Monika G. Feist

Who is Monika G. Feist?

Monika G. Feist came to Winnipeg, Canada with her parents just prior to her eighth birthday. She was a leader in her junior, senior high school and university, as a student council member and newspaper editor. She was one of the founder of the first High School Editors Association in the mid-60s; was the Junior Editor of St. Paul's College paper. She graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Political Science and English. In her working career, she moved progressively from positions as Staff Editor at Great-West Life, Mobile and Regional Information Officer at Information Canada, Public Relations Officer at the Manitoba Motor Vehicle Branch, Communications Consultant to the ADM of Manitoba Communications. She wrote and edited for several newspapers and magazines, including a column called "Information Please" in the Parkland Region. She organized the first Senior Citizens' Parklands Conference. In the early 70s, she worked in community development at Mount Carmel Clinic with Anne Ross, followed with work at the National Film Board promoting multiculturalism via a film languages versioning project to serve ethnic communities and overseas consulates.

As Women's Employment Co-ordinator and Policy Consultant for the federal Prairie Region of Employment and Immigration during the mid-70s to mid-80s , she worked to bring about change in the conditions of undervalued individuals, particularly for women in the area of labour market participation in re-entry and non-traditional work orientation - e.g., Pre-Trades/Pre-Technology Courses for Women, Women in Apprenticeship, as well as conceptualizing a number of community outreach programs including Women's Employment Counselling Services which later became Employment Projects of Winnipeg, Success Skills Centre serving immigrant professionals, and Reaching Out which later linked with E-Quality and became Reaching E-Quality serving people of different and equal abilities; she served on the Manitoba Labour Market Needs Committee as a co-chair with Mary Eady of the Women's Employment Subcommittee, working with this federal/provincial body to oversee Manitobans' training needs and programs' funding; she and initiated and conducted studies on the Manitoba Region's efforts to increase target groups' training participation (women, native, and disabled).

From the late 80s to present, Monika formally joined Success Skills Centre and focused her energies on pioneering and delivering immigrant bridging programs for employment such as internships, occupational specific language and business communications and environmental entry preparation, Accelerated English, specialized speech enunciation, cross-cultural training, and aboriginal awareness and more. She carried out various social community assessments, and initiated the 1980 City of Winnipeg study "Women in the Civic Service" with then Deputy Mayor Pearl McGonigal - which led to the establishment of the City of Winnipeg Equal Opportunity (now Employment Equity) Office). She initiated and implemented the original Manitoba

Over the years, she lectured extensively on Employment Equity, Organizations and Change, Effecting and Managing Change. She also wrote and produced: an Employment Equity Manual, The Manitoba Employee Ownership Handbook with videos, the 1975 Manitoba Driver's Handbook, the first Manitoba Air Brake Manual and Professional Driver's Manual, TV Seat Belt safety film, the first Manitoba Government Advertising Style Guide, 402 Squadron's 50th Anniversary History; she co-edited and helped write Rev. Gontran Laviolette's book on The Dakota Sioux in Canada.

Monika has been involved in many volunteer activities, most in leadership positions with the Councils of Women (national, provincial and city), SEED, Manitoba Fencing Association, Lightning Fencing Club, Manitoba Federation of Not-For-Profits Organizations, Canadian Manitoba Immigrant and Refugee Settlement Association, Immigrant Women's Association of Manitoba, Literacy Partners of Manitoba, Reaching Equality, Manitoba Fund for Women, Women's Advertising and Sales Club of Winnipeg, SAM Western Canada Advertising Awards, YWCA, Junior Achievement, to name a few.

She has been honoured to receive Citizenship and Immigration Canada's Citation for Citizenship Award and also its Recognition for Long and Dedicated Service to the Settlement and Integration Community, Reaching E-Quality Dedicated Services Award, The Provincial Council of Women of Manitoba's Celebrating Women Award, and was a Nominee for both the Manitoba Women's Business Owners and the YWCA Woman of the Year.