Lethbridge College names Honouring Excellence award winners
By Bobinec, Greg on March 14, 2020.
Greg Bobinec
Lethbridge Herald
Four Lethbridge College alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their careers and communities have been recognized as this year’s Honouring Excellence award winners. Honouring Excellence awards are given each year to notable graduates who have shown perseverance, determination and grit to set them apart.
“Honouring Excellence is our opportunity to really look at the people who make Lethbridge College great,” says David Cocks, chair of Alumni Advisory Council, in a news release. “Our graduates are the ones who carry our flag out to the world. We are proud of the work they do every day, and these individuals deserve recognition for the great careers they have built and the ways they have given back to their communities since leaving Lethbridge College.”
This year’s recipient for the Distinguished Alumna Award is Jacquie Daumont, who began her career in commercial vehicle enforcement in 1986, and has risen through the ranks to hold one of the province’s top positions. She began as an officer before moving to management, and she has been in her current position as deputy chief working in Red Deer since 2014. Daumont has worked closely with Lethbridge College to deliver training to all new recruits of CVE, and she supports a scholarship to Commercial Vehicle Enforcement program graduates.
The award for Career Virtuoso is going to Obed Maurice, from the Business Administration class of 2000. A lifelong entrepreneur, Maurice has always sought opportunities to improve traditional ways of doing things. Following his graduation from the college, he received his Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge, and then went on to earn his Chartered Accountant designation. In 2018, he merged his practice to join forces with Avail CPA, where he set a goal of leading the accounting industry into the future and changing the way the profession is viewed by co-founding CliQue Advisor – a financial advisory technology.
“Every time we get together to sort through the nominations, it gets harder and harder to choose the winners,” says Jordan Kaarst, Honouring Excellence chair. “I don’t think enough people are aware of the amazing talent that comes through the hallways of Lethbridge College each and every year. We have so many graduates who go on to do exemplary work in their field and give back to the college in amazing ways. This year, our award winners are a healthy mix of people who are leading the way in their professions both in the city and abroad.”
Marci Neher-Schwengler, from the Nursing class of 1988, is the recipient of this year’s Community Leader Award. Neher-Schwengler has committed to a personal philosophy that nursing is more than just a career, but a privilege taken upon by people who are passionate about using their knowledge and skills to help and advocate for those who are unable to help themselves. She has worked as a registered nurse for over 30 years in a variety of roles, including bedside acute care nurse, advanced practice nurse and clinical educator. For the last three years, she has been manager of the Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Unit at Chinook Regional Hospital.
Joshua Day Chief, Environmental Assessment and Restoration graduate of 2013, is this year’s Rising Star award recipient. Just seven years after graduating, Day Chief is CEO of AdvancedAg Inc., a family-owned company focused on producing beneficial blends of bacteria for crop and soil health. His first steps into the industry included working on research projects for Advanced Water Technologies (AWT), while juggling a job in the environmental consulting world. AWT’s projects focused on naturally cleaning lakes and stormwater ponds using bacteria.
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