On April 3rd, approximately 60 newcomers attended an information session at MOSAIC headquarters to learn about volunteer civic engagement opportunities with the City of Vancouver.
The city has vacancies on numerous advisory committees, including the following: Arts and Culture; Children, Youth and Families; LGBTQ+, Racial and Ethno-Cultural Equity; Renters; Seniors’ Transportation; and Women’s.
The City of Vancouver was receptive to MOSAIC’s request to seek out newcomer voices for participation in the advisory groups and city staffers Tina Penney (Director of Legislative Operations) and Baldwin Wong (Senior Social Planner) joined a panel to present information and answer questions from participants interested in these opportunities.
Other panelists were previous advisory committee participants who spoke about their own volunteer experiences and included: Aaron Leung (Children, Youth and Families); Tanya Paz (Active Transportation); Sereno Ko and Natalia Terekhora (Cultural Communities); Helen Lee (Chinatown Historic Area Planning).
MOSAIC Director of Communications and Development Ninu Kang was emcee for the session and was impressed with the participants’ engagement. “We were really pleased with the attendance and it demonstrates how interested newcomers are regarding having a voice in the community they live in. Everyone was enthusiastic about the information and the session ran late because so many questions were being put to the panelists. The City of Vancouver will really benefit from the addition of newcomer voices on these committees.”
Please click here to learn more about the advisory committee opportunities available with the City of Vancouver.
