Interim CEO’s Message
APEGA
Service, Regulation, and Commitment Continue Unabated After Leadership Change
BY HEIDI YANG, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) Interim CEO
As you know, privacy and confidentiality require that APEGA provide few details on Mark’s departure. I join the President and Council in thanking him for his contributions to APEGA and in wishing him the best. And on behalf of management and staff, I pass along the same sentiment. Our organizational structure features a strong and cohesive Senior Leadership Team (SLT), which I was part of before the announcement, as Director, Member Services. As the Interim CEO, I will lead the SLT and the rest of the APEGA organization. My former spot on the SLT will be filled and looked after by Mohamed El Daly, M.Sc., who moves up from Director of Outreach & Product Services to Acting Director, Member Services. And Hana Marinkovic, Assistant Director, Outreach & Product Services, fills Mohamed’s position to become the department’s Acting Director. I have great confidence in both Mohamed and Hana and know that Member Services is in good hands. A question you probably still want answered is: why should we, as Members of APEGA, have confidence in Heidi Yang? It’s a fair question. After all, I’ve been on the staff of APEGA for a relatively short time, about two years. However, my team and I have accomplished a lot in that period, essentially refocusing and reshaping Member Services. Great improvements have come out of that and those will continue. Before I started as an APEGA director, I was strongly engaged in APEGA and deeply understood how it operated. A Professional Engineer for 17 years, I chaired the Peace Region Branch, and then I served a three-year term on Council, set- ting strategic direction for APEGA. This governance experi- ence will serve me well, as I work closely with Council to lead APEGA in delivering on that strategic direction. For two decades, I worked for Weyerhaeuser in Grande Prairie. My leadership roles there began soon after I was hired and continued until I left. I’ve managed projects and led operational units to effectively meet their safety and performance goals. In my last role at Weyerhaeuser, I was a
On May 12, APEGA Members and staff learned that Mark Flint, P.Eng., was no longer our CEO and no longer employed by APEGA. This was an unexpected development for all employees, including management, and I’m sure it was for Members, too. The situation demands a significant adjustment for those of us at APEGA who work, lead, serve, and regulate on behalf of the public and you, our Members, but let me assure you that we are up to the task. On a personal and professional level, this is certainly a change for me. President Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, P.Eng., FEC, FCAE, FSRA, announced Mr. Flint’s departure on a Thursday. The next day, he announced that I would be the Interim CEO. I certainly did not begin the work week thinking anything like this would happen! Since then, I have been on the proverbial learning curve — a busy and challenging place, to be sure. But each day I gain confidence in myself in this role and an appreciation of the breadth of knowledge and skill I can count upon in all operational areas of APEGA. From the perspective of Members and applicants, business carries on as usual. We have very capable and dedicated staff and volunteers doing great work for APEGA, and nothing changes on that front. We continue to respond to issues as they arise. We continue to deliver all our regulatory duties in service to the public interest. And we continue to do our best to meet the needs of you, our Members. At the same time, we encourage your ongoing engagement in the professions of geoscience and engineering. We will continue to move forward. The circumstances are not ideal for anyone moving into a new position, even on interim basis. However, I was happy to accept my new role and excited by the opportunities it presents. Professional Engineering and Geoscience are great professions. I volunteered for APEGA to help keep them great. Then I accepted the position of Director, Member Services, to further serve our professions. And I now I have accepted the Interim CEO position for those same reasons. This is indeed a huge honour and a huge responsibility, and I promise I’ll continue to, first and foremost, serve you and the public.
6 | PEG SUMMER 2016
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