanding mandate. Now known simply as the APEGA Foundation (AF), the charitable organization has changed its name to reflect a broader vision of the foundation’s future. “We’re continuing to evolve as an organization, and our new name reflects the new direction we’re head- ing in,” explains Mike Smyth, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), President of AF’s volunteer board of directors and a past-president of APEGA. “We’ll continue to support engineering and geoscience education through scholar- ships, bursaries, and outreach funding, which we’ve done for over 20 years. Moving forward, we want to do so much more than that.” A major long-term goal for AF is to inspire and enable the development of innovative engineering and geoscience solutions to address society’s most critical challenges. Details are still being worked out, but one idea is to award grants or prize money for innovative projects with real-life applications, in Canada and around the world. “We want to focus on strengthening and engaging the engineering and geoscience community, increasing the public’s understanding of the impact our profes- sions make in improving their quality of life,” says Mr. Smyth. “That’s the reason we exist.”
The new name is the latest in a series of changes the foundation has undertaken over the past few years. Others include the hiring of a new executive director — the foundation’s first — and approving new vision and mission statements to guide the board’s strategic decision-making. “We’re in the process of imagining a new organization, and we’re just in the beginning phase,” says Mr. Smyth. AMBASSADORS NEEDED As part of its strategy to engage with Professional Members, AF is seeking engineering and geoscience MISSION The APEGA Foundation instills pride in APEGA members by investing in engineering and geosci- ence related initiatives in Alberta for the benefit of the professions and society. VISION Strong, diverse, sustainable professionals that are understood and valued.
APEGA Foundation In 1-2-3 ❶ Founded in 1996 as the APEGA Education Foundation; renamed APEGA Foundation in 2017. ❷ Governed by an independent Board of Directors made up of APEGA Member volunteers — who are also community leaders. ❸ A charitable organization incorporated under the Alberta Societies Act.
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