Friday, August 19, 2011

2001 New Pioneers Awards

Felisa Z. Serrano (SfC Graduate) Felisa came from the Philippines in 1991 and was employed as a domestic worker in Toronto for two years. She had studied business administration and accounting in her home country and was determined to improve her job opportunities in Canada. Upon completion of her contract as a domestic worker, Felisa found work as a Laundry and Valet Attendant in a hotel and began to upgrade her qualifications at the same time. During this period Felisa faced economic hardship, as her minimum wage had not only to meet her own personal expense but had to provide for her family back home. Nevertheless, Felisa began to upgrade her skills and completed advanced computer technology certification and import and export business management certification from a vocational college. In 1998, Felisa graduated from the Computerized Clerical Accounting program at Skills for Change. This program has a co-op placement component where she was assigned to the Canadian Pacific Hotel and Resorts for a two-month period. At the end of the placement, she was hired full-time as an accounting clerk and later promoted to accounts receivable analyst. She is currently pursuing part-time studies at the University of Toronto and working towards a certificate in Business Management. Felisa has volunteered at the Bayview Community Hospice and volunteers at Skills for Change as a guest speaker, encouraging SfCs clients to pursue their dreams.

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