The 20th annual Aboriginal Career Fair in the Okanagan takes place Thursday, May 1, 2014, at UBC’s Okanagan campus. The event is in the Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be a formal ceremony at 10 a.m. and a barbecue lunch at noon.
The career fair provides an opportunity for Aboriginal high-school students to gain career information from a number of post-secondary institutions and professional associations. This year, organizers expect more than 40 vendors and about 300 students on campus. The annual event is a partnership between UBC’s Okanagan campus, the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society and Okanagan College.
UBC Special Advisor on Aboriginal Relations Lyle Mueller is one of the founding organizers in the Aboriginal Career Fair more than 20 years ago.
“This started out as a community initiative. It was not driven by any one public education institution. Our focus has always been to show Aboriginal youth that Aboriginal people can and do work in every job and career imaginable,” says Mueller.
“Students who came to our first career fair are now in a wide range of careers themselves. What we are seeing now are the children of those first students who attended the career fair,” says Mueller. “We are helping to turn education around with a second generation of children now coming to the career fair. This career fair is driven by Aboriginal communities and it is making a difference.”
Register for booth space at: www.okanagan.bc.ca/acf
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