Membership Profile

Alicia Girard

Tell us about yourself.
I’m a change management professional with a background and continuing interest in communications. I’m also a bit of a learning nerd, so you will often find me in classrooms (online or brick & mortar), reading, or pursuing professional development opportunities through volunteer work. During working hours you’ll find me at UBC’s Point Grey campus or at a hospital site working on change projects for UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.
How did you get into Change Management?
A few years ago I expressed to a colleague and mentor that I wasn’t sure if I was on a career track that I would find rewarding. She encouraged me to investigate my options and to be more deliberate about my career planning. Through online research and buying many people coffee, I discovered that I wanted to pursue a career in change management. Shortly afterward the Faculty of Medicine posted a Change Management Coordinator role and, luckily for me, I was a good fit.
What are you working on?
I’m working on a project called Teaching Tracking and Payment (TTP) for UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. We’re implementing a standard process and system for tracking and determining payment for teaching activities delivered by 6000+ clinical faculty for the MD Undergraduate Program. It’s a fascinating and challenging project because we are working with staff from three different universities and dozens of hospital sites.
My colleague and I have also just learned that our proposal to present at Change Connect 4 was accepted, so we will be working on our presentation over the coming months. Join us in Portland in October if you want to learn more about our approach to stakeholder engagement for TTP!
Do you have any recommended change management books / resources to share?
I maintain a curated list of change management practitioners & thought leaders on Twitter. I recommend all of them, but my favourite accounts from that list are:
·        Dr Jen Frahm
·        Heather Stagl
·        Caroline Kealey
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I do event planning on a volunteer basis. I enjoy it because it’s different from my day job, but a lot of the skills and lessons learned are cross-applicable. I also enjoy taking advantage of the beauty Metro Vancouver has to offer through biking and hiking. Although I love Vancouver, I like to use my vacation time to get out of the country if I can. My favourite countries so far have been Turkey (2013) and Japan (2015).