Durham College announces Leave for Change participants

Employees will undertake a challenging and rewarding professional growth experience in a developing country

Oshawa, Ont. – Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that three employees have been chosen by Uniterra, a leading Canadian international development program, to participate in the Leave for Change program. Dale Burt, professor, School of Justice & Emergency Services; Cosette Kazarian, SharePoint officer, Communications and Marketing; and Kim Sharpe, program assistant, School of Continuing Education, will travel to three different locations around the globe.

“This is a fabulous opportunity for DC employees to learn from international experiences while contributing to the social and economic stability of developing foreign communities,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC. “The experiences of our employees will be shared with others to assist in advancing the internationalization of our college, a key pillar of our strategic vision, while also allowing DC to foster a more inclusive learning environment and enabling employees to develop a wider global perspective.”

Sharpe will be in Nepal at the end of June, where she will work with the National Youth Federation Nepal in Kathmandu to foster employability and promote gender equality among youth.

In July, Burt will travel to Vietnam. As a Teaching Methodology advisor, she will train faculty at the School of Economics at Danang University in Danang. She will use new and interactive teaching methodologies as well as create and share tools, resources and templates for use in designing modern and dynamic teaching plans.

As a Marketing and Communications advisor, Kazarian will work with the Ruhunu Tourism Bureau in Galle, Sri Lanka to develop a tourism promotional communications plan, co-ordinate the writing and production of tourism promotional materials, and support the development of effective web-based promotions, among other duties. Kazarian will travel to Galle in mid-January 2018.

In November 2017, Lovisa signed an agreement with Uniterra to introduce the Leave for Change professional development program.

The agreement enables interested full-time DC employees to transform their vacations into short-term professional and personal development experiences of three to four weeks in a developing country. During their assignments, employees contribute their skills and expertise to an established development project. Employees are paired with a professional from a non-governmental organization and receive support from other professionals in a host country, including Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Malawi, Vietnam, Nepal, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and several others.

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About Uniterra

Uniterra is a leading Canadian international development program that is jointly operated by CECI and WUSC. Each year, 600 volunteers contribute their time and experience to positive and lasting change towards a more equitable world by dedicating a few weeks to two years of their lives to international volunteer work. The program also provides opportunities to get involved in Canada and play an active role in combatting poverty. The Uniterra program receives funding from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada.

About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 11,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the art Student Services building and the college has recently broken ground on the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The new facility will bring together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ‘67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs.

For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.

Media contact:
Melissa McLean
Communications and Marketing
905.721.2000 ext. 2952
melissa.mclean@durhamcollege.ca