Sareena Hopkins
Keynote: Thursday, April 10
Mapping our own Future
Did you know that there are as many career development professionals as there are pharmacists in Canada? We all know what a pharmacist does and are grateful when they’re accessible to us in our communities. Yet, do our funders and the public have a similar view of our profession? There are Career Development Professionals all over Canada and around the world. We have an incredible amount of evidence that our work matters – that it transforms lives, improves people’s health and happiness, increases hope and prosperity, and strengthens our communities. So why do we remain so hidden from the public and so undervalued by funders? It’s time to put career development on the map and map a future for ourselves where we are seen, understood, and valued.
Biography
As Executive Director of the Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF), Sareena works in Canada and internationally to strengthen the reach and impact of career development. With her team at CCDF, she moves from ideas to action in areas of public policy, research and development, capacity building and advocacy. Sareena has been instrumental in a wide range of strategic leadership initiatives in Canada and internationally, including the development of our field’s Competency Framework, Code of Ethics, and approach to national certification. She is Chair of the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy and is an active member of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers’ National Advisory Panel on Labour Market Information. In 2014, Sareena was awarded the International Gold Medal for Leadership in Career Development. Sareena lives, works, and plays (most of the time!) in Ottawa with her partner and a poorly behaved, but extremely sweet cat. Sareena can be reached at [email protected]