Loyalist graduates among nominees for Premier’s Awards 2021

By Rhythm Rathi

BELLEVILLE – Six Loyalist graduates are nominated under various categories for the Premier’s Awards this year.

The Premier’s Awards were introduced in the year 1992 and are managed by Colleges Ontario. These awards not only recognize but honour important social and economic contributions made by college graduates to the province of Ontario and throughout the world.

The awards are presented annually to graduates in the following seven categories: apprenticeship, business, community services, creative arts and design, health sciences, recent graduate and technology.

This year’s ceremony will be held virtually on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.

The following graduates were nominated under the listed categories:

• Under business category: Kai Hulshof a journalism graduate from the year 2003 who now works in digital marketing and is the CEO of Canopy Media and COO of Jentü Technologies.
•  Under community services: John Whelan who graduated from the Business Administration program in 1983 and then from Police Foundations in 1985. He has dedicated more than 30 years of service to his community as a police officer, a volunteer firefighter and as a fire chief for the City of Quinte West.
• Under creative arts & design: Darren Calabrese, a graduate of the Photojournalism program from 2005. He was the News Photographers Association of Canada’s 2020 Photojournalist of the Year.
• Under health sciences: Laurie French who graduated from Practical Nursing in 1987. She dedicated 30 years of service to Ontario’s health care community, beginning her career as a nurse. She is an elected school board trustee serving as President of the Canadian School Board Association.
• Under the recent graduate category is Nicole Flynn from 2021’s General Arts and Science class. Flynn aims to bring awareness to the needs of people with disabilities, to empower others to be self-advocates and to challenge the expectations placed on her as a person with Down syndrome. She is a recipient of the Canada 150 Award in recognition of her service to the community.
• Under technology is Jamu Alford, an Electrical Engineering Technician from 2001. He is an award-winning researcher and scientist with over 26 published patent/patent applications under his name.