Hebron and Hibernia Projects Fund Scholarships for Female Youth

The Hebron and Hibernia projects will provide a total of $200,000 to create two scholarship funds for young women interested in exploring trades and technology occupations in the natural resources sector. The funds will help support women aged 17 to 22 enrolling in the Techsploration Orientation to Trades and Technology Program (TOTT) delivered by College of the North Atlantic and administered by the Women in Resource Development Corporation (WRDC).

"WRDC just celebrated 10 years of the Techsploration program and to have scholarships provided to give young women opportunities to learn more and get experience in the skilled trades and technology fields is absolutely terrific," said Mary Clarke, Director of WRDC's Techsploration program.

The TOTT program is a 13-week program that gives recent female high school graduates exposure to natural resource-based industries. The program covers academic requirements, essential work skills, personal and professional development, hands-on skills training in various skilled trades and technology fields, background on the natural resource sector, labour market research and job shadowing.

Techsploration provides young women with opportunities to explore trades, technical and technology-related occupations and is inclusive of all girls from various academic and cultural backgrounds and provincial in scope.

"Hebron's goal is to create a strong and diverse workforce locally. We can help achieve this by encouraging young women to explore the varied aspects of working in the natural resource sector," said Geoff Parker, Vice President of ExxonMobil Canada Properties and Hebron Senior Project Manager. "Through this investment the Hebron Project will continue to support diversity, which leads to a long-term competitive advantage in our industry."

"Career choices for young people are often limited by career options they have seen first-hand," said Jamie Long, President of Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. "TOTT allows young women to explore a wide variety of trades and technologies, thereby increasing their familiarity with a range of options open to them."

"The TOTT program provides the necessary tools and strategies to help increase women's awareness of career opportunities in the trades and technologies industry," said Ann Marie Vaughan, President of College of the North Atlantic. "Sometimes the hardest decision for youth to make is the one that embarks them on their future - and making the right decision depends on the individual. This investment will allow the college to offer that opportunity to these young women, which is the first step towards a promising career. We are very fortunate to be part of this partnership with WRDC, Hebron and Hibernia."

The Hebron Project co-venturers are ExxonMobil Canada Properties (operator), Chevron Canada Resources, Suncor Energy Inc., Statoil Canada Ltd. and Nalcor Energy.

Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) is the operator of the Hibernia field. HMDC is owned jointly by ExxonMobil Canada, Chevron Canada Resources, Suncor Energy Inc., Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation, Murphy Oil and Statoil Canada Ltd.

College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is Newfoundland and Labrador's public college. It is one of the largest post-secondary educational and skills training centres in Atlantic Canada, with a history dating back nearly 50 years. Today it has 17 campus locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and one in the Middle East State of Qatar. It offers nearly 100 full-time program offerings and more than 300 part-time courses for some 20,000 students each year in: Academics, Applied Arts, Business Studies, Health Sciences, Engineering Technology, Industrial Trades, Information Technology and Tourism & Natural Resources.

Media Contacts

Mary Clark
Director
Women in Resource Development Corporation
(709) 738-1138

Roger Hulan
Communications Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7938
roger.hulan@cna.nl.ca

Lynn Evans
Public and Government Affairs Advisor
ExxonMobil Canada Properties
(709) 752-6433