Erik Holmlund has served on the Terra Board of Directors for the past seven years. He will be retiring from the board in March 2018, and we’re incredibly grateful for the significant contributions he has made to Terra and for his dedication to empowering teen parent families. We asked him to reflect on his time with the board.

When I think about what makes me most proud over the past seven years, a few things come to mind, including the way Terra has:

  • Introduced the Learner’s Bursary, which has a huge impact on Braemar School students’ access to funding and services.
  • Worked to continuously improve and expand our services.
  • Taken a leadership role at the city, province and the social services sector.
  • Sought out partnerships that support our families.

For me personally, it’s so rewarding to see parents who spoke at Promising Futures six or seven years ago, who are now in the midst of their post-grad studies or have completed their studies and are thriving in our communities. I find this incredibly gratifying and it makes me very, very proud to have had the opportunity to be a part of Terra.

The Terra Board of Directors continues to improve as a strong governance committee that I think serves Terra better than it did seven years ago. This is due to previous board chairs for their guidance and vision, Karen Mottershead and her staff for their extraordinary effort and all the excellent people that I’ve been lucky enough to serve with on the board.

The last seven years have taught me the value of having different viewpoints in the room when you’re looking to make critical decisions, even when it can be uncomfortable. It means being willing to say my initial position may have been wrong, but as a group we worked together to make the right decision for the organization.

My hope for Terra is that the organization continues to focus on quality service delivery and growth. The organization drives so much value back into our community through education for parents and children, outreach in family homes, speaking at high schools as a prevention strategy in the community and supporting poverty reduction — Terra can’t stop moving forward.

We’ll be announcing our new board chair at our Annual General Meeting on March 21, 2018.