University of Ottawa Alumni Association Award for Community Service

The University of Ottawa Alumni Association encourages and supports the tremendous achievements of its members through the annual presentation of the Alumni Association Awards of Excellence. These awards aim to recognize the inspiring talent, effort and influence of the University’s graduates, locally and worldwide.  The accomplishments of University of Ottawa alumni around the world bring credit and recognition to their alma mater. In return, the Alumni Association Awards of Excellence program seeks to identify and recognize alumni for their achievements.

Presented jointly with the Centre for Global and Community Engagement, this award pays tribute to alumni who have made outstanding volunteer contributions within their own community. They have enriched the lives of others through their generous gifts of time and talent and through their involvement with civic, charitable and social causes.

The 2011 Community Service Award Recipient
Marlon Reid, LLB'99

This year’s winner is Marlon Reid, who graduated from the University in 1999 with a degree in common law. Marlon Reid is vice-president of TD Securities Inc. and has lent his expertise to organizations as diverse as the  Art Gallery of Ontario, the YMCA of Greater Toronto and, recently, the Urban Financial Services Coalition. He is responsible for his employer’s commitment to welcoming a growing number of disadvantaged children to take part in Take Your Kids to Work Day.

Since 2002, Marlon Reid has been an active member of the Toronto Chapter of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC Toronto), a community‐based, non‐profit organization comprised of Black and visible-minority financial services professionals. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the UFSC is committed to financial literacy and leverages its talents and collective resources to encourage minority kids to see financial services as a viable career option and to improve the economic conditions of the community.

Mr. Reid served as co-chair of the Professional Development Committee in 2006 and as vice president – External Affairs in 2008 before serving two consecutive terms as president of UFSC Toronto in 2009 and 2010. In prior years, UFSC Toronto (the only Canadian Chapter in the otherwise U.S. based organization) had waned in membership, engagement and community outreach. UFSC Toronto faced the danger of losing all relevance to the community it once served but, through Mr. Reid’s decisive leadership, it has rebounded with a robust roster of over 120 engaged members, community distribution of over 1,000 people, active corporate and community partners, and a vibrant network of professional and community affiliations. Mr. Reid currently serves as the president emeritus of UFSC Toronto and chair of the Corporate Advisory Board.

Marlon embodies the ethic of community service that the Alumni Association and the University of Ottawa wish to instill in all our graduates.

Back to the Alumni Association