MONTREAL, March 1, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The chairman of the board of directors of the Institut du Nouveau Monde(INM), Mr. Michel Cossette, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Julie Caron-Malenfant as executive director. Ms. Caron-Malenfant, who served as assistant executive director since 2014, succeeds the founder and executive director of the INM, Mr. Michel Venne. Her appointment comes into effect today.
"Ms. Caron-Malenfant is the right woman for the job. Dynamic and engaged, she is a seasoned social entrepreneur, solid manager, speaker and author who will continue to grow the INM and promote its mission to increase citizen participation in democratic life," said Mr. Cossette. "Ms. Caron-Malenfant is a recognized expert on public participation and social acceptability. After spending three years managing the operations of the INM as assistant executive director, she was more than ready to assume the leadership of the Institut. When Michel Venne announced he was stepping down, we were confident in the future knowing that he had carefully prepared his successor."
Julie Caron-Malenfant holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, a master's degree in political science and an attestation of graduate studies in urban economic development. Over the past 15 years, she has managed about 100 mandates, including for the Ministère de la Culture du Québec (Agenda 21 de la culture du Québec- 2012) and the City of Québec (Diagnostic des pratiques de participation publique dans la Ville de Québec – 2017). In 2009, as co-author, she published the Guide pratique de l'acceptabilité sociale : pistes de réflexion et d'action, a reference in the field of social acceptability. After heading her own company dedicated to public consultations and social acceptability, she joined the Institut du Nouveau Monde in 2009, where she improved and structured how the INM operates.
"I thank the board of directors for its confidence," said Ms. Caron-Malenfant. "Serving the INM is a privilege: one that makes it possible to benefit from a powerful and unique vehicle to fight cynicism and provide citizens with a voice that goes beyond a single vote in elections or protesting. I am honoured to succeed the founder of the INM and am thrilled he will remain available to us. It is with great enthusiasm that I embark on this new mandate with our solid team."
"The board of directors expresses its gratitude to Michel Venne for his vision and the herculean work he has accomplished as head of the INM since its founding," said Mr. Cossette. "Under his leadership, the INM has become a world reference on citizen participation, an organization that is part of the most important social innovation and entrepreneurship networks in the world. He leaves behind an Institut that has the wind in its sails, thanks in large part to the consolidation of the financing of its youth programs and a full order book. The INM has just initiated, for the Ordre des architectes du Québec (Quebec order of architects), a public conversation on a national architecture policy for Quebec.In the coming weeks, it will be launching two new initiatives: the Nuit des débats in Montreal on March 24 and Tribu17, a forum for 30- to 45-year-olds that will take place April 6-8."
Michel Venne will complete the projects and contracts he is in charge of for clients and partners of the Institut du Nouveau Monde, and will remain with the INM as an advisor to management until the end of June. He will be available to work with the INM afterwards, while working on his own account. "I leave with the satisfaction of a job well done and the certainty that the INM has everything it needs to continue its development," said Mr. Venne. "I am particularly proud of the work done with young people, at least 10,000 in the past 14 years, to whom we have given the desire to take action, and of having developed in Quebec a unique expertise in the world that encourages dialogue between people from all walks of life, from all parties and of all leanings. With Julie Caron-Malenfant, the intergenerational transfer has been perfectly accomplished and I am thrilled that the board of directors saw in her the same qualities that compelled me to recruit her 8 years ago, then to name her as my assistant executive director. Long live the INM!"
The Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM)
The Institut du Nouveau Monde is a non-partisan organization working primarily in Quebec whose mission is to increase citizen participation in democratic life. The efforts of the INM encourage citizen participation and contribute to the development of civic skills, the strengthening of social ties and the development of democratic institutions.
SOURCE Institut du Nouveau Monde
Diane Jeannotte, 514 772-8019,[email protected]; Diep Truong, 514 524-7348, [email protected]
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