Nancy Helledie, IABC/Calgary’s Director of Professional Standards, has been presented with the Rae Hamlin Award tonight at the IABC Leaders’ Reception at World Conference in Montreal.
This award was presented by the IABC international executive board chair Sharon Hunter, and recognizes Nancy’s commitment to advocating for the Gold Standard of the Communication Profession.
Nancy has been a true champion of the GCCC certification program as well as the advancement of the profession as a whole, both within Calgary and internationally.
She understands the importance of a global standard and ethics as foundational for our profession and has worked tirelessly to share her learning and the benefits of both within the Calgary community and with IABC Chapter leaders across Canada.
This has resulted in a very strong contingent of communications professionals in Calgary being early adopters and advocates of the GCCC certification program. She keeps her eye on a future state with a critical mass of certified communications professionals who are current with the rapidly changing world of communications, who constantly raise the bar of our profession, and who have impact and add tremendous value to the organizations and communities they serve from a seat at the table.
Just a few of the many activities Nancy has led to help further certification efforts include:
- working closely with the GCCC to understand the program in detail;
- providing feedback from a chapter perspective;
- leading regular information sessions for members and for other chapter leaders;
- presenting at regional conference on our chapter experience;
- working to make Calgary one of the first chapters to host exams;
- initiating ongoing support for certified members in our chapter; and
- speaking to university students and new communicators about the benefits of IABC membership and certification.
About the Rae Hamlin Award
As the IABC international website reads, “Rae Hamlin, ABC, was instrumental in the development and success of IABC’s long-standing accreditation program – a mark of excellence in strategic communication management for over 40 years. In her 25 years with IABC, Hamlin managed and inspired volunteers worldwide to promote this standard, including a stint as an accreditation coordinator on staff at IABC headquarters in San Francisco. She passed away in 2009.
“This award is bestowed at the IABC World Conference annually in her honor, continuing to recognize exemplary service in advocating the new Global Standard of the Communications Profession.”
On behalf of the IABC/Calgary board and executive team, we are delighted and honoured to have such an advocate on our board.
She is a great example of someone who is truly living an important value for IABCers all over the world: advancing our profession.
Congratulations to Nancy on this honour.
Angela Anderson, IABC/Calgary 2017-2018 President, on behalf of the IABC/Calgary Executive
