October 06, 2015
CultureLink held its 2015 Annual General Meeting on Thursday, October 22nd. In attendance were members, staff, Board members, funders, community partners, special guests, and more. CultureLink presented its new name “CultureLink Settlement & Community Services”, and new strategic directions “Vision 2020″ (V2020) to our stakeholders.
A big farewell was said to our departing Board member Sarah Bukhari, previously President of the Board for three years. She was commended for her leadership, inspiration, and dedication to CultureLink.
In addition to that, returning Board member Wendy Horning was welcomed to CultureLink one more time. Wendy first came to know CultureLink in 2000, where volunteering with the English Conversation Circle was a suitable ‘fit’. She became a board member in 2001, serving on the Board until 2013-2014, including a period as Chair of the Board and Treasurer.
Our Keynote Speaker, Cristina Martins, MPP Davenport, delighted our community members and stakeholders with a great speech. Martins currently serves as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade, focusing on citizenship and immigration.
Arif Virani, new MP for Parkdale-High Park, overjoyed our audience by sharing his own journey as an immigrant to this country and his rewarding fourteen-year legal career advocating for human rights and access to justice. Virani is a founder of Toronto’s South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO), and has been a recipient of prestigious awards in recognition of his contributions to his community.
On a similar note, our audience appreciated our theatre performance “Live for Hope” by CultureLink’s Newcomer Youth Theatre Program. The Youth Theatre program was established to help newcomer youth to strengthen their individual developmental assets, and assimilate their immigration experience through the use of art as a tool of self-expression and advocacy. In addition to that, our staff member Erika Pintyo delighted the audience with a traditional Hungarian dance performance.
Also, Miguel Abascal, a former CCMP client, shared his experience as a newcomer to this country and the impact of mentoring on his own personal and professional journey. To read more about his experience please read our 2015 Annual Report. On the same vein, audiences were able to enjoy the piano performance of one of our clients, Tatiana Grigorescu. Tatiana is an accomplished pianist from Romania; she loves to teach and she would like to take new students from our community.
CultureLink would like to thank all in attendance at the AGM for making it a lovely evening. To end with a flourish, we were able to witness the impact of our services on our community by facilitating the establishment of life-long friendships between newcomers and established Canadians. In this special opportunity, after 11 years, Sita and Anna–a pair matched through the Host Program–came together at CultureLink’s AGM. Please read Sita & Anna’s story.
Claudia Rivera, Executive Assistant