West Kelowna91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s first mayor is being honoured by BDO91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Top 40 Over 40 program.
Rosalind Neis, a resident of West Kelowna for 22 years, has worked for 17 years as an operating room nurse at Kelowna General Hospital.
She continues to work as an RN doing locums throughout B.C. and also with the Canadian Red Cross on international missions.
She has successfully ran for mayor, started a small seasonal cafe in Gellatly Bay, remained on city council for two following terms and a year ago started Ecostraw Products Inc. with her business partner Michelle Rochon
Neis believes as a member of council, her impact on the community was to strive to listen to the citizens and provide the best possible representation using a common sense approach to administrative issues and financial issues.
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She works to show by example (smart car, solar panels on her house, clotheslines, not using plastic, using rain barrels) that citizens need to take pollution seriously and all work together for a healthier planet.
As a nurse, Neis works to teach new nurses through mentorships. She has given two lectures to nursing students at UBCO and Thompson Rivers University with regards to global nursing with the Red Cross and what it means to be part of an international humanitarian organization.
Neis fostered a child some years ago, her goal to provide the best example of a loving family and warm environment to someone in need.
Her whole family worked to show and teach their foster child how to be a productive and proud member of society.
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Neis volunteered as treasurer of the Lakeview Heights Community Association back in early 2000 and worked to support her local neighbourhood through fundraising and increase membership drives of this organization.
She was a member of the PAC at Constable Neil Bruce middle school and assisted with information and fundraising for the school.
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As a director of the West Kelowna Board of Trade, she worked with the board to assist local businesses in West Kelowna access needed resources and network to improve their reach.
It reinforced her beliefs it takes a team effort to advocate for local business owners and help them reach their goals.
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She adds that working with the Canadian Red Cross has been an honour. Serving internationally in Nepal after the earthquake and recently in Bangladesh for the Rohingya91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ”this helped Neis share with her community how lucky Canadians are, and to keep informing people that everyone can make a difference when they know what is happening globally.
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