When Sylvia Ceacero landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, she had just graduated from high school and didn't speak a word of English. At the time, the young Spaniard had no idea of what the future in Canada would bring.
Fast forward 33 years and Ceacero now heads Share Family and Community Services, one of the Tri-Cities' largest social service agencies, providing programs to children, youth, families, seniors and the region's three food banks.
Ceacero, who hails most recently from Ottawa, where she was the CEO for the 185,000-member National Association of Federal Retirees, is settling in to her new job overseeing programs for 17,000 clients annually and 130 staff and contractors.
The job is a challenge, Ceacero admits, but it's one for which she is ready.
'This opportunity captured my imagination. I knew this would be my next job, I had that kind of certainty," said Ceacero, who first visited Vancouver with her husband in 2010 and fell in love with it.
When the Share post came up following the departure of former CEO Martin Wyant, Ceacero said she thought she would be a good fit, with a range of experience that is often the hallmark of the immigrant experience. Her first jobs were piecework sewing for Tip Top Tailors, where she learned English, and she later sold encyclopedias to raise funds to go to university. Among her first social service jobs was helping immigrants with employment counselling and she has experience in fundraising and leadership.
"At the end of the day, people are people, no matter where you go," Ceacero says. "People want to feel part of a community."
IMAGINE 2016
Ceacero is also looking forward to the Imagine 2016 fundraiser, set for Saturday, March 5 at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver in Coquitlam, where there will be tastings from 10 local restaurants, live and silent auctions, a 50-50 draw and a competition between celebrity chefs, and their mayoral sous chefs, to make a tasty meal from food in a food bank hamper.
The event will raise money for the food bank and other programs, including counselling for struggling families, assistance for newcomers and support for youth battling addiction issues.
Ceacero hopes people will come out to support Share's work.
"We have a reason to be here, not just Share, but as individuals, we have a responsibility to make the world better."
Tickets for the event can be purchased at eventbrite.ca; for more information, visit sharesociety.ca/imagine/ or call 604-540-9161.
