Recipients

Past Recipients of the Canadian Child Care Federation's Award for Excellence in Child Care
	2009 - Pat Wege Pat Wege has worked tirelessly to improve the delivery of child care services in Manitoba for over thirty years. She has worked as a caregiver, manager, and presently as Executive Director of the Manitoba Child Care Association. Her efforts have shaped and influenced the Provinces’ child care systems in every way. She is involved in policy development, research, quality promotion, regulatory review, professional development provision, working conditions for caregivers, work with media and advocacy with politicians and policy makers, and influenced the public’s opinion of child care. Pat’s contributions to the field cannot be measured and her influence has touched every part of child care in Manitoba and Canada.
	2007 - Elaine Ferguson Elaine Ferguson has been serving the ECE community for 36 years as an ECE teacher, administrator, instructor in training programs, researcher and writer, board member and representative of various provincial and national organizations. She serves as the executive director of Child Care Connections Nova Scotia, a community-based development organization for child care in Nova Scotia. Elaine was a founding member of CCCF's Board of Directors and its first appointed Treasurer and served a second term on the Board from 2001-2003. She represented CCCF on the Child Care Human Resources Sector Council from 2006-2008.
	2005 - Sherrill Brown Sherrill Brown's career began in the education system, teaching in primary grades. She has contributed to the development of professional organizations in the Alberta child care sector, serving on the boards of the Alberta Child Care Network and the Early Childhood Professional Association of Alberta. Sherill has played a key role in creating the two new agencies that support Alberta's accreditation program, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment of time and energy to this task.Sherrill's vision of the early learning and child care sector, her mentorship of new ECE graduates, and her passion and optimism have inspired both students and colleagues.
	2003 - Sandra Beckman A past president of the Canadian Child Care Federation (CCCF), Sandra Beckman's career has taken her from teaching in Fairview, Alberta, to teaching in Africa, to owning and operating a child care centre in Whitehorse, Yukon. In 2003, the year she received the Award for Excellence, Sandra was an instructor and coordinator of the early childhood development program at Yukon College in Whitehorse. In the span of her career, Sandra has inspired many child care practitioners and provided exceptional leadership in her participation on numerous local, provincial and national associations.
	2001 - Bev Peel Bev Peel has made great contributions to child care in First Nations communities in Saskatchewan. During her time with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, she helped form the child care policies and regulations in nine First Nations districts and ensured that every First Nation reserve community had the resources and capacity for an Aboriginal Head Start program. Peel was also one of the original founders and directors of the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Association (SECA), and a consultant and instructor for Meadow Lake Tribal Council's Indian Child Care Program though the University of Victoria.
	1999 - Karen Norman Karen Norman is a founding member of the British Columbia Child Care Association and worked towards linking other child care groups together in what is now the Western Canada Family Care Association of B.C. She also helped develop the association's one-year certification program for family child care providers, offered through Vancouver Community College. In 1999, at the time that she received the Award for Excellence, Karen was in her sixth year on the Board of Directors of Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre, serving her third term as chair.
	1997 - Karen Chandler At the time she won the Award for Excellence, Karen Chandler was an instructor in the faculty of Community Services at George Brown College. In her career, Karen has worn many different hats as a consultant, professor, author, researcher, administrator, front-line service provider as well as a range of volunteer roles. In the early 1980s, Karen was one of the people involved in the creation of the Canadian Child Care Federation, part of her vision for a national organization to service the child care community.
	1995 - Bernadette Vangool A devoted volunteer, Bernadette Vangool contributes hundreds of hours of her own time to the child care community in Saskatchewan. She led the formation of the Saskatchewan Child Care Association and also served as its director from 1990 to 1994. Even after her own children were no longer enrolled in child care, Bernadette continued her active involvement in child care. Through her continued efforts, Bernadette also helped in the development of the Saskatchewan Child Care Resource Centre and Maggie's Child Care Centre for Teen Parents. Bernadette has always been available to raise money, attend meetings, plan programs, stuff envelopes, write proposals and organize conferences.