Tracy Penner is our new Senior Development Officer and Madison (Maddie) Mackenzie is our new Development Coordinator, who both will be working to enhance and strengthen our ability to raise funds for important public health work. What’s more, Tracy and Maddie are passionate about health equity, helping to put an end to the overdose crisis, and supporting our population as we look toward pandemic recovery in our province. 

I’m thrilled to welcome Maddie and Tracy, who bring genuine interest in health, equity, and community impact to their roles on our team. They each have diverse experiences and knowledge that will support the growth and reach of the Foundation as we work to address the overdose crisis, support COVID-19 recovery, and advance public health in BC and beyond.

Natasha Krotez, Director of Development, BCCDC Foundation

Tracy and Maddie are very enthusiastic about their roles, the work that lies ahead, and the positive impact they’ll help make toward the vision of the BCCDC Foundation and advancing the health of our population.

This pandemic has made me even more aware of the inequities of our global health systems and the urgent need to address them. I feel both privileged and excited to work with this small, but mighty team, who have been so proactive during this pandemic in helping to protect ALL of our communities and who continue to advocate for health equity for everyone. I am looking forward to meeting and interacting with people in our community who are passionate about the important mission of the Foundation.

Tracy Penner, Senior Development Officer, BCCDC Foundation

I’m thrilled to be joining a team that is committed to social justice and health promotion, and at such an important time in BC. The vital work the BCCDC Foundation has undertaken is truly commendable and I look forward to supporting their efforts, helping build upon momentum, and learning from the dedicated team.

Maddie Mackenzie, Development Coordinator, BCCDC Foundation

While they’ve only been with us for less than a month, it’s been wonderful getting to know both on a personal and professional level. Whether through their education, travels, or life experience, we’re excited about how they each bring something unique and special to our team. Learn more about Tracy and Maddie, and our whole team on our Team page.

The post We Keep Growing: BCCDC Foundation Welcomes Two New Team Members! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

About the position:

The BCCDC Foundation for Public Health (BCCDC Foundation) is seeking qualified candidates for the role of Senior Development Officer. This position will work with the Director of Development to develop and implement fund development strategies that support:

• The strategic plan and priorities of the BCCDC Foundation;
• Organizational and financial growth and sustainability;
• Consistent achievement of the mission, vision and mandate of the BCCDC Foundation;
• Continued successful growth of the BCCDC Foundation reputation, influence and impact as a public health charity.

About our organization:

The BCCDC Foundation is a registered charity working in partnership with, but distinct from, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), and other stakeholders to improve population and public health outcomes in BC. Over the last two years, the BCCDC Foundation has undergone critically important planning and development that allowed us to take on an expanded portfolio and grow our reach.

Over the past 18 months, we have found ourselves in an unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 pandemic—we have been able to support pandemic response efforts and are positioned to continue this work to enhance our public health system in BC to prepare for, and respond to, future emerging threats.

We convene, collaborate, and leverage relationships with internal and external partners to drive innovation that advances population and public health for British Columbians. Established to protect and promote health, prevent harm, and prepare for threats by inspiring vision and philanthropy, the BCCDC Foundation envisions people living in health communities protected from infectious disease and environmental health hazards through innovative research and collaborative public health solutions.

Our three priority areas are: reducing harms; addressing threats; and emerging areas, and we support key projects within each priority. As one of the first charities in Canada to set up an Emergency Response Fund for COVID-19, and as a public health charity, the necessary recovery and preparedness work will continue to be a top priority as we look ahead to a post-pandemic world.

The BCCDC Foundation operates as a tax-exempt charity with its own Board and administration; as such, it is an arm’s length organization in place to support the BCCDC and public health broadly. Though a distinct entity, we are embedded within the BCCDC, allowing for unique functional and structural synergies.

We hope you may be as excited about this position and growth opportunity as we are! This is a chance to join a great small but mighty team, who have passion for, and a commitment to, improving population and public health in British Columbia.

Learn more and apply for the Senior Development Officer position here before it closes on December 6^th, 2021.

The post We’re Seeking a Senior Development Officer to Join Our Growing Fundraising Team! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Over 50 BC businesses supported these efforts as well, some finding innovative ways to raise money for the cause.

Meanwhile, as donations to our Emergency Response Fund began to come in, through our existing resources we were able to rapidly fund a study led by microbiology researchers at the BC Centre for Disease Control that tested for COVID-19 in BC’s wastewater to help track the spread of the virus in our communities. Stay tuned for updates on this project.

We’re also proud to have funded the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey: Your Story, Our Future which helped researchers learn about the experiences, knowledge, and actions of the people living in our province. Completed by nearly 400,000 British Columbians, the first BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey was the largest population health survey ever conducted in Canada at that time.

Following the survey, we funded the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey Dashboard, an interactive platform showcasing the results of the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey, putting the data in the hands of the public, allowing them to see what was happening in their specific communities, as well as helping them to understand the experiences of British Columbians as a whole.

One of the key findings of the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey showed that young adults were among the hardest hit by the pandemic and related response measures, resulting in “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults in British Columbia,” a report that will be used to support the health and well-being of young adults and their communities across BC.

Researchers at the BC Centre for Disease Control were also interested in understanding the experiences of British Columbians one year into the pandemic, resulting in us funding the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey Round 2! (And stay tuned, because we’re currently working on knowledge translation work with the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey team that we’re excited to share with you soon!)

But raising money isn’t all we do; as a public health organization, and especially in the midst of a public health crisis, we also have a responsibility to educate and inform.

Words like “pandemic,” “cluster,” “case,” and “incubation period,” for instance, were new terms some were hearing for the first time, prompting us to create the two-part series, “Pandemics & How to Flatten the Curve” and “Pandemics: The Terminology,” in order for individuals to understand why public health leaders were urging them to take precautions like washing their hands, wearing a mask, and social distancing, for example.

We also created graphics to help illustrate how to wear a mask, how far apart two metres is, how kids could stay safe at school, and more. In particular, our role in distilling complicated information for our readers has been important.

With all the information we were creating and sharing, we wanted to ensure easy access, so we created a COVID-19 resources page.

In general, COVID-19 caused the spread of much information, and rightly so. Yet unfortunately, where there is information, there is also mis- and disinformation. As a result, we took it upon ourselves to write about mis/disinformation, more specifically, how to stop the spread of it, “Addressing the Infodemic: Everyone Must Play a Role in Stopping Mis- and Disinformation.” We also interviewed the Principal Investigators for a BCCDC study around misinformation.

With the inception of a novel COVID-19 vaccine, there also rose much misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines causing some to be hesitant in receiving it, prompting us to write “Vaccine Hesitancy: Foe of Healthy Communities.”

Understanding we can’t tackle everything alone, we knew that collaboration would be, and continues to be, key.

In June 2020, we joined forces with UBC, VGH + UBC Hospital Foundation, and BC Cancer Foundation to form the BC COVID-19 Combat Collective to support experts carrying out critical research needed to prevent, test, and treat COVID-19.

In early 2021, we then partnered with Genome BC and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research to launch the “Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Research Initiative in BC” and collectively funded 9 vaccine-related research studies to address questions around the long-term effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, equitable distribution, countering misinformation, and more.

And now, approximately 19 months into the pandemic, we’re proud to look back on all the work we’ve done, the new partnerships we’ve formed, and the education we’ve provided to help keep the people of British Columbia well-informed and researchers well-funded.

Yet, our work, and that of our COVID-19 researchers, our leaders, and the health and safety of those living in British Columbia, continues.

Whether you’ve donated to our Emergency Response Fund, are following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, subscribed to our monthly newsletter, or share our content with your community, thank you. We can’t do any of this work without the help of our donors and supporters—know that you’ve been a vital part of our provinces’ success so far.

We can’t forget to thank all of the British Columbians who have been doing, and continue to do, their part—those who have gotten both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and encouraged others to do so, kept their distance, wore their masks, stayed home when feeling unwell, and every other protective measure in between.

“We’re proud of the work you’ve done, and continue to do, to keep yourself and your community safe. At the same time, we recognize that our work is far from over and we have both a privilege and a responsibility to the people of BC to continue to protect and promote health, prevent harm, and prepare for threats. We’re a small organization with a big mission, and while we’re tired like many, we’re also energized as more and more British Columbians get vaccinated every day.“

–Kristy Kerr, Executive Director, BCCDC Foundation for Public Health

As we continue to support COVID-19 response efforts, we must also turn our minds to recovery. You can help our communities see brighter days ahead by donating to our Emergency Response Fund, and help us shape the story of BC’s success in the coming months, and beyond.

The post Our Role in Helping to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

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