Last month the interns were welcomed to the AMAPCEO headquarters in downtown Toronto. We had the opportunity to chat with AMAPCEO President David Bulmer, Vice-President Cynthia Watt, Strategic Advisor to the Vice President and CEO Grant Burns, and District Director and Vice Chair of the Board Jennifer Harewood, over a delicious lunch!
Established in 1992, AMAPCEO is a union for Ontario’s professional employees, representing over 17,000 professionals working in the provincial public interest. AMAPCEO prides themselves on being member-driven and providing outstanding representation to its many members, among other services. As the interns learned firsthand, AMAPCEO represents a wide range of those working in the public interest, from policy analysts to educators, and is a politically non-partisan organization.
Over the course of our conversation, the interns learned about both AMAPCEO’s history and its mission. We gained insight into the unique and effective approaches to representation and advocacy that AMAPCEO promotes. We discussed what a “soft power” approach to negotiation and dispute resolution looks like, and our hosts shared with us their evident passion for ensuring good and fair working conditions for their members. The interns were particularly thrilled that Jennifer Harewood was able to join the conversation as an OLIP alumna currently working at AMAPCEO! Jennifer shared her career journey post-OLIP that led her to AMAPCEO, including subsequently interning for the OPS, and graciously offered us some valuable advice on leveraging our OLIP experience as young professionals.
We would like to sincerely thank David, Cynthia, Grant, and Jennifer for the fascinating discussion and for their generous hospitality. We are grateful to AMAPCEO for their long-time support of OLIP and for helping to educate cohorts past and present about the role of unions. Thank you, AMAPCEO!
