Rotary Integrity Awards

What are the Integrity Awards?
Each participating Rotary Club in the Capital Region nominates an individual who promotes high ethical standards and raise awareness of Rotary ideals.  The purpose of these awards is to honour adult, non-Rotarian members of the community for their integrity as citizens.  An Un-Sung Hero. Each participating club recognizes one such individual at the event.  

 

Our Rotary Club joins other Rotary Clubs in the Edmonton region in recognizing non-Rotarians who have made exceptional contributions to their community in the spirit of the principles of Rotary.   

There were eleven recipients for 2023 pictured below with District Governor 5370 Jim Nicoll.

Notes from 2023 Integrity Awards
The Rotary Club of Edmonton West was the host organizing club for the 2023 Integrity Awards.  Below is a photo of our recipient, Joe Cloutier, Inner City High School.
 
   
  
Joe Cloutier, CEO, Inner City Youth Development Association. 
 
Joe is a distinquished leader in the field of youth development.  He has been committed for over three decades providing marginalized youth in Edmonton with the tools and resources they need to break the cycle of poverty and dependence that often dominates their lives.   
 
Joe founded this association recognizing the need for such from earlier work that he had done with marginalized youth. The association through the youth development arm reaches out to Edmonton’s marginalized Indigenous and other urban youth with tools and opportunities to break the cycle of poverty, desperation, and dependence that dominates their lives. This help ranges from programs of basic living skills, basic literacy, counselling, meals, and emergency supports such as bus tickets, food, interim shelter, addiction supports and legal supports.
 
The high school program provides the youth with a solid academic and arts based education, one that provides the students with the opportunities, skills and resources to become contributing members of society.
 
The program has enabled over 3,500 urban indigenous and other youth to leave street life behind and experience a degree of success in their lives looking towards a more hopeful future.
 
The association strives to respond to the needs of the students with respect and hope and provide the youth with the resources, tools and attitudes to stabilize their lives. The values of trust, respect, co-operation and non violence permeate the social services support and the academic program.  Joe has initiated, championed and nurtured this initiative since the beginning. He was the principal and then superintendent from 1993 to 2018. For the past five years Joe has been the Chief Operating Officer of the association reporting directly to the board along with the person who has been appointed principal, an indication of planning for the ongoing viability of the association.
 
Joe is very humble and his approach to leadership is guided by the principles of Rotary.  He meets the 4-way test, treating all faculty, staff and students with fairness and integrating all at Inner City High School.  He also involves elders to help students through smudging and other indigenous cultural activities.
 

Investing his life’s work in something that clearly fulfills a need for the individual youth as well as the community as whole, Joe certainly exemplifies the principles and values of Rotary. He is a great example of Service Above Self.

Rotary Club of Edmonton is honored to present a 2023 Integrity Award to Joe Cloutier!

 
Notes from 2022 Integrity Awards
Integrity Awards 2022 were held in May at the Chateau Lacombe.   There were a  total of fourteen recipients from twelve local Rotary clubs.   180 people were present to hear from 14 Recipients, 2 pairs of which were couples sharing the award.   Twelve joined us online for this hybrid meeting.
 
 

For the Rotary Club of Edmonton (downtown) we honored Linda Roussel from Kids on Track.   Linda  Roussel was the founder of Kids On Track, an organization with a near-three decade track record of outstanding work with disadvantaged children, youth and parents in Edmonton.   After all those years as Executive director and watching the organization grow, Linda retired to become President of their Board of Directors.  We thank Ms. Roussel for her generous contributions to the community and the youth in West Edmonton.

 

Notes from 2021 Integrity Awards

New for 2021 was the participation of Rotaract Clubs who also selected an exceptional person as a recipient.
 

130 dialed in online to make this a special day for our record sixteen recipients selected by Edmonton area Rotary and Rotaract Clubs.
 
Our club's recipient Cecilia Blasetti, former executive director of Boyle McCauley Health Centre, was very honoured by the award.  
 
To see the full brochure to see all the clubs and recipients for 2021,  click on:  Integrity Awards Brochure 
 

TO NOMINATE

Please use the Nomination Form to the left under 'Files' for proposing a recipient. The form should be accompanied by the nominator’s statement about why the proposed individual is deserving of the Award. The Form is in Word format. While statement should not be too long, please ensure that it contains enough specific details so that the selection committee has sufficient information upon which to make its decision.  The form can also be accompanied by a brief biography or curriculum vitae.

If possible, please submit your nomination electronically to Neil Lang at NeilLangJuicePlus@gmail.com   Nominations are normally due in February each year depending on the date of the Integrity Awards gala.

 

Criteria for Selection:
* A non-Rotarian adult resident of Alberta.
* One whose lifestyle is consistent with the Four Way Test.
* Someone whose life shows purpose and expresses principles widely accepted in the community.
* One who, regardless of circumstances, takes a stand without concern for personal loss or reputation.
* A person who may not necessarily have a high public profile, and
* One who has made a personal contribution to the region, which would warrant special recognition.
 
Previous Recipients for Rotary Club of Edmonton
2023 Joe Cloutier, CEO Inner City Youth Development Association and Inner City School
2022 Linda Roussel, Kids on Track
2021 Cecilia Blasetti, Boyle McCauley Health Centre - retired
2020 Dr. Ross Wein, Uof A faculty, Renewable Resources Dept, Coyote Lake Lodge
2019 Sofia Yaqub, Shaama Seniors Centre
2018 Gail Sopkow, Operations Friendship Seniors Centre
2017 April Eve Wiberg, Mikisew Cree First Nation
2016 Jane Alexander, retired Anglican Bishop
2015 Maria Dunn, musician
2014 Kay Feehan, former Chair of the Social Work Program, MacEwan University
2013 Scott Matheson, PCL Construction, Row for Kids, Capital Care, Fort Edmonton
2012 Nick Lees, journalist and cartoonist, Edmonton Journal
2011 Karmen Masson, Lawyer, Executive Coach
 
See the past recipients 1994 to present  to see names of all the previous recipients from all the clubs.