Many Canadians have decided to make study abroad part of their university career. Take a look at some of these study abroad alumni to see how the international experience had influenced their lives and where it has brought them today!
Eric Champagne is Assistant Professor in Public Administration at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa and he is a researcher at the Centre on Governance. His areas of teaching focus on public sector management and governance, program evaluation, public policy development along with globalization & continental integration. His three areas of research include: multi-level governance in Canada in the fields of infrastructures and transports; public sector reforms in Africa, and the impact of new public governance on social innovation on Francophone minority groups across Canada.
Before joining the University of Ottawa in January 2009, Professor Champagne spent about ten years as a World Bank’s program manager and public sector reform specialist (particularly in the area of decentralization, intergovernmental relations, local management, good governance and public finance). He was involved in around a dozen countries in Africa. He was also a strategic advisor to the Government of Canada on management and governance issues. Professor Champagne received his Ph.D. in urban studies from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique. From 1998 to 1999 he was an International Urban Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies. Mr. Champagne holds a Master’s degree in Regional Planning and Development from Université Laval and a professional graduate certificate in Organization Management and Development from Fielding University.
Click here to read about his personal experience abroad!
Carla Thachuk ignited her passion for progressing sport for international development while earning her Masters Degree in Physical Education from the University for Peace (Costa Rica) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada). Upon completing her Masters Carla spent three years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in Geneva, where she was engaged in building ‘sport for refugee development’ programs, developing partnerships with international foundations and international sport organizations, and creating highly successful fund raising initiatives.
Prior to her Masters, as a Project Coordinator with ‘Right to Play’ in Guinea and Sierra Leone, Carla managed large scale projects related to the creation and delivery of sport and recreational opportunities for children, major sporting events, health education and HIV/AIDS workshops, and coach training while coordinating activities with multiple partner organizations, local governments and community members. She also worked with Youth Challenge International in Guyana and Canada World Youth in the Philippines. Through these experiences she has gained significant hands-on experience in conceptualizing, implementing and managing sport for development programs across the globe.
Carla continues to grow her capacity for using sport to develop youth in her role as Director of International Programs at Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC). She joined CGC in 2009 and has helped build sport programs and partnerships around the world while effectively guiding fundraising efforts and incorporating international development through sport into Canadian sport policy. Throughout her career, Carla has been a first-hand witness to the benefits of sport for youth development and these experiences continue to grow her passion in the field.