General News

Ian Lewer, MBA, has joined the Advancement Team as the Director of Philanthropy.

As the former Director of Planned Giving at Dalhousie University, Ian brings a wealth of experience in planned and major gifts, fundraising strategy, and donor relations. During his tenure at Dalhousie, Ian was responsible for managing a broad portfolio of donors and brought forward a significant number of new planned giving opportunities to support academic priorities across all faculties.

Previously, Ian held positions with several of Canada’s top financial institutions, including serving as an Estate and Trust Advisor with RBC Royal Trust, and as a Branch Manager, Private Banking (Halifax) with TD Bank Financial Group. With a strong focus on stakeholder relations, wealth management, and estate planning, Ian has also been involved with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners.

Ian holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa and certificates in Financial Planning and Wealth Management from the Canadian Securities Institute.

“I consider a gift to a charitable organization to be an investment that is deeply personal to the donor, and as such, must be treated with respect and aligned with their desired impact. Born and raised in Ottawa, I am proud to be affiliated with Algonquin College—an institution whose message of transforming hopes and dreams into lifelong success resonates with learners and donors alike.”

The Students’ Association’s $20,000 contribution to COVID-19 Student Emergency Fund is one significant way the organization is fulfilling its mandate to support the College’s learners and values, says SA general manager Jack Doyle.

“When we learned an emergency fund was being created for students because of the pandemic, we looked at the resources we had and how we could make a meaningful contribution,” Doyle says. “We respect the College’s effort to help students in these hard times, and we wanted to show leadership by participating in this important initiative.”

The COVID-19 Emergency Fund, which opened to applications on May 15, is a $1-million fund created to assist learners facing financial challenges as they continue or complete their studies. The application for the spring allotment of the Fund is open through Monday, May 25. Learners can access it through ACSIS by logging in and clicking on the Bursary Portal under the Financial Aid heading.

Domestic and International Spring students can access the fund, as can Winter students who were not able to complete their semester due to a practicum or placement (and who will incur costs associated with completion). The fund will be open to Fall students on Sept. 8.

The SA has been assisting learners in other ways throughout the crisis. Doyle says anxiety was evident when classes were first suspended in March and an increasing number of requests were made for assistance through the Food Bank. But he notes he’s been impressed overall by how well the College’s student population has dealt with the global crisis brought on by the pandemic.

“What I saw was determination and strength of purpose. Perhaps because of the time of year when all this began, I saw students persevere through the adversity they were experiencing and focus on the sprint to the finish of their school year,” says Doyle.

“Resilience” is the characteristic SA President Emily Ferguson finds most striking about the College’s learners during the crisis. Ferguson, who took up her role on May 1, says despite high levels of anxiety about how classes and programs would take place under the restrictions necessitated by COVID-19, learners continue to adapt, often with the help of the support systems established for their benefit on campus.

She has high praise for the COVID-19 Emergency Fund donation put in place by Doyle and the previous board of directors.

“The SA is always there for students,” Ferguson says. “The questions that determine what it does are, ‘What would be best for students?’ ‘How can we help?’ This is one way we demonstrate how it can be done.”