2020 President's Summer Message

Wednesday, Aug 26, 2020

While I was originally hoping to deliver a Q2 update to our CREW, I struggled a bit with the message that I wanted to share with all our fabulous members. I know Q2 was a paradox of both joy and pain for so many – myself included. That the impacts of the multitude of changes and challenges 2020 has brought to most of us has become a constant.

The last few months have also brought a tremendous amount of change to CREW Calgary. We wanted to be thoughtful in how we pivoted to an online platform and I am so proud of all that we have accomplished over these last four months. We have hosted 14 different events over the last over these last few months – from webinars to keynote speakers, most recently the Mid Summer Mixer, our Mentorship Kick Off and New Member Welcome are among some of the highlights. This summer our amazing golf committee has re-imagined our event and done a round-robin style tournament allowing for safe interaction between folks who want to golf.

I want to also give a big shout out to our CREW Foundation Scholars! Yes, that’s right, CREW Calgary had two scholars chosen for the CREW Network Scholarship this year. Aleitha de Guzman of Lethbridge studying at the Stanford University and our very own Emma Hopkins studying at U of C are the recipients of the $5,000 CREW scholarship.

I’ve personally been working on mindfulness these last few months and finding the joy in the everyday. 2020 was not as I had imagined – personally, professionally or for the world. With the sadness, grief and chaos we can sometimes see around us, it is often hard to find the joy or the good. CREW Calgary has been such a foundation of support for my career and even personally, that I encourage each of you to reach out and those with the capacity, to continue to help and lift each other up.

As Mr. Rogers reflected “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world."

I know there are a lot of scary things happening and some would say a disaster, but let’s continue to be the helpers, to lift each other up, and continue to make our companies, our community and our industry a better place to be.

With Gratitude,

Michelle Pink

CREW Calgary President