One of Burnaby's largest social service organizations will have a new face at the helm come spring.
Burnaby Family Life Institute has announced that Michel Pouliot will take over as executive director in March, replacing Jeanne Fike, who has been with the organization for three decades.
"The board looked for a leader that would fit well into the organization and would build it for the next 25 years in a slightly different direction," said John Crawford, chair of the organization's board of directors. "As the funding gets tighter, we have to find ways to fund ourselves."
Crawford was alluding to the concept of "social enterprise," a loosely defined term which includes non-profits working with businesses or coming up with their own ways to make money.
Burnaby Family Life relies on government funding offered in short-term, renewable contracts, and as the amounts can vary, long-term planning and stability is difficult to maintain; hence the need to find alternate sources of money, Crawford explained.
According to Crawford, Pouliot has experience with social enterprise programs.
"He's working the sector that Burnaby Family Life has worked in for multiple years and been involved in quite new innovative programs that have come to life," Crawford said.
Pouliot has worked with families and youth for more than two decades and is the manager of youth services with Pacific Community Resources Society in Surrey.
Burnaby Family Life runs a variety of programs to help youth and families. For more on the organization, go to www.burnabyfamilylife.org.
