TIES and Business Partners Celebrate Growing Together in 2024

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The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) celebrated a year of collaboration with valued colleagues, volunteers, and business partners at the TIES Grow Together Holiday Party.

The event, which was attended by 145 staff, 51 business partners and several board members, was a chance to celebrate a very rewarding year full of success stories.

“Together we have achieved a lot in 2024,” TIES President & CEO Sally Zhao said. “Our business partners were very impressed with what we have achieved and with what we do every day at TIES!”

“I look forward to working together with you for an even more meaningful and rewarding year in 2025!”

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The festivities kicked off with attendees singing Canada’s national anthem led by Lennard De Luna, Jana Ciobanu, her 10-year-old nephew Damian, and Ray Kristinson. Special thanks to Lennard and Damian for continuing to sing all night long!

The fun evening continued with a special message from Sally Zhao, Board Chair M’Liss Edwards and former board chair Ray Kristinson along with a shoutout to the business partners who’ve helped TIES Grow Together.

Attendees were also able to capture the evening’s beautiful moments at a photo booth and win prizes in both a raffle draw and a best dressed competition.

TIES knows that a night like this isn’t possible without the hard work of many wonderful people. TIES would like to extend a huge thanks to:

• Eva Su: Eva not only helped plan the party but also kept the crowd entertained ALL evening.
• Jana Ciobanu, Felicidad Pagtalunan, Analiza Rogicio, Kateryna Solimchuk, Annie Lamsis: This amazing team decorated the hall so beautifully that the Croatian Centre asked to keep the decorations up the entire holiday season!
• Ava Waugh, Irina Copil, Katerina Palova and Kerry Howard: Thank you for covering the registration desk.
• Racine Diallo and Tahir Rizwan: We appreciate you taking care of setting up and taking down the AV system.
• Ava Waugh: Thank you for all your hard work producing the Grow Together videos.
• Vanessa Dela Cruz and Apoorva Joshi : Thank you for all of the beautiful photos.
• TIES board of directors M’Liss, Nalini Plesche, Peter Plesche, Marilyn Magnan, Rabail Qasir, Karen Toor: Thank you for taking the time to join us at the party. Your encouraging words at the party mean a lot to us!
• Tomasia DaSilva: Thank you for emceeing the event.

And hats off to the chef(s)! The festive feast put on by the Croatian Canadian Cultural Club was scrumptious.

This was also the first holiday party in which TIES staff were joined by our business partners who make so much of our important work possible.

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‍Business Partners Shoutouts:

· AGAT Labs is the largest independently owned Canadian laboratory working across 14 different scientific sectors. AGAT attends our employment events and takes referrals from TIES to hire newcomers.

· ATB Financial is an Alberta Government-owned financial services organization serving over 820,000clients across Alberta. ATB attends employment events and volunteers in our Financial Literacy programs.

· Avison Young is a global Canadian commercial real estate firm. Avison has been an integral part of our search to expand our facilities and help serve more newcomers and low-income Canadians.

· Ballad Group is a consulting and workforce development organization. Ballad attends employment events and does dual referrals with TIES to help folks find programs.

· Bank of Montreal (BMO) is one of the largest banks in Canada. BMO attends employment events and refers clients to TIES. It also helps with our Financial Literacy programs.

· Blackstone Commercial is a commercial real estate company that does property management, business brokerage, and a variety of leasing. Blackstone hires newcomers through TIES to help them gain work experience in the Canadian job market.

· CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. It has helped us find our amazing Westwinds building and are always here to help with our real estate needs.

·Clean Club Calgary is a residential and commercial cleaning company. Clean Club Calgary attends employment events and hires newcomers through TIES to help folks find their first job in Canada.

· CTECH is a business and technology consultancy firm that is also our IT infrastructure and security support. Thanks to CTECH our confidential files are now secure, and we can assist clients when we’re out and about in the community.

· Glenbow College is a post-grad academic institution that offers students diplomas and additional certifications in a variety of programs to equip them for the workplace.

·Masone & Company is our external accounting partner that assists us with our annual financial reports and audits.

· Oculus Inc.is a conflict mediation and coaching practice. Oculus Inc. has mentored budding business owners through our female-focused entrepreneurship programs.

·Ruth’s House Society: Ruth’s House Society is an organization that provides emergency and transitional housing for those of African descent. Ruth’s hosts practicum students through our Empowering Youth through Employment program.

· Sharma Wealth Management: Sharma Wealth Management is a wealth management firm operating under Richardson Wealth Limited. Sharma lends its expertise in the Financial Literacy programs to help newcomers understand Canadian wealth management.

· Servus Credit Union: Servus Credit Union is the largest credit union in Alberta. Servus sponsors TIES events and wants to volunteer with the Financial Literacy programs.

· What If You Fly Coaching: What If You Fly Coaching is a health and life coaching practice. What If You Fly Coaching would like to mentor TIES clients in entrepreneurship programs.

‍Many of them participated in our Grow Together videos and you can link to their individual videos here.

Above all, a huge thank you to everyone for supporting TIES in 2024 in our mission of an inclusive and pluralistic society.

Happy holidays!

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