
CAISSE ALLIANCE UNVEILS THE BENEFICIARIES OF ITS TWO BURSARIES
NORTH BAY, July 8, 2020 – Last year, founded on the philosophy of the cooperative and community movement, Caisse Alliance decided to offer two bursaries of $5,000 in 2020. These bursaries were intended to recognize the significant contribution and commitment to the sustainable development of two students in the communities served by the Caisse. The first bursary was to be offered to a student who was completing high school and planning to enroll in a post-secondary program, while the second bursary was to be offered to a student enrolled in a college program or an undergraduate university program.
Inspired by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations, applicants were asked to complete two questions explaining how their involvement in a project met one or more of these goals. Students had to submit their application before March 31, 2020 to be eligible for a bursary.
An external selection committee made up of two representatives from the Nipissing region, two representatives from the Northern region and a fifth representative from outside Caisse Alliance was created. Caisse Alliance’s Chair of the Board of Directors, Mr. Philippe Boissonneault, also sat on the selection committee as an observer. The committee reviewed each of the applications individually, using an evaluation grid to determine the two bursary recipients. “First of all, thank you to the members of the committee for an excellent job and congratulations to the two recipients of our bursaries. The Caisse is committed to sustainable development and plans to develop a new policy by the end of 2020 to highlight the commitment of future generations, said Mr. Boissonneault.”
Émily Thibodeau is a student from École secondaire catholique de Hearst who will begin her post-secondary studies in biochemistry at the University of Ottawa next fall. This young woman had the opportunity to get involved in sustainable development during her humanitarian trip to Ghana in December 2019. During this trip, she was able to provide aid to patients in a hospital as well as helping the children with their English and math homework at the Dream Africa Care Foundation orphanage. In short, her experiences in Ghana have enabled her to achieve several sustainable development goals.
A former student at École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité in Sturgeon Falls, Michel Gervais is currently a student at Ryerson University who will be completing his studies in Cinema next spring. He was involved in sustainable development by organizing a “rainbow” theme day during the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in 2017. The activity aimed to reduce inequalities by normalizing the visibility of people in the LGBTQ community as well as promoting gender equality. Both of these are concrete examples of sustainable development goals.
These two students will each receive a $5,000 bursary to support them on their academic journey. “The mission and values of our financial cooperative are highly aligned with the major sustainable development goals of the United Nations,” said the President and Chief Executive Officer of Caisse Alliance, Mr. Pierre Dorval. In order to achieve these goals successfully, we need young advocates who are committed to our communities. We are very proud to recognize the efforts and initiatives of two of them today.” Congratulations!
Unveiling of the 2 beneficiaries. (Video subtitled in English : 2:32)
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Media contact
Rémi Dumais
Internal Communications & Social Media Advisor
Caisse Alliance
Email: rdumais@acpol.ca