People of EDC - Andrea Palaczka

Welcome to People of EDC, a series dedicated to celebrating the diverse experiences of our workforce by getting to know them on a more personal level. This week’s article features Andrea Palaczka , Principal, Corporate Communications.?

At EDC, one of our corporate values is the value of caring. Sharing our time, talents and financial resources to help communities where we live, and work is as important to our people as it is to those we serve. Through our community investment program, we focus on three key areas: giving to charitable donations, empowering small businesses, and youth education.

An employee who embodies the core value of caring is Andrea Palaczka. Andrea has been with EDC for almost 18 years and throughout this time has contributed to the improvement of several areas of the business such as facilities, human resources, technology, credit insurance, customer experience, marketing, orchestration, transformation and now, corporate communications.

When not at work, Andrea spends a lot of her time volunteering for a couple of organizations that she holds close to her heart. The first being Kids Up Front Ottawa, where Andrea is the Chair of the board. Kids Up Front is a charitable organization that promotes social inclusion by providing children barrier free access to sporting events, concerts, theatre, the arts, camps, and other activities that they wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to experience. The Ottawa chapter works with around 100 child-serving agencies to provide these opportunities and to date, they have provided almost 50,000 experiences to children in the city.

Another one of Andea’s passions, which is very much aligned to why she participates in Kids Up Front, is supporting women’s mental health through EDC’s Mindful Movers community group. Through this group, Andrea is the Co-Captain for EDC’s participation in the Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women. “There’s a lot of research on men’s mental health but we don’t capture as much data for women, especially for those from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures”, says Andrea. “As someone who has had family members struggle with mental health issues, I’m a big advocate for creating more resources and breaking down social barriers to mental health services.” Andrea believes that this in turn can support and foster a healthy mental health environment for kids.

To help her efforts go even further, Andrea has taken advantage of our corporate donation program, where EDC donates up to $2,500 on behalf of an employee who has volunteered a minimum of 25 hours in support of a charity. EDC also provides two community services days per year which Andrea has used to participate in Kids Up Front activities such as fundraising events and attending the National board meeting in Halifax.

As the new year begins, Andrea reflects on her journey at EDC. Although her journey was non-linear, Andrea feels grateful to have been able to gain such a plethora of experiences, all while being supported to continue serving her community.

Inspired by having influence and role modeling values and behaviours that EDC wants to encourage, she looks forward to fostering a collaborative environment and continuing to show care for her colleagues and anyone else she encounters along the way.

“When it comes to caring, it doesn’t have to be something big or grandiose. It’s really the little gestures that can make the greatest impact”, says Andrea. “It’s about acting sincerely, and demonstrating that you care through small, simple and deliberate actions”.

If you are interested in donating an experience to a child in need, Andrea invites you to do so through the Kids Up Front website, where you can select which Canadian local chapter you would like to donate to.