We are pleased to share that the 2023-2024 Colin Woolf Award for Excellence in Program Development and Coordination has been awarded to our very own New and Evolving Academic Leaders (NEAL) program team consisting of Cate Creede-Desmarais, Manpreet Saini, Daniel Grace, Praseedha Janakiram, and Mojola Omole.

About the Award

The Colin R. Woolf Awards recognize outstanding contributions to continuing professional development. They recognize excellence in the following categories: program development and coordination, long term contributions to continuing professional development, and sustained excellence in teaching in continuing professional development.

About the NEAL Program

Leading in academic health sciences requires people to simultaneously manage departmental or unit accountabilities within a complex continually changing environment, enact multiple roles (researcher, teacher, learner, administrator, collaborator, clinician), influence positive change for equity, diversity, inclusion and antiracism – all while strategizing about how to sustain and improve a challenged system, in time of global uncertainty. To be successful, leaders need to be equipped with specific skills appropriate for successful outcomes within academic health sciences, but more importantly, with a deep understanding of their own core sense of purpose and unique capacity for influence. The New and Evolving Academic Leaders (NEAL) program is a one-year advanced faculty development program designed to equip leaders in academic health sciences with skills, resources, connections, community and transformative relationship with self, to enable them to work collaboratively in shaping and shifting our broader system for more inclusive, and sustainable research, teaching and system influence.

NEAL is designed for people in academic health science contexts who either (a) have formal roles as leaders or (b) who may be an influencer or change agent working to shape and shift our broader system for positive health outcomes. NEAL actively encourages participants from community-based settings, academic units, research settings, and hospital-based settings. Participants should have a commitment to becoming change agents in their spheres of influence and beyond by centering principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, Indigeneity and accessibility in their leadership practice.

About the Team

This inspiring team with notable commitment to anti-oppressive and equity practices consists of: Cate Creede-Desmarais (Program Lead), Manpreet Saini (Program Coordinator), Daniel Grace (Theme Co-Lead), Praseedha Janakiram (Theme Co-Lead), and Mojola Omole (Theme Co-Lead). The NEAL program is further supported by a number of Centre for Faculty Development (CFD) staff, external facilitators and coaches who work in diverse and influential contexts within the academic health sciences system.

The Program’s Impact

The following are reflections from former NEAL participants:

“A deep feeling of gratitude. For the opportunity to learn, share, grow, laugh and cry together across so many experiences. I hope to be able to keep this feeling alive for long, and to live up to the standards of my NEAL cohort; I owe it to myself and to them – I have a feeling to ‘not wanting to disappoint’ a group, that I respect and admire; and it doesn’t feel like a burden, but a privilege. Quite unique feeling.”

“I have more confidence in myself as a leader, Before NEAL, I always felt that I wasn’t capable of being a leader like some of the leaders that I work with as my style and personality was so different. I had never heard of an authentic leadership style before. I feel now very empowered to understand that my personality, values, and leadership style can actually be very effective in leadership roles. I also now have a number of colleagues that I feel I can reach out to if I have challenges in my new leadership positions.”

“NEAL has been one of the most profound gifts I have received in my life. It was one that I hesitantly pursued due to work-life circumstances, due to cost, due to location, etc. I feel very aware, now, of the need to seek out those things you know you need, to not let the simple act of asking questions stop the next step from occurring. “The power of a question” is very alive.”

“I recognize how privileged I am for having been part of this group and to have had this beautiful and thoughtfully facilitated very personal journey. I have made a promise to myself to continue pushing forward, intentionally learning, unlearning and disruptively leading or contributing to positive change.”