MONTREAL- Telus and the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Quebec Chapter (AFP) are honouring three outstanding and committed community leaders in the greater Montreal region, the top three winners of the Telus Community Excellence Awards. They are: Manon Barbeau, Co-founder, Executive Director and Artistic Director, Wapikoni mobile; Ugo Dionne, Co-Founder, Bénévoles d'affaires; and Bernard Lamarre, Chairman of the board, École Polytechnique.
The honour was part of the Telus Celebration of Giving in Montreal, an annual event that brings together 150 professionals and volunteers from the community sector. Through the event Telus recognizes the generosity and dedicated work of all those who make a real difference in their community. The company also announced a $3 million donation to support hundreds of charities in the greater Montreal region in 2012.
"This year, we're taking that recognition even further by celebrating three outstanding community leaders chosen from among 200 nominations across the province," said François Gratton, Senior Vice-President, Business Markets, Eastern Canada, and Vice-Chair of the Telus Montreal Community Board.
Telus and AFP-Quebec Chapter chose the three winners from a pool of 200 leaders across Quebec because their commitment to philanthropy and passion for innovation sets them apart. This contest was launched as part of the celebrations surrounding Telus' 85th anniversary in Quebec in collaboration with La Presse and Le Soleil.
Manon Barbeau, Co-founder, Executive Director and Artistic Director of Wapikoni mobile
Manon Barbeau strives to give a voice to those on society's fringe: people struggling with intellectual disabilities or mental illness, young people living in the street, prisoners or young people living in isolated aboriginal communities. With Wapikoni mobile, a studio devoted to intervention as well as to audio-visual and musical creation, Barbeau contributes to prevention and reducing suicide, drug addiction, crime and youth drop-out rates. To date, her project has made it possible for several thousand young people from 21 aboriginal communities and eight nations to try their hand at video and music, and to express themselves through art.
Ugo Dionne, Co-Founder of Bénévoles d'affaires
Ugo Dionne, president of Synesis-Versalys, is co-founder of Bénévoles d'affaires (BA), an organization active since 2006 whose mission is to build bridges between the business community and organizations in the greater Montreal region so that participating organizations might take advantage of the best expertise. Thanks to the involvement of Dionne and his team, and despite limited means, BA has 3,000 volunteers and 800 organizations, and has done more than 1,300 business-organization matches. Since the beginning of the year, every week, 15 new volunteers join BA and eight matches are created on average.
Bernard Lamarre, Chairman of the board, École Polytechnique
Bernard Lamarre is an exceptional scientific engineer who most notably worked for Lavalin Inc., first as President and Chief Executive Officer, then as a consultant. Throughout his career, Lamarre has found the time to invest in the community, as a volunteer and as a major contributor. The Lassonde Pavillions and the Trottier Atrium at the Polytechnique are prime examples of Lamarre's work and generosity. True to his renewed involvement in the community, he devotes his time by serving as chairman on numerous boards of directors the boards of Groupe Bellechasse Santé and Montreal's École Polytechnique.
