Mental Health Awareness Month

In the early hours of April 23, my family was impacted by gun violence. A shooting outside her student home woke my daughter Kyle from a sound sleep. She called me that night from the floor of her darkened bedroom, terrified by the sounds of gunfire.

Barely 10 months ago, Kyle sheltered in place at her summer job mere meters from a double homicide. She called me that day too, telling her father and me to stay where we were because the shooter was at large. The images of that experience will haunt her forever.

Last month we also passed the 10-year anniversary of the Boston Bombing. My husband, Kyle’s father, was there that day. And the bombing was the grand finale of a horrible two-week period that saw personal crises, tragedies, and other traumas happen in unforgettable and unrelenting succession.

Kyle is now combining the sounds of this April with the images from last July, and she describes her sense of vulnerability as the same as the period following the Boston Bombing. I am simultaneously unable to relax while also struggling to focus on anything. I have no patience for many ordinary discussions, debates, or decisions. And my heart breaks knowing how helpless I am to help my daughter.

I am writing this because some colleagues are already aware that something is amiss – such as the colleague who heard the phrase “gunshots in the alley” when I pocket dialed them in the frenzy later on April 23. ALT understood that I needed time to regroup on April 24. And other colleagues found me a private place to speak to Kyle in a moment of need the first week of May, while another saw my tears after a call with Kyle later that same week. 

I am writing this because May is Mental Health Awareness Month. 

I am writing this because our family is dealing with trauma right now, just as others are dealing with their own personal battles. I am writing this to say it is OK to admit you are not OK. I wasn’t OK in April 2013; and I haven’t been OK since April 23, 2023.

Year-end reports 

I had the great privilege of reporting the fundraising results of the 2022-23 fiscal year to the Board of Trustees (Board) – through the External Relations and Development (ERD) committee of the Board – on behalf of the university this past weekend.

Our Fiscal Year Summary (unaudited) and a fiscal year-end supplement to the Fiscal Year Summary report were presented to ERD and the Board on May 10 and 12, respectively. A second supplement, including confidential information, was also presented in a closed session of the Board May 13. Our accountability to the Board is focused on philanthropy as per Board Terms of Reference. Ultimately, we all support university fundraising objectives through our day-to-day work, so I encourage everyone to review these three reports for a comprehensive description of the preliminary results for 2022-23. 

I am also happy to extend appreciation to university advancement staff on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Queen’s University. As I have reported during updates to ERD and the Board throughout this year, the results we achieved in 2022-23 marked new watersheds for many of our business lines. Thank you for all you did to make 2022-23 the success it was.

The Fiscal Year Summary report and two supplements are available here I:\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\Board Reports\2022-23.

Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion membership announcement 

By Coco Doré, Senior Advisor, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization  

Dear staff,  
  
It is with great pleasure that I can introduce our brand-new membership with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion for all staff in the office of Advancement! I have personally been a member of CCDI in the past and cannot say enough about this national charitable organization, what they stand for, and how they have helped my I-EDIAA journey. In partnering with our colleagues in Smith, we now have access to a plethora of resources, including monthly newsletters, unlimited access to live webinars in French and English, and an extensive online knowledge repository. There is something for everyone.  

The beauty of this membership is you gain full access from Day 1. Details on how to register/subscribe for each of the benefits listed above will be shared via Teams on our Group Advancement Staff – General channel, as well as on QUIRC. For these and more updates, stay tuned. This learning is self-guided, so you can progress at your own pace and focus on the areas of particular interest to your role or for personal growth. I appreciate the effort we all put into this important work. 

Diversity and Inclusion work is ever evolving; thus, this collective, intentional learning and its impacts will be felt for years to come!  

 A special thank you to ALT, Carla, and Nash in Smith for your support in bringing this membership to fruition in Advancement!   
 
Coco  

Donor Relations summary of approved recommendations

 As you know, Queen's Advancement enlisted the services of the Donor Relations Guru (DRG) group to help us reimagine the office of donor relations and donor relations across the university. The goal of this assessment was to evaluate and make recommendations that would lead to a more donor-centered approach that is in line with best practices around the globe.

This work began in earnest in the fall of 2022 in collaboration with our Advancement colleagues, and we are sharing with you today a summary of the approved recommendations that we will collectively be implementing over the coming months.

An attachment outlining these approved recommendations and next steps has now been posted, and we encourage you to take some time to familiarize yourself with the upcoming changes.

Thank you all for your patience and cooperation over the past months. We are looking forward to working with you to better meet the needs of our donors and achieve our organization’s goals.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Scott Anderson or Angel Schur if you have any questions.

Queen’s Alumni Review recent award nominations

The Queen’s Alumni Review (QAR) has been named a finalist in two prestigious national awards programs for magazines, building on an impressive track record of success since its redesign two years ago.

The QAR led all finalists with an incredible 17 nominations across categories in the National Magazine Awards B2B contest, the premier Canadian contest for trade and professional magazines.

This marks 27 nominations in two years – more than any other alumni publication in the country and the second-highest number of nominations for any magazine in the country in this competition. It is also the second year in a row that the QAR has been a finalist in the most prestigious category, Best Magazine. The Alumni Review was also a finalist in categories celebrating the best in writing (including a cover story written by alumnus Blair Crawford, Artsci’86), design, photography, illustration, and covers.

“Between its extremely high-quality design and engaging features, Queen’s Alumni Review could fit perfectly alongside any major newsstand magazine,” the jury said. “You don’t have to be alumni to enjoy it.”

The QAR also received five nominations in the regular National Magazine Awards, in which it competes against commercial magazines such as Maclean’s and Chatelaine – publications with bigger budgets, circulations, and full-time staff writers and designers. Again, the QAR bested all other alumni magazines with nods for photography, art direction, and our Fall 2022 cover (featuring an archival image of the Tragically Hip) which was selected as a finalist in the Cover Grand Prix category.

“When we reinvented the Alumni Review, we also revised our editorial mandate,” says Scott Anderson, Executive Director, Marketing, Communications and Donor Relations. “That meant that every story now shows the impact of Queen’s, Queen’s research, and Queen’s alumni around the world. That, along with top-notch writing, photography, design, and the efforts of our in-house team – Alex Beshara, Ruth Dunley, Wendy Treverton, and Amy Lee – has been a winning combination.”

Winners will be announced in Toronto on June 2. You can see a full list of the National Magazine Awards B2B nominees and a list of the National Magazine Award nominees.

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla Ferreira Rodrigues or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.