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Awards and Recognition

 

Silver Leaf Status

Professional Organizers who have been in business for at least five years and have been members in good standing with POC for at least two years are eligible for Silver Leaf status.

Members that qualify for Silver Leaf status receive a certificate and a lapel pin, and are entitled to use the Silver Leaf logo on their own materials. They are also denoted by a special icon in the Find an Organizer directory results.

For more information on Silver Leaf status please contact Member Support Services/Director of Membership.

POC Members wishing to obtain their Silver Leaf membership status can download the application form from the Members' Only section.

 

POC Ambassador Award

 

Ambassador Award 2011 Recipient

Wendy Hollick, Neat Spaces

The POC Ambassador Award was introduced this year to honour a POC member who gives back to other organizers, who is involved with his or her chapter and who devotes time and energy volunteering in the local community.

The first recipient of the Ambassador Award is Wendy Hollick. The award was presented to Wendy at POC 2011 Conference.

Wendy is the owner of Neat Spaces in Burlington, Ontario, a company she began in 2003, leaving her successful 15-year career in insurance. After attending her first POC conference in 2004, Wendy began the process of forming a chapter in Halton Region. The chapter was formed in early 2005 and Wendy served as chair as well as other positions on and off over the next five years. She led the chapter’s volunteer efforts for the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity organizing events and participated in the Ronald McDonald House event.

Wendy acts as an ambassador for POC in her volunteer work with Halton Women's Place, an organization providing shelter and crisis services for abused women and their dependent children – specifically for their "Coat Drive". She volunteers her time for organized sports and school events for her children. Wendy is active in her community raising awareness for the local food bank and supporting many charities by collecting donations. 

Wendy makes herself readily available to fellow POC members, in a mentoring role, and offers information on creating job proposals, reviewing client agreements and instructing on how to subcontract. She believes in sharing the fruits of her labour and offers job-shadowing opportunities to new members, which then leads to paid subcontracting opportunities for these members.

Wendy is a busy mom of three and a hockey mom of two. She says, "Life can be crazy busy – but having a career that is your passion, makes all the difference."

Congratulations Wendy! Thanks for being such an awesome representative of the organizing industry - a true ambassador of POC!

 

The Harold Taylor Award

 

Recipient of the 2011 Harold Taylor Award

Kristie Demke, Organomics Professional Organizing

Kristie has been working full-time as a professional organizer since 1998, after relocating to Edmonton from Saskatoon. Her clientele is a varied mix of individuals, small and home-based businesses, corporations, professional services firms, institutional clients, and all levels of government.

Kristie is a founding member of Professional Organizers in Canada (POC), and a Silver Leaf member since its inception in 2005. She has been a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) since 1998 and a Golden Circle member of that organization since 2003. In 2007, Kristie was one of the first organizers in Canada to successfully complete the requirements of the Trained Professional Organizer program.

Kristie has been a member of the POC Board of Directors since 2007 and served as President between 2009 – 2011. She has also held the position of Vice-President, Director of Chapters, Director of Marketing, and shared the position of Director of Membership with Jacki Brown. She chaired the Strategic Reserve Committee for POC in 2009. Recently, she served on the NAPO Membership Task Force, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Kristie Demke fondly recalls a turning point in her life—the day she found out that being organized was an actual profession. To discover that one can make a living from helping people organize and improve their lives was like finding out you can get paid to eat chocolate!


History of the Harold Taylor Award

During the first Annual POC Conference in 2001, the Board of Directors of POC was pleased to announce the inception of The Harold Taylor Award.

The Board of Directors created the award to recognize outstanding individual contribution, guidance and direction to the organizing profession, and for support of Professional Organizers in Canada. Each year, the Past President of POC assists a volunteer committee of between three and five POC members who agree to be responsible for the award process. Notice of the Harold Taylor Award is made to the membership on a yearly basis.

Members of POC are free to nominate their choice of one POC member whom they feel best exemplifies the mission of POC, and who by their actions has made a significant contribution to the field of organizing. The awards committee then selects the winner from amongst these nominations. Once the final choice has been made, the award is presented at the Annual Conference Gala Dinner.

The mission of Professional Organizers in Canada:

To develop professional organizing through creating awareness of the industry amongst the public and to provide our members with support by giving them the access to the tools, training, and resources to build their own businesses.

The award is an Inukshuk (in-uk-shook) sculpture created by artist R.Ellsworth. The Inukshuk is a monument created in the human image, which is erected in groups by the Inuit in the barren, treeless Arctic regions. The Inukshuk serves as a guide to give direction, to show the way and to say "I was" or "we were" here. The meticulously handcrafted replication is truly unique, as no moulds are used. Each component is randomly selected, and then the sculpture is erected piece by piece, just as the larger life version would be. This process ensures that each sculpture has its own identity.

 

President's Award

The Board of Directors created the President's Award to recognize a POC member who has made an outstanding contribution to POC or the organizing industry, not described under any other award criteria. The recipient of this Award is selected by the President of POC, with input and approval from the POC Board of Directors. Because this award is meant to recognize a special or outstanding contribution, it may not be presented every year but is at the discretion of the President.

The award consists of a certificate of recognition, describing the specific contribution of the recipient, as well as a complimentary one-year membership in POC, or another gift equivalent to the value of a one-year membership and is presented during POC's Annual Conference.

President's Award 2011

Alexandra Ross, The Organizing Wizard

Alexandra Ross was presented with the President's Award at POC 2011 Conference.  Alex, who currently serves on the National Board as Director at Large, was recognized for her unwavering dedication to POC since she joined in 2003. She has served as Chair of the Education Committee, Director of Education, Director of Conference, Vice President and played a key role in the implementation of the Trained Professional Organizer program. Alex can always be counted on to take on any task, no matter how difficult or complicated, and see it through to completion.

It is because of her perseverance, talents, and skill that the certificate presented to Alex read, "With heartfelt gratitude for your many contributions and extraordinary commitment to the betterment of Professional Organizers in Canada." Congratulations, Alex!

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