We would like to advise that Ellen Moore has made the bitter-sweet decision to step down as Co-Chair of the WICC Ontario board.
Since being appointed to the role of Board Co-Chair in 2011, Ellen has steered WICC Ontario towards new opportunities and smart ways to achieve our mission. She placed great importance on Board culture and creating a healthy and participative environment. Always present with supportive advice and encouragement, Ellen helped foster a progressive board culture where all ideas are considered important and where respect and deep appreciation for personal contributions aren’t just casual acknowledgements – they come from the heart. We have come to rely on her calm judgement for our most critical decisions and we’ve learned to take pause and consider the ancillary implications and interdependencies before jumping ahead with new opportunities. Ellen’s past Board experience also gave WICC an advantage relative to structure, reporting, governance, inter-agency relations, and efficiencies and we continue to benefit from her insight nine years in. For nearly a decade, we have benefited from Ellen’s leadership and we are truly grateful for her time and personal contributions.
Ellen’s leadership has also been instrumental in creating a cohesive and unified voice across our four WICC Chapters. Maintaining regular dialogue with the four WICC Chapters has resulted in countless valuable exchanges and the clarity we needed to function well as the aptly described “loose Confederacy.”
Ellen leaves the co-chair role, but to our delight, plans to stay on the WICC ON Board in a past-chair capacity. Her involvement on multiple not for profit boards has proved to be of tremendous value to WICC on countless occasions, and our appreciation was magnified with the acknowledgement that her personal commitment to WICC was also extended to a number of other groups and associations, each benefiting from her time, wisdom, direction and care. We are truly thankful to her.
We have been fortunate enough to have found a wonderful successor in Garth Pepper, President and Chief Agent of Liberty Mutual Canada. Liberty Mutual came on in 2019 as a National Sponsor and has been actively engaging more of their employees in WICC volunteering opportunities since day one of them coming on board. Garth has been a big driver of WICC’s visibility within the company and has become a vocal supporter of WICC’s mission and mandate. To have someone as talented as Garth to step into the role, gives all of us the confidence that WICC will continue to deliver on its mission and evolve to an ever-improving organization.
On behalf of WICC and the community we serve, we welcome Garth to our organization, and thank Ellen for all her good work.
Marilyn Horrick, WICC ON Co-Chair on behalf of the WICC Board of Directors