Izabela Mazur, ABEABC President, 2023- present

Dear ABEABC Members and Groundwork Readers!

It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our last year conference when I was appointed as the President of ABEABC. I thank all of you for having confidence in me and allowing me to serve as your president. I am truly honored and grateful for our past leadership of Michelle Vandepol and Viviana Chiorean, for their commitment to the association and their mentorship and support I received. I would like to assure everyone that I have been closely following in their footsteps and doing everything to keep the association in good standing.

I am extremely excited to work with both new and returning members to the Board of Directors and Executive. I am also proud to say that during the last AGM we were able to secure all the board positions but one. The Board has been going strong, and it has been nothing but a pleasure to work with all of them for the last eleven months. The team made a huge effort to publish the Groundwork, and since last fall, has been in high-speed planning for the annual ABEABC Conference.  This year marks forty-five years since the ABEABC was formed and I am proud to say that the association has held its high membership and has been supporting all those involved in adult education around the province for more than four decades. There is strength in numbers, and our goal is to, at least, double our memberships this year.

For the first time in almost two decades, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) will be hosting the 45th ABEABC annual conference. Our theme at this year’s conference is Weaving Wisdom. Integrating Ways of Knowing & Learning in ABE. This year’s conference is shaping up to be an exciting event, with two Indigenous keynote speakers from the Tkemlups te Secwpmec Nation and many engaging workshops. This year’s conference is very special to me as I will have a privilege to welcome you in Kamloops, my hometown, and TRU, my home institution.

The annual conference gives us an opportunity to showcase what we do, share our talents, ideas, and interests, and connect with and inspire others. The work we do as an association and as individuals can be very rewarding and enriching experience both professionally and personally.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you during the conference and listening to our keynote speakers and all other presenters. Once again, many thanks to the Board of Directors and Executive for organizing the conference and for their ongoing commitment to the association.

Izabela

Associate Teaching Professor

Thompson Rivers University