ETEA is proud to announce the inaugural Charles Boylan Human Rights and International Solidarity Fund. Charles was a long-time union activist, organizer, candidate for political office, and tireless advocate for a wide range of social causes throughout the Lower Mainland and British Columbia, and was a personal mentor and friend to many of his fellow teachers in the union. For the last several years of his life he worked as an instructor at ILSC (ETEA Local 1). Sadly, after a long battle with illness, he passed away in May 2017.

Last year, ETEA decided to set up a special fund in commemoration of the many contributions Charles made to his friends, students, colleagues, and community over the years. Initially set at $500, this was increased to $2,500 for the 2017-18 year after the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, the federation of which ETEA is a member union, graciously allocated an additional $2,000 for the fund. Charles had been a member of the FPSE Human Rights & International Solidarity Committee for many years, and ETEA is pleased to accept this donation in honour of Charles’ tireless work and advocacy for so many years on that committee.

After a period of consultation, the ETEA Human Rights & Solidarity Committee, made up of teachers at different member schools who knew Charles well, decided on the following criteria for consideration for this award: if you work for, volunteer for, or know of an organization or social cause, here in BC or internationally, that is doing great work in the field of human rights, social justice, or education, please consider applying. Consideration will be given to the areas of indigenous rights, language and culture, labour unions, and education. Need will also be a consideration, but all projects, large or small, shall be considered, and everyone is encouraged to apply.

Please send an e-mail to eteapresident@gmail.com with the name of your organization, contact person, phone number, website (if applicable) and a short (500-1,000 word) overview of the work it does and why you think it would a worthy recipient of this award. ETEA hopes to have all submissions in by March 31st, to announce the winner by April 15th, and distribute the funds by April 30th. We thank all applicants for their interest, and will confirm entry and consideration of all applications within 72 hours of receiving them.

Please distribute this notice among ETEA members widely.