By a Staff Reporter
Gerry Mills, Executive Director of ISANS (Immigrant Settlement Association of Nova Scotia) has announced her decision to retire at the end of March 2018, after a thirty year innings with the organization.
Chair of ISANS’ Board of Directors, Catherine Woodman, who made the announcement, said: “Gerry has guided ISANS through significant growth and much change. She is highly respected by staff and partners, both local and nationally. With her deep experience and expertise, Gerry has made a vital and important contribution to immigrant settlement in Nova Scotia and Canada. We thank Gerry for her genuine caring, dedication, hard work and collaborative spirit.”
ISANS has a 38-year history working with and for newcomers to the province and is nationally recognised as an innovative leader in immigrant settlement. It is fair to say that many of the thousands of immigrants who chose to make Nova Scotia home over the last four decades, have passed through ISANS’ doors at one point or another. By the end of 2015, ISANS had served approximately 53,293 newcomers to Canada.
Mills told Touch BASE two years ago: “We have had the privilege to work with many of them – connecting them to the right employer, helping them navigate the paper work and culture of doing business in Nova Scotia. These people are represented in every sector of society. They are your child’s teacher, your doctor, owner of your favourite restaurant, your carpenter and painter, your firefighter and mechanic. Their children have become engineers and nurses. They are your neighbour and fellow worshipper and they are making Nova Scotia stronger.”
Ms Woodman said ISANS’ Board of Directors has set in motion a process to select a new Executive Director. “I have every confidence that under new leadership, guided by our new strategic plan, ISANS’ role to help immigrants build a future in Nova Scotia will prosper and grow.”
International & multicultural 