New CEO of ISANS: Jennifer Watts (MURP’96)
Jennifer Watts (MURP ’96) was recently appointed CEO of Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), the largest immigrant serving agency in Atlantic Canada. Jennifer previously held the position of Director, Settlement and Integration at ISANS. ISANS provides a wide range of programs and services including resettlement, language, employment, business development, employer engagement, community integration and online programs both pre and post arrival. ISANS provided services to over 7500 clients last year.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts, Jennifer worked for CUSO International in Nicaragua on an integral rural community development project. There she worked with internally displaced war refugees that included development of housing projects, schools and health clinics, potable water systems and economic co-operative initiatives for women.
She then returned to Canada where she completed a Master of Urban and Rural Planning at the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1996. As a student she was a recipient of an Award for Academic Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Atlantic Planners Institute Student Award.
Jennifer took her training as an Urban and Rural Planner and served as a Municipal Councillor on Halifax Regional Council for 8 years. In this role she acted as a decision maker, policy developer, and representative of residents at the district and regional level of Halifax Regional Municipality for two terms. Highlights of this included participation in Regional Council and Community Council deliberations, budget review, research and policy development, chairing of council committees, public speaking, media work, and advocacy work on behalf of residents,
Jennifer is a member of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s Atlantic Immigration Pilot Reference Group and an advisory board member for the Nova Scotia Centre for Employment Innovation at St. Francis Xavier University. She has served her community on numerous boards including: the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities, Halifax Harbour Bridges, the North End Business Association, the Halifax Regional Library, the Citadel Theatre Society, the Halifax Downtown Business Association and the Halifax Forum Community Association.
Besides living in Nicaragua between 1985 and 1987 Jennifer lived with her family in Doha, Qatar in 2005-06.