The entire CJ team is pleased to welcome Andrée Lafrenière to the direction of Chantiers jeunesse! Andrée has been involved in the community and social economy for 30 years and it is with passion and enthusiasm that she joined CJ in January 2021! Together, once again, we will continue to get involved and to contribute to the development of communities as well as to the full potential of young people.
Andrée Lafrenière
Director
For me, Chantiers jeunesse is a fertile ground for individual and collective development aimed at fostering social engagement.
Know more about her experiences
Devoted to the community and social economy sectors for a little over 30 years, I helped various social economy organizations become influential and develop themselves. My commitment, my openness to diversity and my ability to adapt have made me an agile leader capable of not only seizing opportunities but also sharing them.
I have 15 years of solid experience as a community worker and a community-based trainer with youth centres, family groups, women’s organizations and employability programs. In this capacity, I have participated in drafting documents about family-work balance, parenting skills and school perseverance.
As a director, I made sure to create multicultural teams because I wanted to set an example for other employers. I have implemented and assessed organizational management policies, social programs and community development projects as well. Furthermore, I have managed numerous statements of understanding with financial partners such as Emploi-Québec, the Regional Public Health Department and the City of Montréal. I am also convinced that the social economy is the economy that should be promoted and developed.
At my first job as a director, the team I led grew from 5 to 16 employees due to my go-getter attitude. Every time I was in a management position, I also reviewed the communication tools by redesigning the website and redefining the promotional tools. For me, human resource management involves hiring independent people with whom I can work in a co-management style in order to promote the organization.