On September 15, 2016 eighty guests congregated at the beautiful Thompson Landry Gallery in Toronto’s Distillery District to celebrate excellence in community and workplace literacy. Camesha Cox, Community Engagement Manager for Mitzie Hunter, MPP Scarborough-Guildwood, Founding Director of The Reading Partnership, and long-time friend to ABC hosted the event, which bestows awards on individuals and organizations who are making positive change in the lives of Canadians through literacy and essential skills programs. The evening is also an important annual event to raise awareness about the great need for improved literacy and essential skills in Canada.
“What a magical evening,” remarked Gillian Mason, President of ABC Life Literacy Canada, reflecting on Life Literacy Night 2016. “Sustaining the energy and dedication needed to create ground-breaking programs that engage and support the 10 million Canadians who struggle with literacy and essential skills is no small feat. Yet our guests included some of the most innovative literacy practitioners from across the country, celebrating together with cross-sector stakeholders who recognize that the work they due is critical to the social and economic health of Canada. We are thrilled to play a pivotal role in bringing these diverse groups together at Life Literacy Night. Together we can all make great things happen.”
Each year the Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life Literacy Innovation Award recognizes organizations that develop and implement innovative adult literacy programs that deliver outstanding learning opportunities for their clients and communities. The 2016 top winner, receiving $20,000, was the Stone Soup program from the Saint John Learning Exchange in New Brunswick. Four honourable mentions, each receiving $5,000, were awarded to: the ACALA First Voice Media program from Antigonish County Adult Learning Association in Antigonish NS; Innov-8 from Literacy Link South Central in London ON; Cooking to Learn from the Miramichi Literacy Council Inc. in Miramichi NB; and the Learning Together program from Project READ Literacy Network Waterloo Wellington in Kitchener ON.
The Dr. Alan Middleton Workplace Literacy and Learning Award, which recognizes an individual for their outstanding achievement in workplace literacy and essential skills was presented to Eduardo Hilario, Plant Operations Manager at Kingsmill Foods Ltd. in Toronto, Ontario.
The Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life Literacy Innovation Award Top Winner photo. Pictured left to right: Christina MacIsaac from Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life, Claire Ashton from The Saint John Learning Exchange, Dayna Lutes from The Saint John Learning Exchange and Gillian Mason, ABC Life Literacy Canada
The Dr. Alan Middleton Workplace Literacy and Learning Award winner Eduardo Hilario from Kingsmill is joined by his colleagues in the Manufacturing Essentials project, Andrea Swanson from ABC, Karen Geraci of Inquire Consulting, Aleksandra Popovic from ABC and Scott McNeil-Smith and JP Giroux from the Canadian Manufacturing Network.
Joanne Davis and Jennifer Hewitt from Project READ Literacy Network Waterloo Wellington talk about the impact of great literacy programing with Anthony Alfred from Aspire Communications during a FaceBook Live broadcast.
ABC Life Literacy Canada is a non-profit organization that inspires Canadians to increase their literacy skills. We mobilize business, government and communities to support lifelong learning and achieve our goals through leadership in programs, communications and partnerships. ABC Life Literacy Canada envisions a Canada where everyone has the skills they need to live a fully engaged life. For the latest news and information on adult literacy please visit
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