July 28, 2008

Fiona Duguid of Chelsea, Quebec and a new member of the Co-operatives Secretariat team is to be recognized as an outstanding Young Co-operative Educator by the Association of Cooperative Educators in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Duguid, who completed her doctorate at the Ontario Institute of Studies for Education of the University of Toronto last year, researched sustainable energy cooperatives. She has been a member of the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative Education Committee since 2003 and is a member of the Kid’s World of Energy Festival planning committee.

 “She is, moreover, a model for young women who choose to work in cooperatives,” says Sylvia M. Ríos-Ortiz, ACE’s vice president and education manager of COSVI, an insurance cooperative based in Puerto Rico. “She is an exceptional team member and enthusiastically takes on challenges for the benefit of cooperatives and community groups.”

Duguid also served on the program committee for the 2008 ACE Institute being held in Ottawa at the Lord Elgin Hotel July 29 - Aug. 1.

Several other cooperators and cooperative organizations are also to be recognized, including: La Coop fédérée based in Montreal, The Cooperative Discussion Course (Pennsylvania), Cabot Creamery Cooperative (Vermont), Michel Lafleur (Université de Sherbrooke) and Jim Hoyt of GROWMARK, Inc., based in Illinois.

The ACE Institute encompasses researchers and instructors who specialize in cooperatives, credit unions & caisses, and staff and elected leaders with responsibility for education in their cooperative organizations. The 2008 topic, “The Sustainable Cooperative,” will guide participants’ discussions of enduring cooperative leadership, community initiatives, environmental stewardship and financial strength.

For more information on the ACE Institute, visit www.ace.coop. Created 55 years ago, the association is now administered by The Cooperative Foundation in Minnesota.