Image: UFV / Patti MacAhonic.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Ann Davis Transition Society

Update: Former Ann Davis Transition Society executive provides statement about her departure

Aug 20, 2024 | 10:21 AM

UPDATE TUESDAY AT 11:40 A.M: Former Ann Davis Transition Society executive director Patti MacAhonic says she has moved in a new career direction after 10 1/2 years overseeing ADTS. “She takes great pride in the work that the society’s team and she have done over this time. Ms. MacAhonic successfully guided the team through many challenges, while keeping clients and staff safe through many challenging times. These included COVID and the complex process of unionization, both occurring during the same year. As well the society faced the challenges of flooding and a heat dome.”

MacAhonic said her work has been recognized with 27 organizational awards both locally and provincially. The society attained Gold Standard CARF 3-year accreditation for non-profits while MacAhonic managed the development of the staff team, as it grew, from 23 to 70. This work made enormous increases in service delivery, with the number of clients served increasing from 2,600 in 2013 to over 20,000 per month at present.

MacAhonic says she was responsible for developing grants and projects during her tenure, including the opening of a new 22-bed women’s housing facility, an outreach office and the successful application for a grant to finance a new 58-unit housing project.

“Patti played a significant role in the design team for the housing which will see new facilities providing significant housing, which will result in significant housing for women and children in the community in the near future,” the statement said. “Patti wishes to thank Shelley Bolan who retired in December 2023. Ms. Bolan was with ADTS for 29 years. She and Patti worked through many difficult times. The work often involved direct response to the more serious emergency and crisis calls from women and children fleeing domestic violence. Patti speaks highly of the Chilliwack Community that has always been generous in the support of the organization and herself. She values highly the friendships she has developed over these years.  She wishes the organization all the best and is now looking forward to spending more time with her family and perhaps exploring new opportunities.”

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CHILLIWACK — The Ann Davis Transition Society has confirmed that a change of executive leadership has occurred within the Chilliwack-based non-profit society.

Sulagna Nayak, human resource manager for Ann Davis Transition Society, told Fraser Valley Today in an email Monday, August 19 that Patti MacAhonic is no longer employed by the society as of July 23, 2024. Its current acting executive director is Courtney Ukrainetz, who also functions as the director of housing, programs and services.

Nayak said the society could not comment further on the change of executive leadership.

Ann Davis offers multiple support services for women, men and children including counselling, advocacy, crisis intervention and therapy; facilitates abuse prevention programs; and provides refuge for women and their children who are victims of domestic abuse.

MacAhonic serves as a director for Fraser Valley Regional District Electoral Area E, representing Chilliwack River Valley. She was acclaimed in the October 2022 election.

MacAhonic had a compelling story prior to becoming the executive director of Ann Davis Transition Society. According to a profile from the University of the Fraser Valley, MacAhonic’s achievements earned her the UFV Distinguished Alumni Award for 2014 and a spot in the UFV Top 40 Alumni.

MacAhonic married young but was sadly widowed young in 1988 following the death of her husband in a severe workplace injury. She experienced the frustration of being a widow dealing with bureaucracy. MacAhonic immersed herself in lobbying and legislative reform firsthand as she sought to amend laws and best practices surrounding workplace injuries and fatalities. Her decades of lobbying, UFV wrote in its profile of her, helped lead to substantial changes to B.C.’s Bill C-37 for survivors and children of workplace fatalities. At the same time, she discovered post-secondary education.

“I decided I needed to change the system,” she recalls. “I thought maybe if I had letters behind my name, people would listen to me more and I would become more credible to decision makers.”

She enrolled in the Social Services diploma program in the late 1990s at what was then UCFV. After her diploma, MacAhonic decided to continue into the Bachelor of Adult Education degree. She later earned her BA Ad Ed degree in 2002, and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration in 2008 from Royal Roads University, which led to an executive director position with the B.C. Wildlife Federation. MacAhonic became the first woman in Canada to lead a provincial fish and game organization. She also served as executive director of the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce and the B.C. Brain Injury Association.