215 - 963 Langford Parkway
Victoria, BC / V9B 0A5
T 250 220 5861
info@constructionfoundation.ca
T 250 532 2918
jimmy@skillsready.ca
T 250 300 9208
dave@skillsready.ca
T 604 787 2027
rene@skillsready.ca
Abigail Fulton a lawyer by profession, was appointed as the executive director of the Construction Foundation of BC in 2013. She is a strong supporter of trades training and applied learning for youth.
Ms. Fulton has extensive experience working with industry and government on regulatory and policy issues impacting the construction industry. Ms. Fulton has served on numerous boards and committees relating to the industry including the Safety Standards Appeal Board of BC, the Common Ground Alliance, the Professional Builders Institute and Skills BC. Ms. Fulton has been very active in promoting industry training and apprenticeship for the construction trades. She is also very active with foreign skilled workers, assisting them to integrate into the BC industry. Prior to joining the Construction Foundation, she served as the Vice President of the BC Construction Association for 20 years.
René Ragetli is a teacher by profession. Following his years as a classroom teacher, René worked in construction, managing commercial and residential projects. He then brought this education and industry background to Skills Canada where he coordinated the regional and provincial competitions and developed and managed new career exploration programs for five years. René joined the Construction Foundation in the summer of 2017.
René is active as a volunteer and currently serves on the boards of two community groups.
My experience and skills in construction have allowed me to repair and renovate my own home. I have also applied these skills to my personal hobby of building acoustic guitars. The most rewarding experience I have had in the sector is being handed over the responsibility of taking on a project and meeting or exceeding expectations. Having people’s trust is a great reward. My advice to high school students is to always show up on time with a consistently positive attitude. Take pride in your capabilities and seek new opportunities to learn.
Kim brings more than 20 years of industry experience to her role as Director of Operations. From receptionist to bookkeeper to executive assistant she understands the importance of being well organized in the workplace. Kim was instrumental in purchasing and distributing more than $3M in shop class equipment to high schools across BC through the Foundation’s Project Shop Class initiative.
Kim is also a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant and a member in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council. In the fall of 2013 she organized and managed a Western Canada Construction Job Fair in the UK and Ireland for more than 25 Canadian employers that drew more than 2,800 people.
Being of Cree descent and spending her teen years as a youth in care Kim has a genuine passion for the initiatives the Foundation is currently pursuing.
My experience and skills in construction have enabled me to create a healthy lifestyle with endless opportunities to advance into a rewarding career. The most rewarding experience I have had in the sector is that I furthered my career to become a trades instructor to help students learn the skills and knowledge to prepare them for meaningful employment and to promote life long learning. My advice to someone on how to keep a job is to show the initiative to want to learn new tasks, to be willing to put an honest day’s work in and to be punctual.
Colleen McConnell is the Director of Communications for the Construction Foundation of BC. As a strategic leader and team member, she is organized and focused on reaching organizational objectives, while remaining responsive to external influences and change. In her previous experience as an event producer, she had the opportunity to travel and work across Canada and the US. Her first in-depth exposure to the industry came when she traveled to Japan with the World Skills Canada delegation to plan and activate on the event site. In early 2010, she joined the BC Construction Association as Director of Communications where she contributed to the launch of BidCentral, as well as many other initiatives. Before joining the Construction Foundation, Colleen worked for a hospitality group in Calgary Alberta, where she led a high performing event production and sales team.
My skills have enabled me to work anywhere in the world including Europe and the Middle East.
I have a distinct memory of the first time I was on the tools and left alone to install some siding. I made a mess of it at first, but I still point it out every time I drive by.
My advice to new workers is to show up everyday like you want to be there. So much of the successes I've experienced working in the sector have come from me wanting to achieve something and working hard to get it.
If I had used Skills Ready and FutureBuilder when I was in high school, I would have understood what an apprentice is and how to complete an apprenticeship before I started work. I would have asked different questions and spent less time cleaning up the site.
Dean is Kaska/Tlingit and member of the Wolf Clan from Liard, Yukon. He has been a professional artist since 1993. He graduated from the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art - First Nations Fine Arts 2 year program with honours in 2008. Encouraged to teach, he was an instructor and program coordinator for the Freda Diesing School in Terrace, B.C. for 7 years before returning to Victoria in 2017 He has gone on to demonstrate and teach at workshops in the communities and abroad. As a Career Catalyst he enjoys demonstrating access to skilled trades to youth through creating art.
Nicole is the friendly voice you hear on the other side of the phone when you call into the Construction Foundation office. As a recent graduate of Camosun College's Office Administration Program, Nicole's role is multi-faceted and includes providing bookkeeping and administrative support to the team. With an interest in Communications and Public Relations her tasks have grown to include the development of social media content for the Construction Ready initiative. She is furthering her education in communications by continuing her studies on a part-time basis.