Award Recipients

In her nearly twenty years at Humber, Judy has been a pioneer for Humber and the college sector. As the inaugural Manager of Student Mobility and Pathways, this is no exception. Judy has given transfer students access to education, directly contributing to the College's strategic plan of cultivating life-long learning and transformed the way we think about non-direct students. Judy is a trailblazer in her work in student mobility and laid the foundation for Humber to develop a transfer culture.​ 

Judy works tirelessly and collaboratively as an advocate for non-direct students and with departments and Faculties across the College, Canada and the globe. Always pushing against the status quo, Judy sees the big picture, asks the tough questions and understands how to create tangible results that will directly benefit transfer students.​ 

She was a lead steering committee member and Humber advisor for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVET) to formally credit prior learning. Judy's contributions along with Humber's International Development Institute (IDI) is 'expected to benefit 10,000 students and enable five million young people in Kenya to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030’. Source: Humber Global. 

Under Judy's leadership, Humber was the first Canadian post-secondary institution to host Transfer Student Week in the fall of 2021, in support of the College's strategic priority of being a receiving institution. Judy's team continues to lead the charge and advocate for Humber's transfer students, with a "meet them where they are" approach that illustrates her intricate understanding of this diverse and complex audience. ​ 

Judy brings her work from the national stage back to Humber as the Co-Chair of Humber's Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) SEM committee. Here, she and her team have focused on developing overarching strategies in support of Humber's strategic and academic plan - focusing on the intersection and alignment of recruitment, conversion and retention. Notably, Judy collaborated as a co-lead for an ONCAT grant aimed to support pandemic academic recovery for students transitioning into post-secondary education.

Krista O'Donnell actively supports the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of the College and embodies its core values. Krista prioritizes the team's well-being, supports sustainability measures, and embraces digital solutions. She has built and continues to build and strengthen relationships with the entire Humber community, including faculty and staff, alumni, retirees, and volunteers. She works with her team to create new engagement opportunities and activities that connect this community, our donors and our potential supporters to secure financial contributions and establish long-lasting relationships. With everything she does, her ultimate goal is to provide the most financial support and educational opportunities for Humber students, today and into the future.​ 

Under her leadership, the team has successfully raised over $85M in cash and non-cash gifts through the Unlimited Campaign. She effectively leads multiple teams with distinct functions that collectively contribute to engaging our community and securing and renewing donor commitments to the College. The comprehensive nature of the Unlimited Campaign allows Humber to address multiple priorities simultaneously, grow community engagement, increase unrestricted funds, expand the donor base, and ensure that all donors feel their contributions are making an impact, regardless of the gift amount. These funds directly benefit students through scholarships, bursaries, and emergency funds, as well as the development of cutting-edge facilities, program and curriculum build, training opportunities, and the list goes on. ​ 

Krista fosters trust and collaboration with donors, ensuring transparency and accountability, resulting in our many fundraising achievements. This includes the impressive $30 million donation from the Barrett Family Foundation this year, which was the largest donation to an Ontario college, as well as a $5 million commitment from the Longo family, resulting in the naming of the Longo Faculty of Business. Since she joined in 2014, Advancement and Alumni has experienced resounding success. This growth and all the achievements listed above would not have been possible without her vision, work ethic, tenacity, and dedication to excellence.

Kelly Jackson is a dynamic leader with a track record of building strategic, inclusive and sustainable relationships within higher education and beyond. Kelly is passionate about postsecondary education; deeply believing in the transformative opportunities that Ontario colleges provide to individuals and their role in driving local economic development. ​ 

Operating in a decentralized environment, Kelly has found new ways to coordinate and build Communities of Practice across the College. She created a College-wide communications leads group to ensure consistency in positioning and greater collaboration and implemented regular use of analytics to inform social media and internal communications tactics. Kelly is currently the co-chair of the Web Oversight Committee and the former co-chair of the Marketing, Recruitment and Conversion Committee. Kelly is also co-executive sponsor of the DXP-CMS platform project that will transform Humber's web and digital presence.​ 

Before joining the Humber executive team, Kelly chaired Humber’s Executive Advisory Council. This Council brought together senior leaders to review strategic initiatives and provide advice to the executive team on their implementation. Kelly also oversaw the integration of Humber’s Government Relations and Marketing and Communications teams. While this was a significant change for the College, the vibrant synergies between the areas were immediate, and created a more comprehensive suite of services that could be offered to internal and external stakeholders.​ 

At Humber, she brings forward new ideas and encourages her team to innovate and pilot new approaches. One example of this is the creation of the College’s first ever Advanced Manufacturing Skills Consortium which Kelly proposed to help attract and secure investments from industry partners who were interested in collaborating on skills and talent challenges. As a result, the College was able to secure more than $13 million in industry investments in its Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation.​  

Kelly’s contributions to Humber have been noted and recognized by Presidents Vaughan and Whitaker, Humber’s Board of Governors and fellow Executive team members. Kelly is an integral part of Humber today and Humber tomorrow.