Seven NC alumni earn nominations for 2023 Premier’s Awards

The CEO of a major retail chain has joined a hospital president, a high-tech veteran, a community non-profit leader, a popular drag queen/ pop star, a development  technologist, and an automotive technical trainer as part of a select group of NC alumni to be nominated for prestigious Premier’s Awards.

Niagara College has nominated seven members of its alumni community for Colleges Ontario Premier’s Awards, which celebrate outstanding contributions that college alumni make to Ontario and the world. Nominations are submitted from each of Ontario’s 24 colleges in seven categories: Apprenticeship, Business, Creative Arts and Design, Community Services, Health Sciences, Technology and Recent Graduate (within five years).

Meet NC’s 2023 nominees

Apprenticeship: Christine White

Lead Technical Trainer, Stellantis N.V. (NC Auto Service Technician, 2006)

Christine White is single-handedly revolutionizing how automotive technicians learn about new generations of hybrids and complex electric vehicles.

When pandemic lockdowns halted in-person teaching, the skilled trainer and Red Seal certified automotive technician turned to video to broaden accessibility and share lessons, illustrations, demonstrations, and Q&As. She established her company’s first-ever on-demand micro-learning library and has written, illustrated, produced, and narrated 140 training tutorials, which are now available to her 22,000 technicians across the U.S

Every day, hundreds log in to view White’s five-to-10-minute training tools, which she hopes to soon offer bilingually for potential distribution in Canada.

Business: Jason Ofield

President and CEO, Bulk Barn Foods Limited (Business, Sales and Marketing, 2006)

As Bulk Barn’s President and CEO, Jason Ofield is a change-maker within the Canadian grocery industry. He’s purposefully devoted to sustainability, recycling, and responsible community stewardship, and as a climate change advocate, is the innovator behind Canada’s first-ever reusable food container program.

By actively encouraging customers to repurpose and use reusable (often recycled) containers instead of disposable packaging that ends up in landfills, Ofield is leading by example by tangibly helping consumer and communities reduce their environmental footprint. His successful program already results in more than one million waste-free transactions annually, and adaptation rates continue to grow by the day.

Community Services: Mark Carl

Chief Executive Officer , Habitat for Humanity Niagara (Business Administration – Marketing (Diploma) 1997, and International Trade (Post-Graduate Certificate) 1997)

As CEO of Habitat for Humanity Niagara, Mark Carl is his community’s foremost fundraiser for low-income, working families within Ontario’s unprecedented housing crisis.

Mobilized by his learning disability to start volunteering, he witnessed firsthand how lived traumatic experiences trap individuals into homelessness, mental health struggles, and opioid addiction. His advocacy energized a run for city council, where he influenced affordable and social housing legislation, engaged local organizations, and compelled all levels of government into action. His current goal is to build 30 affordable family homes over the next five years by fundraising $10 million, with $4 million already secured.

Creative Arts and Design: Mark Suknanan/ Priyanka

Drag Queen, Pop Star & Television Personality (Broadcasting – Radio Television and Film, 2012)

As a Canadian television personality and drag queen, Mark Suknanan knows what it’s like to be out front–to pave the way for others.

Suknanan’s alter-ego, Priyanka, won the premiere season of Canada’s Drag Race in 2020.

Suknanan was the first Indo-Caribbean to win the title in the worldwide broadcast franchise. Previously a YTV host on The Next Star and The Zone, he went by the nickname, ‘Suki.’  Determined and optimistic, he’s honoured to be a role model as a successful gay, brown man.

Health Sciences: Dorothy Urschel

President and CEO, Columbia Memorial Hospital and Clinical Professor, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (Nursing Diploma, 1991)

Dorothy Urschel is an award-winning leader in healthcare dedicated to advocating for patient care. An innovative professional, she skillfully used her nursing diploma as a catalyst to a two-decade-long career as a nurse practitioner before she became a change maker at the leadership level.

Urschel served tirelessly on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic during New York’s state of emergency, by coordinating overflow beds to treat patients from the NYC region.

Currently, as President and CEO for Columbia Memorial Health System, she’s advancing patient services while simultaneously nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals. She continues to collect numerous outstanding leadership, advocacy, and teaching awards.

Recent Graduate: Jessica Garrett

Development Technologist (Construction Engineering Technology, 2019)

Jessica Garrett is a fearless female trailblazer within the male-dominated construction industry, dedicated to mentoring young women to join the field. Today, Garrett’s in charge of vetting engineering submissions and planning documents for subdivisions and condominiums for one of Ontario’s most famous destinations.

Technology: John Zambakkides

President and CEO, Z3 Controls Inc. (Power Engineering diploma, 1972)

John Zambakkides is a high-tech veteran who,after joining one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies in Silicon Valley, became its first Field Application Engineer in Canada. By 31, he was managing two companies, bringing in $70 million of business.

His career spans innovative start-ups, such as V3 Semiconductors, a leader in memory controllers, and his current venture, Z3 Controls Inc. As President & CEO he oversees production of affordable, user-friendly energy monitors that enable industrial and commercial energy users (who comprise more than 70% of the market share), to reduce energy consumption, related costs, and their overall carbon footprint.

The Premier’s Awards

Nominees will be honoured and  winners will be announced at an annual gala event in Toronto, which is part of the Colleges Ontario Higher Education Summit. The 2023 Premier’s Awards will be presented on November 27 at the Sheraton in Toronto.

Previous NC Premier’s Award winners over the years include:

Brewster and Williams were among seven NC alumni who were nominated for 2022 Premier’s Awards. They are the seventh and eighth alumni from NC to win Premier’s Awards since the awards were launched in 1992. NC alumni who have won previously include:

Previous NC winners include:

• 2022 :Murray Brewster (Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film grad 1985);
• 2022: Erica Williams (Social Service Worker grad, 2018);
• 2014: Senator Rebecca Patterson (Nursing grad, 1987), formerly Royal Canadian Navy Captain;
• 2012: David Pratt (Greenhouse Technician grad, 2007);
• 2011: Jerry Howell (Computer Engineering Technology grad, 1988);
• 2008:Jordan Harris (Winery and Viticulture Technician grad, 2004);
• 2003: Heather Kilty (Social Welfare Worker grad, 1969); and
• 1995: Carol Alaimo (Journalism-Print grad, 1984).

More information is available at co-awards.org.