John Marinucci and his wife Sarah Vienot of The Marinucci Family Foundation have generously extended their ongoing commitment to Mohawk College and to workforce development with a $1 million donation to the college's Centre for Professional Advancement (CPA).
The Centre for Professional Advancement offers employer-sponsored scalable, sustainable, and customized educational offerings that enable successful onboarding, upskilling, and reskilling, as well as the introduction of emerging roles, empowering workforce development across industries globally. This generous donation will help to create new education and employment opportunities as well as aiding employers with their recruitment and retention efforts.
"We have the right model and the right high-performing team at the Centre to help change workers' lives and improve communities," said Paul Armstrong, President of Mohawk College. "Through this gift and the support of champions like The Marinucci Family Foundation, CPA programs will provide even greater benefit to workers and employers across Canada."
To acknowledge this gift, Mohawk College has changed the name of the CPA to The Marinucci Family Centre for Professional Advancement.
"At the Marinucci Family Foundation, we believe that education lights the path to success, which is why we're thrilled to support Mohawk College's Centre for Professional Advancement," stated John Marinucci and Sarah Vienot, of The Marinucci Family Foundation. "Their innovative approach to develop and deliver tailored curriculum and training programs for industry partners resonates deeply with us, and we're excited to help them transform the way we educate and reskill our workforces in an ever-changing world."
Over the past two years, the CPA has developed 18 customized programs and courses for employers to address their workforce challenges, enrolling nearly 2,500 learners in 56 deliveries across three provinces and internationally.
"I am deeply touched by the generosity of the Marinucci family," said Larisa Volman, Associate Dean of The Marinucci Family Centre for Professional Advancement. "This gift will accelerate our success in leading workforce transformation and position the Centre to make a measurable impact through innovative educational and training solutions."
The Marinucci Family Foundation has been a strong supporter of Mohawk College for more than 15 years. The Marinucci Family Foundation generously committed $500,000 to the Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation. Another $250,000 donation was made in support of applied research at the college. John was also engaged with the college as a member and Chair of the Mohawk College Board of Governors from 2009 through 2015. He was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow in 2023.
This donation will support the goals of The Marinucci Family Centre for Professional Advancement over the next five years:
- to be a national leader in workforce development;
- to graduate 10,000 learners from CPA programs;
- to develop at least 100 employer partnerships across Canada and beyond.
