History

The Alberta Chapter of fmi was formed in 1989. Each year, this little chapter managed to organize events in Edmonton, as well as in Calgary for a couple of years, often in partnership with the Alberta Federal Council. Initially, the Chapter was mainly focused on organizing events for federal government central agencies to communicate to the departments in the region.

Lucia Stachurski, Alberta Chapter President; speaker Dave Tulloch, Saskatchewan Environment; and, Suzanne Kyle, Alberta Chapter Past President.

In more recent years, the Chapter has broadened its program to include topics of interest for other public and private sector organizations. The membership demographics have also begun to include members of all areas of public sector as well as private enterprise.

In February 2006, the Chapter organized a Professional Development Day for the first time in its history with 13 speakers, 12 events and over 100 participants. The excellent attendance for this event prompted the Board to host two more PD days in the following years.

Smiling faces of FMI volunteers, Gisele Dansereau and Joyce Takeda-Berry, at the Registration Desk of an Alberta Chapter event in 2006.

PSMW events, held each summer in a different location, are planned years in advance. The PSMW event held in Edmonton in the summer of 2011 began with a discussion at a Chapter Board meeting in early 2006. The board members at the time submitted a bid to host the event 5 years later. The successful bid launched the planning for PSMW. It was an exciting three days of events in Edmonton that year with many speakers from various fields. The theme was i3: integrity, innovation and intelligence. There were 400 participants, the largest event in the history of the Alberta Chapter.

As with all institutions, the Board and membership of the Alberta Chapter has both waxed and waned over the years. The public services initiatives have changed over the years resulting in a variety of speakers and events. The Board membership has also changed over the years each with its own energy and ideas for the Chapter. It is the consistent and continued support of the Chapter membership that keeps this little fmi Chapter in Alberta still going strong.

PSMW 2011 – From left to right: Dan Maloley, PSMW 2011 National Co-Chair; John G. Williams, MP (1993-2008) Edmonton – St. Albert; Bruce Hirst, former CFO Foreign Affairs and Internal Trade Canada; Lisa Miller, former Deputy Minister, Alberta Health and Wellness; Todd Cain, Vice President, Crown and Organization Governance, Institute on Governance; and, Lucia Stachurski. PSMW 2011 Local Co-Chair.