The Moose Jaw Multicultural Council is a great way to get involved with newcomer success, and becoming a board member is once again up for grabs.
Current board members hosted a recent meet and greet session, to expand the search for new board members and open the doors of the Newcomer Centre to anyone interested. The goal, board member Albulena Morina said, was to get some new faces with new skills involved.
“We wanted some diversification, in the aspect of having different individuals from the community involved,” said Morina. “Usually if you have individuals that have joined, then they would have recommendations from their fields. So we thought if we were more diversified, that would be something that would be a better attribution.”
The board for the MJMC is strictly volunteer and isn’t involved with the everyday operations of the many programs the Multicultural Council oversees.
Rather, the board oversees policies, budget decisions, and other governance topics, according to current executive director Stefanie Palmer. It's a low-commitment position: between 20 and 40 hours each year, although current members at the session agreed that was over-estimating.
With meetings once every two months, and a bit of preparation beforehand, being a board member is pretty straightforward. Currently, five members sit on the board, alongside Palmer, but they hope to fill some seats with new members; the limit is 12.
Brooke Meili stopped in at the session, interested in applying for a position partially because she has an interest in making Moose Jaw more welcoming and partially because she was encouraged by Morina.
“Abby really inspired me to come down and help out and I think it's a really good cause,” said Meili. “I like to make people feel welcome, so I think this is a good way to do it, especially in Moose Jaw.”
The process to be involved is fairly simple: potential board members need a membership to the Multicultural Council, which costs $10 a year, and then need to be nominated by themselves or by someone else at the Annual General Meeting.
Anyone can be involved, said Palmer, and the more the merrier.
“We're good with small, we're good with big,” said Palmer. “For anyone interested in those types of [settlement and integration] things, this would be a good opportunity.”
Since the AGM this year is set for June 19, approvals for new memberships will have to happen at the next board meeting on May 22 — so those interested in becoming a board member have to apply for a membership before that day.
Those interested can call the office at (306) 693-4677 and speak with Palmer to get the process started.
