TORONTO, Ont. – The Gary Gillam Award, jointly sponsored by Alterna Savings and Central 1 Credit Union (Central 1), recognizes and honours individuals within the Ontario and British Columbia credit union movement who demonstrate exemplary achievements in:
- Promoting social responsibility and/or sustainability in credit unions
- Promoting credit unions as a socially responsible investment alternative.
Up to two awards may be presented each year; one to a credit union employee and/or one to a credit union volunteer. Recipients each receive $2,500, provided by Alterna Savings and Central 1 to be donated to the recipients’ charity, organization, or project of choice.
Nominations are limited to those who have taken credit unions beyond traditional philanthropy and good corporate citizenship. To be eligible, nominees must be a credit union member and a current or past director, volunteer, manager, or employee.
Nominations must be received by Friday, March 15, 2019. The award committee will review all nominations and select the annual recipient(s). The presentation to the winner is expected to be held in late April 2019 in Vancouver.
For information about the nomination process, view the 2019 Nomination Guide & Selection Criteria package.
About Gary Gillam
The Gary Gillam Award was established to honour the memory and work of Gary H. Gillam. Gary was the Director, Legal, Governmental Affairs and Administration, at Credit Union Central of Ontario (now Central 1) from 1982 to 1988.
In 1988, Gary became CEO of Unicoll Credit Union (now Alterna Savings), where he worked until illness forced his resignation in 1993.
Gary Gillam was one of the leading advocates for social responsibility in the credit union system, long before it became popular within organizations. He vigorously promoted the concept of social investment, calling on credit unions and their centrals to use social as well as financial criteria for their investment portfolios. He supported the development of community loan funds to assist socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. At CUCO and his own credit union, he initiated social audits to measure the social performance of the organization, as a complementary process to the financial audit.
The Gary Gillam Award was established in 1996 and is awarded annually.
About Central 1
Central 1 is a preferred partner for financial, digital banking and payment products and services – fuelling the success of businesses across Canada. With $19.2 billion in assets, we leverage our scale, strength and expertise to power progress for more than 250 credit unions and other financial institutions, enhancing the financial well-being of more than five million Canadians. For more information, visit central1.com.
About Alterna Savings
Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited (Alterna) has been the good in banking for over 110 years! Alterna is made up of Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterna Bank. Together, we have $7.9 billion in assets under administration.
As the first full-service, member-owned co-operative financial institution outside Quebec, Alterna Savings shares our expertise with more than 164,000 members through a network of 32 branches across Ontario, as well as our call centre and digital channels. Our members and customers also benefit from industry leading online brokerage and investment management services and have access to the largest surcharge-free ATM network in Canada through THE EXCHANGE® Network, with over 3,700 ATMs to serve them. For more information, visit www.alterna.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Dorothy Watson
Regional Development Director
Central 1 | 905.282.8525
dwatson@central1.com
Heather Merry
Member & External Communications Manager
Central 1 | 604.737.5907
hmerry@central1.com
Brooke Peloquin
Corporate Marketing Specialist
Alterna Savings | 613.560.0150 ext. 6966
brooke.peloquin@alterna.ca