Introduction to 2008 Annual Report The Wideman Education Foundation, or "WEF" as it is known, was founded and registered with the BC provincial government in January 2007 and received Federal charity status in July 2008. The mission of the organization is to teach, develop, promote and encourage the use of proven, successful project management skills that are needed every day by everyone. And we believe that we can foster these skills, and a better understanding of projects, by working for mutual benefit with those involved in education, training or project management. Therefore, our intention is to develop learning opportunities through promoting workshops or similar sessions, and fostering practice, ethics and standards for young people.
Members of the WEF BoardCurrent members of the WEF Board are:
1. Vijay K. Verma, P.Eng., PMP – President
2. R. Max Wideman, P.Eng., FPMI – Secretary
3. Li Yang – Treasurer
4. Joan Vincent – Director, Promotion
5. Dr. Andrew Gemino – Director, SFU liaison
Message from the President
The Wideman Education Foundation (WEF) made tremendous progress in 2008. During the year, several major milestones were met. For example, the first student competition was conducted very successfully at SFU, Surrey Campus for students from grades 10-12 from various schools in Surrey. In the final competition, eight teams presented their work of creating a logo and web page for the WEF. The WEF gave all members of the winning team a cheque for $300 as well as a plaque for the winning team’s High School. All finalists received a copy of the Project Management Memory Jogger pocket guide. Our thanks to Karen Tate of Griffin Tate Group of Cincinnati, Ohio for donating these pocket guides.
During this year, WEF received charitable status that will help us raise more donations. A marketing Brochure was prepared and 1000 copies were printed for distribution to potential donors along with a letter to request funds for different levels of sponsorship. The Board members have made a significant progress in this area and a lot more will be
done in 2009 to raise funds. We are actively seeking new Board members and I am very hopeful to expand our Board to help meet our milestones in 2009.
The Board also wishes to express special thanks to Dr. Andrew Gemino and Jennifer Ashton from Faculty of Business Administration, SFU Surrey Campus for their hard work in organizing our first successful competition. And I am very grateful to the members of the WEF Board, the West Coast Chapter of PMI and all volunteers for their strong support, dedication, and continuous hard work. We look forward to continuing our relationship with SFU and to expanding our initiatives to include other institutions in the coming years.
Vijay K. Verma, President
Message from Max WidemanAs noted in the Message from the Chair, the WEF conducted its first annual program in conjunction with the Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, Surrey. Under the capable direction of SFU project manager Jennifer Ashton, the 2008 spring program consisted of a project competition to create a logo and web page for the WEF organization itself. The program included mandatory attendance at a project management workshop providing exposure to basic skills; instruction in the temporary use of appropriate software kindly provided by Adobe Systems Inc.; and a workshop on presentation skills.
Over 400 students in grades 10 to 12 were reached in the initial recruitment campaign conducted by SFU, and of whom 59 signed up initially. As expected, a number dropped out, but eight teams presented their work in the final competition. A winning team was selected – with some difficulty because of the high quality of the presentations – by a crew of eight professional project managers. All finalists were congratulated for their efforts and received certificates of participation and a Project Management Memory Jogger™ Pocket Guide generously donated by the Griffin Tate Group of Cincinnati, Ohio. The members of the winning team each received a cheque for $300 from the WEF.
The program was deemed a great success, with much enthusiastic feedback received from the participants, such as "The best part of it was the competition and presentation, it was very exciting." And "The experience was overwhelming. I had a good time participating in the competition and look forward to the next one."
Message from Director PromotionsOur accomplishments during 2008 included the following:
- Brochure designed and printed
- Fundraising strategy developed and implemented
- Database developed
- Presentation made to the West Coast BC Chapter of PMI
- Brochures and letters distributed
- Fundraising letter mailed out
Given the global economic downturn, our efforts to raise funds in 2009 will demand ingenuity and commitment.
A full copy of the WEF Annual Report, including the Financial Statement for 2008 and Budget for 2009 can be obtained on request by Email to max_wideman@sfu.ca
For more, go:
Back to Home Page WEF Mission WEF Action Plan WEF Logo WEF Brochure