In May 2008 we announced the 2007 recipients of our peer-nominated award program for United Way Toronto staff, the M-B Family Spirit Award. This program is made possible by a generous donation from Raksha Bhayana, a member of our Board of Trustees.

There are four awards given annually: Dedication, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership and Team Achievement.

2007 M-B Family Spirit Award Nominations

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2007 M-B Family Spirit Award Recipients

Dedication

The purpose of this award is to recognize and reward those who are committed to the mission and values of the United Way. These individuals demonstrate unwavering loyalty and commitment to the success of a specific project and/or to the ongoing interests of United Way.

Michael Fuhrmann, Director of New Media, was nominated four times in this category this year. Michael takes considerable pride in his work. A perfectionist, when given a project he works tirelessly to ensure the job is done right. Michael strives for quality, is always professional, prepared and offers innovative and creative ideas. He's also always among the first to volunteer for events.

Michael's unwavering commitment extends past his work – to his colleagues. He is not only a co-worker but also a friend – one who is always willing to help his colleagues ensure their job or project is completed on time.

His nominator summed it up, "Michael is resolute in his commitment to United Way, and is always looking for new and innovative ways to benefit the organization. Michael Fuhrmann, without a doubt, deserves the Dedication award."

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Innovation and Creativity

Introducing new ideas, services or practices that inspire problem solving in new and imaginative ways are what make up the Innovation and Creativity Award. This award recognizes and rewards employees who contribute new and innovative ideas to the organization and who have made a major improvement in operations or services.

Nicole Ptinis, Administrative Assistant, was nominated for creating a United Way Google Map Mash-up (a web-application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool).

Nicole's initiative and dedication to this project is noteworthy. Her proactive creativeness laid the foundation for a solution to one of the most common questions UWT receives – "what UWT agencies are in my neighbourhood?" Nicole's work made finding member agencies easily searchable on a Google map. In the end, it will ensure that many more people will have access to more information about United Way funded agencies in the city.

"Nicole truly deserves to be recognized for applying her skills and creativity to tackle a need at United Way" related one of her nominators.

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Leadership

Great leaders embrace the selfless qualities that empower others to do their best and achieve great things. The Leadership Award recognizes and rewards those employees with exemplary leadership capabilities who play an exceptional role in helping others contribute to United Way.

Elaine Grey, Senior Manager, Finance, was nominated for the new and challenging leadership roles she has undertaken with grace and courage.

Throughout the years, Elaine has been able to exercise the skills of a leader in ensuring that she and her staff consistently deliver excellent work. Going above and beyond her day-to-day responsibilities, Elaine stepped up to take on many added responsibilities after the departure of key member of the Finance Team; and she took on a coaching/mentoring role when a replacement joined the team.

Elaine was already demonstrating the ability to rise to new leadership challenges in her role with the Youth Challenge Fund.  Elaine took on all aspects of the accounting function when this program was introduced in 2006 and continues to offer this team her unconditional support and guidance providing advice whenever it is needed.   

Her nominator added, "True leaders see what is required and do it, even if it means going outside their comfort zone.  True leaders are not just leaders by their position on an organization chart.  They are leaders through their influence and personal abilities from wherever they sit in the organization.  They push themselves to grow, and they enable change and growth for others in their organizations.  Elaine has demonstrated all this and is fully deserving of this award."

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Team Achievement

Teams are made up of individuals who work together toward a common goal. Collectively, these individuals demonstrate commitment and sacrifice for success through their excellent and consistent performance and professionalism, their exceptional service over a sustained period, their team spirit and their support of colleagues. The Team Achievement Award recognizes and rewards teams who make significant contributions to United Way.

Losing Ground Release Team: Joanna King, Caitlin Stidwill, Anita Green, Andrea Ketelaars, Louise Bellingham, Faith Cheung, April Lim Susan MacDonnell, Margaret Connors and Diane Dyson.

The team developed a release plan and media strategy that included a fully supported press conference and finalizing the report itself. Their challenge was to compress all the work from an already aggressive release plan of twelve working days into an astonishing six working days. Teamwork and commitment were key.

"Everyone on the team understood the value of their work and was motivated to succeed. The team worked tirelessly to get this done. So while the time for this project was very short, their contributions were exceptional," commented the team's nominator.