Our rising star Lauren Gould

Congratulations to Lauren Gould, Alumni Officer, Student Programs, in University Advancement and Alumni Relations, who has won the 2003 Rising Star Award from District 1 of CASE, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Lauren is only 22, but she already has three years’ experience at Concordia. She started as a student, working in the call centre, soliciting graduates for donations to the university. She was soon promoted to call centre supervisor, then to a professional position.

Her supervisor, Elaine Arsenault, was delighted to hear about the award. She had nominated Lauren not only for her enthusiasm and organizational skills, but for her creativity.

Last year, Lauren started a university-wide program to promote and sell art by Concordia students. Graduating students from the Faculty of Fine Arts who contributed $25 to the university were invited to submit a work, which was exhibited at the launch of the Faculty’s chapter last spring.

The Concordia University Alumni Association responded by starting a collection of works by grads. Their first acquisition was photographed and printed as a greeting card and sent to more than 350 volunteers over the holidays. Lauren had some other ideas. She revived a mentor program and helped co-ordinate a panel of mentors for the John Molson School of Business.

During Homecoming last fall, she started a series of career workshops that included marketing for artists. As a result of her efforts, donations by members of the Fine Arts graduating class doubled last year.

Lauren is still a student, and hopes to graduate this spring; she’s doing a major in creative writing and a minor in studio arts. She has revitalized the student committee of the alumni association, making it a valuable link between alumni and current students. She did it by using her own youthful edge, handing out “tattoos” that advertised the CUAA at student events. “Lauren has brought a fresh new look to this program,” Arsenault said. “I am very, very proud of her.”

CASE District 1 brings together university professionals in fundraising, alumni affairs and communications across eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Lauren hopes to attend the annual conference in Boston this month to accept her award.

One of the most successful programs Lauren started didn’t even get a mention in her nomination papers, because it related to Concordia staff, not alumni. It’s the Jugglers luncheons that feature employees with “secret passions,” hobbies that they juggle with their professional and domestic lives.

Two Jugglers luncheons have been held so far, and they caught the eye of Gazette writer Stephanie Whittaker, who wrote an article about the concept on Dec. 8. The next Jugglers luncheon, on a date yet to be determined, will feature the John Molson School of Business’s Dave McKenzie, who does a lot of volunteer work for the N.D.G. Black Community Association.