About The Team

Provincial Lead Department Steering Committee 2011

Labour and Advanced Education is the lead department for the 2011 Provincial Government Division of the Halifax Region United Way Campaign. Below are the 2011 Steering Committee members and their responsibilities.

Division & Co-Leadership Chair

Jeff Conrad, Associate Deputy Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, is currently leading this year's Steering Committee responsible for the Provincial Government Campaign. Jeff Conrad will also be co-chair of the Leadership Campaign, along with Elizabeth Mills, Executive Director of Immigration. Both parties bring a wealth of experience and leadership to the campaign. United Way encourages those who are able and interested to give at a higher level. "Leadership Giving" involves those who contribute $1,000 or more, normally split up as regular small deductions from bi-weekly pays. While this is a lot of money, it is a convenient way to give for those who want a well-managed donation strategy through an organization that holds community groups accountable for results of the money they get.

Executive Co-Chair

C.J. Purdy oversees the provincial campaign working with United Way staff, Campaign Chairs and Account Executives to ensure the campaign's mandate is met. Filling in for Gail Keeping who is on maternity leave, this is C.J. 's third United Way campaign. Responsible for coordinating information on the campaign and the fund-raising processes to the Steering Committee, Account Executives, Agencies and Provincial departments and agencies within HRM.

Executive Co-Chair

Brian Sharp has been a part of several United Way campaigns and is prepared to help lead the Provincial government to another successful campaign. Brians strong work ethic, organization and people skills have helped build our steering committee and shape our campaign.

Finance Chair

Laurie Bennett is all about the numbers and making sure that all monies received during the campaign are accurately accounted for. Laurie is the Manager of Financial Services for Labour and Advanced Education and has a solid back round of financial processes. All monies raised from each department are sent to LAE for final processing and reconciliation before going to the United Way.

Communication Chair

Christine Puccini is a Correspondents assistant to the Deputy Minister and Ministers. Her knowledge of the department has helped create our campaign image that represents the host department.

Website Chair

Aun Jaffery is a Nominee Officer with the Office of Immigration and has been working away updating our site and giving it the look and feel you see today. This role is usually set aside for the departments' web master, but this year Aun has broken the cycle and has stepped in to operate our web site. Aun has studied IT and Political Science and is happy to bring those two components together.

Prize Chair

Patti Trenholm has lead this group and gathering the prizes you will see during the campaign. Items such as Porter airline flight, Via Rail trip, hotel stays etc.

Chart of HRM United Way Structure

Lead departments in previous years

• 2010 Environment
• 2009 Health Promotion and Protection
• 2008 Agriculture / Fisheries & Aquaculture
• 2007 Education
• 2006 Dept of Transportation & Public Works
• 2005 Natural Resources
• 2004 Justice
• 2003 Finance
• 2002 Economic Development
• 2001 Community Services
• 2000 Housing & Municipal Affairs (same year they became Service Nova Scotia & Municipal Relations)
• 1999 Health
• 1998 Environment
• 1997 Education & Culture
• 1996 Fisheries
• 1995 Housing & Consumer Services