PERSONAL INSIGHTS
My Road Back to AFP BY SHERRY JOY HUGH
“I know my journey’s not over yet, and that life is a winding path, but I can only hope it somehow circles back to the place I belong.” - Nicholas Sparks
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y road back to AFP is closely linked to feeling a sense of belonging to a community, which is a two-way responsibility. What I’ve learned along the way, is that gaining a new perspective, being inspired, and feeling included, were the signs I needed to guide me on the pathway back. The Journey It was the late 90s when I stumbled upon fundraising as a career. I actually fell into it, and when I fell, I fell hard. I was freshly graduated from UofT with a Sociology degree and the only clarity I had was the word Community, so, to find a job where I could do something good for community was like finding Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Golden Ticket. I considered myself lucky. I had this great new job, using my skills to help raise funds for the local hospital my family and friends relied on, and bonus, my new boss Catherine, was a joy to work with. Smart, witty, fun, and well-connected in the fundraising world. She encouraged me and the others on the team to network and take courses to help us grow professionally and that’s how I first heard about the Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP). I had so much to learn, and I had a boss and this association where I could start learning and meeting others in the sector. But, within less than a year, all of that changed, and I found myself on another path. A merger. A bigger, better hospital. The boss I loved, gone. A new boss in place. A whole new team. A different environment. A different role. I was starting all over again. This time with a team that I didn’t feel like I belonged to. A new word replaced Community and that was — Survival. My plan was to try and
Sherry Joy Hugh
Sherry Joy Hugh is the Director or Corporate Giving & Employee Engagement at Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundation (CCHF), the largest non-governmental funder of children’s hospitals in Canada. She has worked for national and local charities supporting community, education, health, children and youth – with her personal mission to serve community as her guiding star. Sherry started her career in a hospital cafeteria which led to a job at The Scarborough Hospital Foundation where she learned about the fundraising profession and has been ‘hooked’ ever since. She’s been in roles ranging annual fundraising, community and donor engagement, special events – leading the team that ran some of the largest fundraising events like the CN Tower Climb and Rat Race – and now managing national corporate partnerships with companies such as TD, RE/ MAX, Sun Life for CCHF. In addition to her work at CCHF, Sherry is also active in her community as a specialty group fitness leader at the City of Markham, Groove Barre studio and a long-time volunteer at the Markham YMCA. No matter where she goes, Sherry’s goal is to connect people, opportunities and ideas to create a positive and inclusive community.
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FOUNDATION Magazine
May/June 2022
foundationmag.ca
