Confederation College Nominates Two Outstanding Alumni for Premier’s Awards

THUNDER BAY, ON, October 27, 2021 – Confederation College has nominated exceptional alumni Norm Gale and Nadia Kukkee for the annual Colleges Ontario Premier’s Awards.

“We are so proud to have such outstanding alumni and are excited to recognize them in this way,” said Kathleen Lynch, President of Confederation College. “Norm and Nadia are wonderful examples of how a college education is the foundation for a successful career.”

Gale and Kukkee were selected through a nomination process calling for individuals who have made a significant contribution to their community and have demonstrated outstanding career success related to their Confederation College education.

“You see now looking backwards what a huge impact college had on me. That’s what I impress on people considering college, young and old alike – you never know what doors college can open for you until you take that step,” said Norm Gale, Premier’s Awards nominee and City Manager, City of Thunder Bay. “College programs prepare you for life as much as for a career. And in my case, there’s no way I would have succeeded the way I have without my college diploma.”

Launched in 1992 and administered by Colleges Ontario, the Premier’s Awards honour college graduates from Ontario’s 24 colleges who are important social and economic contributors in Ontario and across the globe. Graduates are recognized in seven categories including Apprenticeship, Business, Community Services, Creative Arts and Design, Health Sciences, Recent Graduate and Technology.

Confederation College will join Gale and Kukkee at the virtual awards ceremony on November 18, 2021.

Brief profiles for the two Premier’s Awards Nominees follow:

Gale, Norm
Confederation College
Paramedic, 1999
City Manager, City of Thunder Bay

Norm Gale – or “Norm from Thunder Bay” as he is sometimes known– made a career of always being ready for the next opportunity. During a career in the Army Reserve, as an instructor with St. John Ambulance and his work as a part-time paramedic, he attended college to get his paramedic diploma. From there, his career skyrocketed. Within 14 years, he climbed the ranks to become chief of Superior EMS, president of the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs and is now the city manager for the City of Thunder Bay – the highest non-elected municipal position in the province.

Kukkee, Nadia
Confederation College
Business Accounting, 2003
Owner and Director, Signature Financial, Self-Employed

Nadia Kukkee is a serial entrepreneur who embodies the quintessential businesswoman. She takes a different approach to business, seeing money as a tool instead of a goal. Through her bookkeeping business, Signature Financial, she teaches clients how to make money work for them. She also helps clients’ vertical integration of other businesses to help them succeed, including a courier company and a business training firm. She continues to branch out with the launch of Narrow Gate Foods, specializing in fermented foods. It’s part of her holistic philosophy that business should be for the benefit of people, not vice-versa.

-30-

Confederation College has been serving the citizens of northwestern Ontario since 1967 meeting the educational needs of students in a catchment area of some 550,000 square kilometers. Along with its main campus in Thunder Bay, Confederation College has seven regional sites located in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, as well as a growing Distance Education division.

Confederation College delivers exceptional education and training to an average of 7,000 combined full- and part-time students per year and currently has a total of 600 full- and part-time employees. Confederation’s regional economic impact and contribution is valued at $707.3 million annually.

For more information, please contact:

Katherine Brooks, Communications Officer

Cell: (807) 632-5680, E-mail: [email protected]