Science Rendezvous has now opened its search for new members of our Board of Directors.  These Directors will be formally elected at our annual AGM and begin their duties as of November 2021.  This is an excellent opportunity for anyone with a strong interest in promoting science awareness and increasing science literacy in Canada. As is typical for Not-for-Profit Board, this is a strictly volunteer position which does not involve remuneration for Directors.

About Science Rendezvous

History

Science Rendezvous began as a joint program between the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University and Ontario Tech University in 2008. These founding partners saw the need to work together to launch an annual event of significant enough scale and exciting content to engage the public in the vast wonders of science and engineering. Since that time Science Rendezvous has grown to include 40 of Canada’s top research institutions and over 285 community partnerships across 30 cities in 10 provinces and two territories. Today Science Rendezvous is a marquee event and signature partner of Science Odyssey and is the single largest science festival in Canada.

Science Rendezvous is a science outreach pioneer in Canada, offering direct engagement with over 6,000 of Canada’s top researchers and scientists at approximately 300 simultaneous events, and 1,000s of hands-on experiments for the public to try themselves.

The Science Rendezvous head office acts as an umbrella organization that coordinates all participating institutions’ efforts, reinvents public engagement with science through festival programming, and offers direction for event organizers, all while promoting both the festival and Canadian science on a national level.

Our Mission

Science Rendezvous is a public platform promoting science awareness and increasing science literacy in Canada through a one-day annual festival. The events of the day engage and transform the general public from passive supporters of science and engineering to active, passionate champions with an understanding of the critical role science plays in our rapidly changing world. The open-lab concept of Science Rendezvous brings science and world-leading scientists face-to-face with the public. Through thousands of hands-on science experiments, interactive lab tours, and explosive demonstrations, Science Rendezvous demonstrates how science affects our daily lives, our standard of living, and Canada’s global competitiveness.

Science Rendezvous opens the doors of over $5 billion in science infrastructure enabling unprecedented public access to state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities, delivering a behind the scenes look into the career of a scientist and encouraging youth to consider science and engineering-related careers and study paths.

The importance of science to our collective future, in terms of health and well being, job creation and conservation of resources, is a well-recognized concept; however, the general public’s scientific literacy rate has fallen in recent years and there is a prevailing apathy towards the sciences among youth. As a result there has been a continuing decline of enrollment in the physical sciences and erosion of funding for basic science in Canada.

A science-focused day, such as that offered by Science Rendezvous, makes science fun and enhances public awareness and appreciation of what science can do.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Accessibility

Science Rendezvous seeks to connect Canadian science innovators to the public directly and inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Regardless of career pathways, we seek to create a more scientifically literate society so that people are empowered to make evidence-informed decisions for themselves and their families. Embracing equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility principles and practices results in science awareness, scientific literacy, quality, relevance, creativity and impact that reaches and affects everyone.

With these goals in mind, Science Rendezvous is committed to:

• Promoting the integration of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility considerations into programs, processes and decision making.
• Creating opportunities for the broadest and deepest pool of potential participants in science outreach and intentionally engaging historically excluded and disadvantaged groups in STEM.
• Making Science Rendezvous events a welcoming and accessible environment for the public, so everyone feels included in places where scientific innovation and discovery happen every day.
• Reaching the most diverse audiences using innovative approaches.
• Developing programming to develop diverse student executive teams and provide them with opportunities to gain valuable project management experiences for career development.
• Aligning research by, or impacting, Indigenous peoples with the best practices and policies identified through ongoing engagement with First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples and their organizations.
• Providing Discover Days events that identify and remove the invisible barriers that prevent many of Canada’s youth from accessing Science Rendezvous events.
• Collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to measure, monitor, understand and publicly report on challenges and progress made.

The Opportunity

Our Board of Directors represents a cross-section of individuals from multiple sectors. Serving is an excellent opportunity to assist Science Rendezvous in defining and reaching its objectives. All Directors are expected to commit substantial time and, including attending the quarterly Board of Directors meetings, supporting social marketing, and being active on various committees. The Board of Directors is strategic in nature and takes a senior leadership role in directing our current & future state.

To ensure we have an effective Board of Directors, we are looking for diverse representation of makeup, skills and demonstrated abilities. In particular, cross-section expertise or interest in the following is appreciated:

• Legal
• Human Resources
• Marketing
• Fundraising & Advancement
• Communications.

The members will elect each Director at the Annual General Meeting for a two year term. When required to fill a vacancy, the Board may also appoint a new Director in-between Annual General Meetings. All meetings of the Board and Committees are typically held virtually.

Process

To be considered for a position on the Board of Directors, please submit the following to the Chair of our Policy, Governance & Nomination Committee by e-mail (info@sciencerendezvous.org).  Please include:

• A letter of interest outlining why you think you are an ideal candidate for the Science Rendezvous Board.
• A current CV.

If you have any questions about the process, what is involved in being on the Board or wish to identify any barriers to your participation, please contact the Committee Chair at the e-mail address above. We welcome applications from the broadest range of individuals.

Thank you for your interest in supporting Science Rendezvous in a leadership position.