In 2011, Duane Elverum and Janet Moore of Simon Fraser University co-founded CityStudio, a learning hub in Vancouver that connects students, instructors, city staff and community members aiming to co-create solutions to real-world problems facing their city.

With a fresh new year ahead, single mother Morgan Hegg of Williams Lake can resolve to continue on the new career path she has chosen.

Thanks to the Single Parent Employment Initiative (SPEI), a unique government employment program launched just over a year ago, hundreds of single parents throughout the province, and their children, will be having a brighter Christmas with some extra cheer this year.

Christmas is going to be much more jolly for Les Bennett and his family this year. Out of work after spending 25 years in the forestry industry, 56-year-old Les was living in Salmon Arm and out of options. But when a friend directed him to the local WorkBC Employment Services Centre, his life changed for the better – a recommendation that eventually led to a job and a steady paycheque.