Alex's BCIT Graduation

Alex at her BCIT graduation

NPIDA would like to congratulate dancer Alex (Allie) M on her graduation from BCIT in June 2013! Alex is a long-time NPIDA dancer and former Eire Born member. Although she has not danced competitively for the last few years, she has taken occasional classes and participated in St. Pat's shows with the senior Richmond troupe.

Alex graduated from BCIT in June 2013 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours). This followed her 2012 BCIT graduation with a Diploma of Technology, Marketing Management Communications (Honours).

Allie accepting her graduating scholarship from David H,
Associate Dean, BCIT School of Business

At her BCIT grad ceremony in June, Alex was awarded the Bachelor of Business Administration Faculty Graduating Scholarship. She is also a four-time recipient of the Vancouver Police Scholarship; the Vancouver Police Revolver Club Scholarship (2009); the Sergeant Larry Young Memorial Scholarship (2010); PMBA Scholarship (2011); and the Vancouver Superannuated Police Officers’ Association Scholarship (2012).

From September 2012-January 2013, Alex studied at Le Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci in Paris, France. She took classes in International Finance, The European Union, French Cultural Influence, and French. During her time in France she travelled to Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Ireland, the UK, and Southern France. Alex says "completing a semester abroad was the best experience I had in university; I got a sense of independence living on my own in a country in which I didn’t speak the language, made life-long friends from all around the world, and experienced a completely different culture from what I knew". 

Alex with her family; left to right:
Grandmother Margaret; and parents Sandra and Grant

Alex was extensively involved in volunteer and community service activities during her time at BCIT:

- She was heavily involved in Enactus BCIT. Enactus is part of an international non-profit organization with over 1,500 college and university chapters worldwide. Working as a team of volunteers, Enactus creates economic opportunities in communities by teaching others about market economics, entrepreneurship, success skills, financial literacy and business ethics.

- During her 1st year, Alex was part of the Enactus presentation team which was named the 2011 Enactus Financial Education Challenge Regional Champions. She was one of six students to represent BCIT at Regional and National ACE Presentations. She also was the coordinator for the Go Jill Go project, and organized a charity run that raised over $6,500 for BC Children's Hospital.

- During her 2nd year, Alex was Vice President of Operations for Enactus BCIT, volunteering on average 35 hours per week to this role. She oversaw the day-to-day activities of the organization, and was responsible for preparing the Enactus team for regional and national competitions. In 2012 she presented at Nationals where the Enactus BCIT team placed in the top 10 out of 80 teams.

- Also during her 2nd year, Alex completed an internship at BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF). She organized press conferences and street teams for BCCHF’s Jeans Day, planned print and radio media PSAs, and created fulfillment packages for donors. The Jeans Day campaign raised over $1 million for BC’s children.

- In her final year at BCIT, Alex was involved in the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program through the Vancouver Board of Trade. She was a member of the Community Affairs Committee that works to monitor and influence major urban policies and projects in the City of Vancouver and Greater Vancouver.

Alex has just accepted an exciting new employment position as Conference Coordinator for GLOBE Series 2014! GLOBE is one of the biggest environmental conferences in the world and attracts thousands of executives from 60+ countries; it involves 200 speakers and several sessions on cutting edge environmental business topics over 3 days. Alex's job involves research and identification of current environment-related trends and leaders which she will compile into session content; managing 200 speaker invitations; communicating with senior executives in corporations and governments regarding their participation; and organizing speakers and on-site logistics. The event takes place in March 2014 and Alex is very excited to be part of the team.

Congratulations on your graduation and new career Alex!

NPIDA is proud of you!