Loyalist College announces Elizabeth Lancaster as Vice-President, People and Culture

Belleville, Ontario, December 11, 2020 – Loyalist College announced today that Elizabeth Lancaster has been appointed Vice-President, People and Culture, effective January 11, 2021. In this newly created position, Ms. Lancaster will provide strategic leadership to all College organizational development, human resources, and employee relations services and functions, including organizational design, employee engagement, and occupational health and safety.

Elizabeth is a founding partner of Blue Dot Strategy™, a consulting firm established in 2015. In her role as a Senior Partner of the firm, she has consulted with numerous organizations in the areas of strategy, organizational development, and leadership development. A central part of her recent work — a culmination of years of research and practice — was the co-design and delivery of an intensive and highly regarded leadership development program that equips senior leaders to thrive in a context of high complexity and volatile uncertainty.

“Elizabeth’s leadership in progressively senior roles and her warm people-first approach will allow her to guide the College in strengthening a culture of employee engagement, resiliency and wellness,” said Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan, Loyalist College President & CEO. “As a member of the College Executive Team, she will be a trusted partner in the development and execution of long- and short-range College strategies, working cross-functionally with all departments on initiatives and partnerships that advance Loyalist as Ontario’s Destination College.”

Elizabeth began her career with CTV Toronto News, working for several years as a Producer/Director, before accepting the role of Manager of Human Resources. In addition to providing HR services, she worked on process improvement and the implementation of a national HR/Payroll/Finance Information System across the national network. She moved to Canadian Tire’s Organizational Development department to work on the development and roll-out of an online recruiting system, and ultimately revamped and ran its Retail Leadership Development Program.

Elizabeth then joined the CBC as an internal consultant, and worked on projects such as the redesign of its Current Affairs programming, the nationalization of the organization’s library services, and multiple joint union/management initiatives. After leaving the CBC, she spent several years as an independent consultant, working on major change initiatives and learning projects with organizations in fields as diverse as secondary and postsecondary education, health care, community housing, finance, media, and manufacturing.

During this period of her career, Elizabeth also joined the faculty of Adler International Learning, where she taught coaching to individuals from around the world. She also taught at the School of Continuing Studies for both the University of Western Ontario and McMaster University, and was a guest lecturer at the University of Waterloo. She later returned to the CBC as Corporate Director of Learning and Development where she led the transformation of the service by integrating French, English, and Corporate services, and creating a national development approach for CBC and Radio-Canada. While in the role she was a member of the President’s strategy team.

“It is a great pleasure and honour to bring the sum of my experiences, knowledge, and energy to serving the staff and faculty of Loyalist College, as they prepare students to be successful in our rapidly changing world,” said Ms. Lancaster.

Elizabeth has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University with post-degree studies in world religions. She holds a certificate in Designing Solutions for Innovation and Strategy from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and has studied with Otto Scharmer at MIT and David Cooperrider from Case Western Reserve. She holds multiple coaching certifications, as well as certificates in Human Systems Dynamics and a variety of assessment instruments. She also holds a certificate in Contemplative End of Life Care from the Institute of Traditional Medicine, and has served as a thanadoula (an individual who supports people in the latter stages of life).

About Loyalist College

Loyalist is Ontario’s Destination College, empowering students, faculty, staff, and partners through experiential, industry cluster-based education, training and applied research programs. The College provides job-ready graduates for, and knowledge transfer to, industry and the community. Of 2017-18 Loyalist graduates, 88.5 percent were employed within six months after graduation. Located on more than 200 acres in the beautiful Bay of Quinte region, the College is perfectly positioned between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Loyalist offers more than 70 full-time diploma, certificate and apprenticeship programs in biosciences, building sciences, business, community service, health and wellness, media studies, public safety, and skilled trades. Continuing education options are available through LoyalistFocus.com, including hundreds of online, distance and in-class courses, and through the College’s 100+ university transfer agreements. Loyalist is a key driver of social and economic health in eastern Ontario. It contributes 3.7 percent of the Gross Regional Product, representing $382 million annually to the regional economy – based on a March 2020 report by Emsi. For more information on Loyalist’s Belleville, Bancroft and Toronto campuses and Port Hope satellite location, visit YoureGoingPlaces.com.

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Contact: Kerry Lorimer, Director, Marketing, Communications and Recruitment
Loyalist College, klorimer@loyalistcollege.com, 613-969-1913, ext. 2536