The CPF BC and Yukon Board of Directors announces that effective March 1, 2022, Glyn Lewis, our Branch Executive Director has left the Branch to start the next chapter of his professional path.
For almost 14 years with the organization, Glyn demonstrated his strong commitment to the CPF mandate of promoting opportunities for youth to learn and use French within BC, the Yukon and across Canada. Parents, students, and community partners have benefited from his strengths in advocacy, media relations, and outreach. After many years leading the BC and Yukon Branch of Canadian Parents for French, Executive Director Glyn Lewis is moving on to start the next chapter of his professional path.
“Glyn has played a critical role in the development and success of the Branch, and while we will miss him and his inspiring leadership, the Branch finds itself in a strong position for continued growth. We sincerely thank Glyn for his significant contributions, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours” said Nancy Taylor, CPF BC and Yukon Branch President.
Over the next few weeks, the Board of Directors is conducting a search to find the next CPF BC and Yukon Executive Director. If you are interested in this position, please review the job description and how to apply here.
Please read Glyn’s farewell message:
Dear Canadian Parents for French BC & YK members, community, and staff,
After 14 years with the Canadian Parents for French BC & Yukon Branch, I am moving on to pursue a new opportunity in the private sector. My time with this organization has been both incredibly rewarding and personally challenging. When I applied as a young Outreach Officer in the summer of 2008, I could not fathom how long this journey would last.
At many conferences and events, I’ve told the story of how I entered the late French immersion program in Burnaby in 1994 against my will. My mother, a French-speaking trilingual immigrant from Greece, was persistent that my sister and I learn Canada’s two official languages. I recall resisting the change because it would mean I would have to transfer schools and leave my friends behind. I could not see then that this change would open a world of opportunities for me. Learning French, even to a functional DELF B2 level, has helped me connect with people in many situations all around the world. It has helped me experience life through a different culture. It has helped me build a career. French immersion changed my life, and I will be forever grateful to (a) the parents who advocated for the creation of this program and helped it take root in Burnaby and (b) to my mother who insisted that I have a chance to participate. I’m also deeply indebted to all the wonderful teachers I had along the way.
Parents believing in their power to organize for change is what inspired me to join this organization and it has been the fuel that always motivated me to keep going.
Every time we heard stories of parents lining up to access the program, every time we heard a community was missing a French teacher, every time we heard parents being shut out of the decision-making process, I thought about my own journey. Where would I be if it wasn’t for the opportunity to participate in this program? The work this organization does is truly life-changing. Sometimes it’s hard to see the full arc of our impact.
Moreover, in a fast-changing, increasingly polarized, sometimes seemingly chaotic world, I truly believe learning an additional language helps foster greater empathy, openness, reconciliation and understanding. Communities and nations become closed and insular when they see the world only through their own worldview. When they look inward instead of outward. We fear, and have the capacity to hate, that which we do not understand. Languages and cross-cultural understanding, on the other hand, by their very nature force us to see the world in a different way – through a different lens. To help us stand in the shoes of another human being. To glimpse life as they experience it. What an incredible gift.
Canada, I believe, is a model for diversity because citizens, including many parents, define a future based on multilingualism and multiculturalism. John Ralston Saul once remarked, “Canadian Parents for French is one of those great organizations that make Canada work.” I full-heartedly agree.
To Board members and staff members I’ve had the honour of working with over the years, thank you. Your kindness, dedication, friendship, and support are what I will remember most.
Having the opportunity to help lead this organization has been an immense privilege.
I wish you all much success in creating and promoting opportunities for all young students to learn and use French.
Merci.
Glyn Lewis
For more information, please contact:
Nancy Taylor
Board President
CPF BC and Yukon