Studying at work: experiential learning funnels passion into project

Miriam Ponette has an undergrad degree in human relations and has worked in the non-profit sector, notably for the YMCA, welcoming asylum seekers to Canada. She has also volunteered extensively with climate action projects.

Now, thanks to her Royal Roads work experience, the Master of Arts in Climate Action Leadership student has found a way to combine those passions in one project.

With funding from an RBC Community Integrated Learning Grant, Ponette, a resident of rural Quebec outside Ottawa, recently completed her time with BC-based Empower Me, which provides tailored programming for newcomer and immigrant communities to help them access energy efficiency information and subsidies. She conducted a feasibility study to determine if the service, which currently operates in British Columbia and Alberta, with a recent foray into Seattle, Wash., could expand into Ontario.

“People are overwhelmed arriving in Canada. There’s just so much else that’s taking their attention and so many challenges that they have to focus on that it’s hard to prioritize this,” says Ponette, who shared from her interviews with immigrant community members that there is “a strong desire to care for the environment and contribute to collective efforts.”

Ponette was able to apply and hone her skills during her time with the organization while adding value to daily operations.

“Miriam’s work was crucial to Empower Me and offered us a sense of how the learnings and insights that the program has gleaned from the past decade of working deep in community and climate on the west coast might need to shift and adapt to support the needs of immigrants and newcomers in Ontario,” says Yasmin Abraham, a board member from the sponsor organization Create Climate Equity. “Miriam’s work is the foundation of any future community engagement in the region,” says Abraham, who also designed and built the Empower Me program.

“It’s kind of a dream come true for me to bring together two areas that are very dear to my heart,” Ponette says. “I love that Empower Me has an equity focus, that they’re focused on climate change mitigation and on bringing services to traditionally underserved communities.”

The mother of two young children is also appreciative of the RBC grant, provided through Create Climate Equity, that provided some income while she worked with Empower Me.

And she’s effusive about the MACAL program at RRU, saying that it’s practical and “very oriented to real, hands-on experience,” and adding, “I appreciated how flexible the program is, too, allowing us to build our learning in a way that works with our own personal goals and where we are on our professional journey.”

That included remote study that still allowed students to connect with, and learn from, one another.

“I loved that I could be together with people from across Canada in the program because I feel that… I wouldn’t have the opportunity to interact with these people otherwise,” she says, adding, “It’s really beneficial, especially in a climate action program, to be working with people from Alberta and Newfoundland-Labrador and really all across the country, and to benefit from their different perspectives.”

Through the generosity of the Royal Bank of Canada Foundation, RBC Community Integrated Learning Grants provide funding to students who are completing a career learning and development work term in the community with a small business, non-profit or charitable organization that could not otherwise provide wages or compensation.

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Climate Action Leadership or request more information.