As former Development Chair for ARCQE, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the Board of Directors for 2009-2010. Members of the Board represent a number of geographic regions in Alberta as well as national level representation. Additionally, board members have a combination of experience and education specific to child care but representative of the broad range of services offered in the early childhood sector.
Recently, we engaged in a strategic planning session that we hope will help us to set a platform for ARCQE’s future endeavours. It is our goal to continue to provide leadership and services so that a professional workforce can support children and families in Alberta in high quality programs. The Board remains committed to ARCQE’s mission of Building Capacity and Supporting Quality. In the coming years, ARCQE will continue to develop and deliver services that excite and inspire leadership and capacity in programs and services for children and families. Our focus over the next years will be on sustainability, excellence and leadership, certainly for ARCQE but especially for the professionals we serve.
Cathy Smey Carston, Co-Chair
Debi Pagee, Treasurer
Ilene Fleming, Member-at-Large
Marilyn Boisvert, Member-at-Large
Cathy Smey Carston, Co-Chair
Cathy Smey Carston is the Program Coordinator for the Early Learning and Child Care Program at Mount Royal College. She has been a supporter and advocate for the ECE field for over 25 years within the province of Alberta and is currently completing a Phd in educational research. Her research interests include the promotion of mentoring experienmces in the workforce in order to encourage retention and create leadership opportunities for ELCC educators. Cathy lives in Calgary with her husband and is the proud mom of three sons.
Debi Pagee, Treasurer
Debi Pagee is starting her 1st term as Treasurer for Arcqe. She has always been a very strong advocate for quality child care and is pleased to see the many changes that have occurred in the field in the past 5 years. She believes organizations like Arcqe have been instrumental in those changes.
Debi attended Grant MacEwan and went directly from her last field placement into her 1st child care job at Alex Taylor Community Playschool. In 1983 Debi opened a Day Home with a newly formed child care program, North Edmonton Family Day Home Agency. Over the years she has seen the agency grow to one of the largest child care programs in the province. She is presently the Owner and Director of NEFDH and was thrilled to celebrate the agencies 25th anniversary in 2008.
During Debi’s 27-year career in child care she has served on a number of committees and professional associations including Chair of the Alberta Family Child Care Association. Most recently she was involved in the development of the provincial Family Child Care Consultant Training Manual and is a Mentor for the course.
Debi’s interests outside of child care include traveling with her family, improving her golf score, and winning big at the casino!
Ilene Fleming, Member-at-Large
Ilene Fleming is the Director of the Success By 6®, a community initiative dedicated to the well-being of Edmonton’s children and their families, which strives to create nurturing environments where all children have the opportunity to reach their unique potential. Under the direction of a Council of Partners, Success By 6® works with citizens, business leaders, government and other agencies and organizations to raise awareness of the importance of the early years for children’s learning and development as well as increasing public support for the early years as a community priority.
Ilene has more than 10 years of experience working as an Early Childhood Professional in the human service sector including working in centre based child care, a women’s emergency shelter and coordinating a mobile early intervention program.
She has been a volunteer Board Member for both provincial and local associations aligned with her passion for supporting young children and their families, as well as professionals working in the early childhood sector.
Marilyn Boisvert, Member-at-Large
Marilyn represents Northern Alberta with true passion, as this is where she was born and raised in a little French rural community of 300 people!! Her background in Early Childhood provided many opportunities for various positions in Early Learning Programs and Family Supports over the past 25 years. As an Executive Director of Child Care Centres, Marilyn soon realized the importance of including the family as a whole and to provide supports for the parents and caregivers. This lead to another project which she was instrumental in establishing, the development of the Early Childhood Resource Centre – “Parent Link” in Grande Prairie.
As Chairperson of the Alliance of Child Care Agencies for the Northwest Region, she continues to advocate for quality child care programs and has organized several training opportunities for caregivers including the Annual Early Childhood Conference for the past 8 years. Her new venture as a Regional Early Learning Consultant is to establish the “Alliance of Early Learning Programs – NW Regional Board”.