Alla Guelber, 2006 W. Garfield Weston scholar

As a student in the applied communications program at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, Alla Guelber (Upper-Year W. Garfield Weston Award 2006) was very involved on campus. She served first as news editor and then as publishing editor at the campus newspaper, and volunteered with several student groups.

Her most lasting contribution to the college stemmed from her association with the Sierra Youth Coalition Executive Committee. After attending national conferences and strategic planning retreats, she was inspired to raise environmental awareness at her school. “I co-founded Sustainable MRC,” explains Alla, “a student club focused on starting a campus sustainability program that would jump start a culture shift toward greater ecological integrity and social awareness.”

Determined to keep Sustainable MRC moving forward once she graduated, Alla prepared a strategic communications plan to guide the group. She is gratified by the results: students and staff alike have embraced the initiative, which continues to be highly active. Her efforts laid the groundwork for creating a campus sustainability multistakeholder committee that guides the school’s efforts to become more green.

Alla spent four months at the Institute for Integrated Leadership in Massachusetts—an experience made possible by her W. Garfield Weston Award. “It was an amazing program,” she says, “focusing on personal development, health and wellness and community living. . . . It was an incredible, life-changing experience for which I will be forever grateful.”

Alla is now working as assistant to a Calgary-based MLA and writing on a freelance basis. She continues to be engaged in promoting sustainable living; at the moment, she’s developing a workshop on water and health issues for the Waterlution nonprofit organization.