The draft vision is to champion and inspire lasting change that strengthens community and improves lives. This vision not only speaks to the kind of organization we want to be, but the type of community we want to be part of.
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At its Annual General Meeting on June 16, United Way of Peel Region announced the creation of the Chinese Community Advisory Council. The Chinese community, which numbers more than 40,000 people in Peel, now has a strong voice in United Way of Peel Region.
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At United Way's Annual General Meeting on June 16, six new Board members were elected for a three-year term. At a Board meeting immediately afterward, Harminder (Harry) Singh Mann was elected for a one-year term as Board Chair. Other Officers elected were former Caledon Mayor Carol Seglins as Vice Chair, Marshall Platt of Deloitte & Touche as Treasurer, and Dr. Colin Saldanha as Secretary.

A barrister and solicitor, Mann has operated his own law firm (Mann Law) in Mississauga since 1992. His extensive volunteer work includes serving as a Director of the Peel Law Association, President of the Lions Club of Erin Mills, and a member of the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation. In addition, Mann is the President of the South Asian Lawyer's Association, the Executive Director of the Sikh Foundation of Canada Inc. and the Chairman of the Central Coordinating Committee of the South Asian Heritage Foundation.

The following individuals were elected to the Board for the first time:

Harold Brathwaite
A longtime resident of Mississauga, Harold Brathwaite has enjoyed a stellar career as an educator. In addition to teaching in elementary, secondary, public and Catholic schools as well as post-secondary institutions, Brathwaite also served in several administrative capacities. He was Director of Education for the Peel District School Board from 1994 to 2002. Since retiring from the school board, Brathwaite has served as a senior advisor to the President of Seneca College. He is now Executive Director of the Retired Teachers of Ontario. Mr. Brathwaite has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Learning Partnership (2003), Urban Alliance on Race Relations (2002), and Peel Multicultural Community Service (2001).

Matthew Curran
A special education teacher with the Peel District School Board, Matthew Curran provides leadership within the school community through coaching soccer, facilitating student parliament, coordinating the school's United Way campaign, and managing the school's recycling program. His wealth of volunteer experience includes working as a team leader for YMCA of Greater Toronto's Outreach Services and as an Account Coordinator/Sponsored Employee for YMCA's United Way campaign. Curran is a member of the Brampton Mississauga District Labour Council and serves as the Council's representative on the Board.

Vijay Kanwar
Vijay Kanwar, who holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree, is the President and Chief Financial Officer of KMH Cardiology & Diagnostic Centres, North America's largest provider of nuclear cardiology services. Kanwar is also the President of Lambardar Inc., which designs and coordinates the construction of state-of-the-art medical facilities. Extensively involved in his community, Kanwar has shared his time and efforts as a Board member for Interim Place and sits on the Board of the Toronto Raptors Foundation. In addition, he has been a member of the Young Presidents of Ontario Association since 2003.

Louroz Mercader
Chairperson on the Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee from 1998 to 2001, Mercader is currently the Communications Strategist for Peter Fonseca, Member of Provincial Parliament for Mississauga East and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health Promotion. Mercader serves as a director for the Healthy City Stewardship Centre, the Peel Halton Dufferin Training Board and is the founder of Mississauga Youth Week and the Institute for Youth Citizenship. Mercader also serves on the Mississauga Heritage Foundation Board and is Chair of the Education Committee. He was a recipient of the Canada Day Youth Award in 2000 and was awarded the 2001 Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Joseph Palumbo
As Executive Director of the Career Development Centre (CDC) for The Schulich School of Business, one of the world's premier business schools, Palumbo is the main corporate, government and organizational relationship executive for the CDC and helps build the Schulich brand globally. Holder of an MBA and a CMA, he develops on a global basis new relationships and cultivates existing relationships with diverse firms at the most senior strategic, operational and human resources levels. Palumbo has conducted thousands of interviews and coaching sessions, developed and delivered hundreds of presentations, workshops, keynotes and panel discussions in New York, Hong Kong, China, London and Toronto.

Roland Sirois
Since 1977, Rolans Sirois has worked for the National Starch and Chemical Company, the U.S. parent of Nacan Products Ltd. in Brampton. He was named President of Nacan Products in 2000 and in August 2005 was appointed National Starch and Chemical Co.'s Divisional Vice President, U.S. and Canadian Paper Starch. Sirois has been a United Way volunteer since 2001. After serving for one year as a campaign Account Executive, he joined the Campaign Cabinet in 2002 as Co-Chair of the Pharmaceutical/Chemicals Division. He then chaired the division for two years and served as Cabinet Chair in 2005.

As part of the development of our 2006-11 strategic plan, United Way of Peel Region has reviewed its vision, mission and strategic directions. The draft versions were introduced at our Annual General Meeting on June 16.

The draft vision is to champion and inspire lasting change that strengthens community and improves lives. This vision not only speaks to the kind of organization we want to be, but the type of community we want to be part of.

Our draft mission emphasizes the role of partnerships in our work and focuses on specific end results. This mission is to engage our community, through partnerships, to ensure people are cared for, connected and included. We recognize that we cannot bring about the changes our community needs on our own. We need to work in partnership with individuals and organizations from every corner of our community.

To ensure that United Way fulfills its mission, these are the five strategic directions we will focus on:

1. Diversify and increase sustainable financial resources
2. Invest United Way resources strategically to address human service priorities
3. Engage the community in all aspects of United Way work
4. Strengthen the capacity of the human service sector in Peel
5. Reduce human service gaps in Peel

We are very excited about the new strategic plan being developed and we welcome your input. We are currently conducting surveys and consultations to obtain feedback on the draft vision, mission statement, and strategic directions. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to Susan Danby at sdanby@unitedwaypeel.org.

At its Annual General Meeting on June 16, United Way of Peel Region announced the creation of the Chinese Community Advisory Council. The Chinese community, which numbers more than 40,000 people in Peel, now has a strong voice in United Way of Peel Region. The Chinese Community Advisory Council (CCAC) has been formed with a two-fold purpose:

1. To establish and cultivate a relationship with leaders from the Chinese community to build and strengthen a mutually beneficial relationship with United Way of Peel Region
2. To raise awareness of the needs and challenges faced by the Chinese community

The CCAC will assist United Way in conducting a needs assessment survey of the Chinese community to identify strengths, barriers and challenges. The council will work closely with various United Way departments, including Community Investment, Resource Development, and Communications & Marketing.

The CCAC will help United Way increase its profile and further strengthen its relationship with the Chinese community. It will also raise the awareness of access and support for United Way within the Chinese community. In addition, The CCAC will endeavour to enhance the fundraising capacity of United Way within the Chinese community and encourage greater participation of Chinese people in United Way.

The following are the members of the Chinese Community Advisory Council:

• Bammy Wong - President, Asian Business Network Association
• Dawin Kong - Executive Director, Toronto Chinese Community Services Association
• Frank Tang - Vice President, Mississauga Mandarin Association
• Jack Jia - Publisher, Chinese News
• Jenny Qin - Community Outreach Coordinator, United Way of Peel Region
• Josephine Bau - Administrative Coordinator, Region of Peel, Children's Services
• Ken Choi - Vice President, Buddha's Light International Association of Toronto
• Men Yee Ling - Public Services Librarian, Brampton Library
• Nelly Gong - Agent, State Farm
• Ricky Ho - President, Edge Light Corp.
• Shirley Cheng - Health Outreach Worker, Health, Region of Peel
• Simon So - Coordinator, Bridge Project

This year, United Way is revamping the Speakers' Bureau to increase its impact. The Speakers' Bureau will become a year-round opportunity so that United Way can engage its donors and other community partners beyond the campaign period.

Members of the Speakers' Bureau will be trained as United Way volunteers. This will promote the volunteers' ability to understand and articulate United Way's key messages and its role as a community builder. Speakers' Bureau volunteers will promote the impact of United Way funding on the community's well-being through personal stories and testimonials without focusing on a specific agency.

If you are interested in being considered as a member of the United Way Speakers' Bureau, please sign up for one of the following training sessions:

Monday, June 26, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Wednesday, August 30, 7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, September 14, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

All sessions will take place at:
United Way of Peel Region
5170 Dixie Road, Suite 300
Mississauga

For further information about the Speakers' Bureau, contact Nicole Dupuis, Community Investment Associate, at 905-602-3622 or ndupuis@unitedwaypeel.org.

Among the sites and attractions that STAP participants have visited are the CN Tower, Playdium, the Ontario Science Centre, the Toronto Zoo, Medieval Times and Canada's Wonderland. Because Susan loves to swim, her favourite attraction is Wild Water Kingdom.

Susan's mother, Manuela, works nights and is delighted that while she's sleeping during the day, her daughter has the opportunity to participate in daytime recreational activities and to interact with support workers and young people like herself. Manuela says that Susan's desire to return summer after summer is a strong indication of the quality of the program.

Due to her age, this will be Susana's last summer in the program. Thanks to United Way, STAP has enriched Susan's life and given her memories she will always cherish.

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Kodak Canada Inc., United Way staff now have four EasyShare 2700 digital cameras and a C340 digital camera bundle at their fingertips to document United Way activities in the community.

United Way extends its gratitude to Lisanne Dubuc, Business Development Manager for Digital & Imaging Systems at Kodak. We are also grateful to John Salt, Divisional Vice-President for Distribution and Express Auto Parts at Canadian Tire Corporation, for making the request to Kodak on behalf of United Way.

"This gift will allow us tremendous flexibility in our communication efforts. Previously, we had just one camera and I know our staff always struggled with the decision of which event to photograph. Now we will be able to capture so many more of the events and activities that make our campaign exciting. Our campaign managers can take the cameras 'on the road' as they visit the hundreds of companies and organizations in Peel that contribute to our campaign," said Liz Leake, United Way's Director of Communications & Marketing.

…Peace Ranch began as a group home in 1990, providing accommodation and special programs for people experiencing long-term mental-health challenges?
Conceived by concerned families from the Brampton Chapter of Friends of Schizophrenics, Peace Ranch receives funding from United Way of Peel Region.

…in Peel, males and females aged 30 to 39 years have the highest incidence rate of HIV?
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first global acknowledgement of HIV/AIDS.