BE THE CHANGE Chair of the Board, Fiona Macfarlane, on future-proofing Shawnigan’s students

WHEN FIONA MACFARLANE TOOK HOLD OF THE GAVEL, FRESHLY ELECTED AS CHAIR OF THE SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AND GAVE HER FIRST FORMAL ADDRESS TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, IT WAS A BALMY, CLEAR-SKIED OCTOBER DAY DURING FOUNDER’S DAY WEEKEND 2019.

At that point, there was no looming spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic, which less than two years later has claimed the lives of millions worldwide and created seismic scientific, societal, and economic shifts that will resonate for decades to come. And yet, there was prescience in Fiona’s address – remarks that now, read in a different context, ring even more loudly and insistently than they did when she first shared them: “We – the Board and the staff – have a heightened sense of urgency that a disrupted world requires we change and adapt now to future-proof the Shawnigan students of today and tomorrow… We are living in exciting times as we enter the second phase of the fourth industrial revolution… Yet, this incredible progress also comes with some mind-blowing challenges… How do a school, parents, and students prepare students for this brave new world – one in which they will thrive, not merely survive? [Here] our dream is that the spirit of Shawnigan will fuel the student of today and tomorrow. We [all] need the courage to challenge and think differently to create the world that we all want. And I believe we can and will do it.” It was fitting that Fiona became the first woman to chair the Shawnigan Lake School Board of Governors on a Founder’s Day weekend designed to celebrate Shawnigan’s pioneering female students. Her accomplishments in business and her numerous accolades made her an exceptionally strong candidate; however, it was her belief in the potential of Shawnigan to develop unique responses to 21st century issues that made her an inspirational candidate. As the parent of two Shawnigan graduates, Kate ’12 (Strathcona) and James ’17 (Duxbury), Fiona not only has tangible personal experience of Shawnigan, but also a long history of achievement and leadership in business and a decades-long commitment to diversity. Raised in South Africa under apartheid, and a law graduate of both the University of Cape Town and Cambridge University, Fiona immigrated to Canada as an adult, eventually sitting on the Canadian and Americas Executive Committees at Ernst & Young (EY), and serving as EY’s Managing Partner for British Columbia and the Chief Inclusiveness Officer for EY Canada. Drawing in part from the injustice she witnessed in South Africa, she has passionately advocated for diversity and inclusion in the workplace throughout her career. She was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. In 2013, she was awarded the International Women’s Forum Global Women Who Make a Difference award. She has been recognized as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Women: Power to Disrupt by Business in Vancouver and Top 25 Canadian Women of Influence, Professional Services. She also received the inaugural Luminary Award from Big Sisters in 2015 and Canada’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award in 2016.

CHANGE Be the

STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENT KALLBERG

In short, there are few better qualified or more visionary people to help lead an institution through a global crisis.

When it became clear during the first few months of 2020 that, not only was the pandemic going to have a significant and enduring impact on lives across the globe, but that its impact could well extend to this secluded corner of the Pacific Northwest, threatening the stability and future of Shawnigan, Fiona, the Board, Head Larry Lamont, and the Senior Leadership Team reacted together with precision and purpose. “I think the key to our success has been teamwork and focusing on our goal – keeping students and staff safe, and doing everything we could to have as normal an experience as possible for students,” Fiona explains. “I was confident we had the leadership and the team to do it, the support of a passionate and engaged Board of Governors, and the support of families in the broader community. Everyone just rolled up their sleeves and went to work.” Fiona’s role as Chair during the pandemic has inevitably been more hands-on than would normally be the case, including a weekly staff COVID-19 Response Team meeting, a special COVID-19 support subcommittee of Board members, regular calls with Head of Shawnigan Lake School Larry Lamont, weekly calls with the Board, and Finance Committee meetings every two weeks. By her own admission, the experience has been intense. However, Fiona’s foresight and prescience, along with her visionary approach to leadership, helped drive the decision “not to let a good crisis go to waste.” Change is hard, she acknowledges, but when in the midst of an already turbulent period, where the need to adapt is pressing, a crisis can be used to accelerate plans – to be innovative, creative, courageous, and bold.

“There is no doubt that this has been an accelerant for our strategic planning ambitions,” she says. “The pandemic has challenged us to double down on our values, to push boundaries in pedagogy, and to dream big while holding onto Shawnigan’s guiding principles of Curiosity, Compassion, Community, and Courage. It’s been a year where I have seen, experienced, and been inspired by Shawnigan magic in action.” She acknowledges the “herculean efforts” of Shawnigan staff to create normalcy in learning under very challenging circumstances. The Shawnigan Online Unique Learning (SOUL) platform helped the School’s educators reach out to their students across time zones, sending the Shawnigan experience out to student homes across the world. Since its inception in March 2019, SOUL has become a comprehensive alternative learning platform to which Shawnigan educators can pivot seamlessly when needed. As a compassionate community, Fiona also notes that, at the start of the pandemic, being the first school to signal to families that it would refund all the savings realized from being online as well as the surplus generated for the year, was one of the early decisions she is the most proud of. “We also realized that some families would be so hurt financially by the pandemic that they might not be able to afford Shawnigan’s fees going forward. So, setting up the Founder’s Fund, which generated over $440,000 in donated and matched funds, was instrumental to our promise to bring every student home to Shawnigan in the fall of 2020,” she explains. “And that promise was kept.” For Fiona, the ability to not just survive, but thrive – to not just to recover, but rebound – is central to Shawnigan’s ethos as an organization, as an educational institution, and as a community. It’s what has guided Shawnigan through the pandemic, it’s the foundation of the new strategic plan, and it’s at the heart of the Shawnigan student experience: “If you have the right culture, a boarding school is like a trampoline, not just a safety net. If you fall on a safety net, you stop, but if you fall on a trampoline, then you bounce back a little higher.” For Fiona, the most critical element in this trampoline analogy is future-proofing both the School and its students, and the way forward for both of these priorities is Project Future, Shawnigan’s strategic springboard. Thoughtfully based on the findings of three separate reports – OurShawnigan Strategic Consultation, The Bernstein Review of Experiential Learning, and The Shawnigan Alumni Survey – Project Future’s aim is to address immediate strategic priorities for the next two crucial years. These priorities are designed to safeguard Shawnigan, to allow the School to be flexible and innovative in uncertain times, and to establish a firm foundation on which to build in a rapidly changing postpandemic world. “Project Future is an inspirational and aspirational plan, and it will be our guide as we look to educate and develop students to thrive in a disrupted and fast-paced world,” Fiona explains. “The schooling of yesteryear was great for an era where career paths were clear and relatively linear, but now careers will change as the needs of the economy change. We will futureproof our students through an inclusive culture, not by futureproofing one group over another. We can use the wonderful utopia that is Shawnigan to develop best practices, and we will create good that extends beyond our gates. We will continue to invest in digital skills, but we will also be deliberate about developing human skills, because building strong relationships and managing personal well-being in today’s environment needs and takes focus. With that personal well-being foundation, our focus is to develop experiential learning that is deliberate in fostering curiosity, critical thinking, agility, and resilience.” And while Project Future will comprehensively and courageously guide Shawnigan through the turbulence and uncertainty of the next two years, Fiona, the Board, and Shawnigan’s leadership team are already looking ahead to the next stage. “Strategic planning and execution will never be over,” Fiona notes astutely. “We need to be nimble, curious, resilient, and connected, and constantly challenge ourselves – everything we do should focus on the students and their success and happiness. We live in a disrupted, fast-paced world, and we need to constantly work to provide students with the skills and attributes to thrive post-Shawnigan. That is our goal.”