Marcia Pinvidic - Recipient of the Cammi MacKinlay Leadership Excellence Award 2023

After a hiatus of two years due to the pandemic and not being able to meet in person as a region, I was so thrilled last spring to finally be able to award the second Cammi MacKinlay Leadership Excellence Award in person to the one and only Marcia Pinvidic!

As most of you already know, Marcia’s list of leadership credentials in the organization are extensive, from singer to director, to regional faculty, to international faculty, to certified judge in the expression category, to judge specialists’ moderator, to member of the IBOD, to President, to Chair of the Education Direction Committee, to President’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and through her work on so many committees and literally everything in between! Marcia has lived and breathed Sweet Adelines for more than forty years and is the epitome of a leader with a servant’s heart.

But these many accomplishments or titles only scratch the surface of Marcia’s leadership skills.

Throughout her many years in the organization, Marcia has shown wisdom, humility, strength of character, kindness, vulnerability, a willingness to nurture and mentor others coming behind her, the ability to work with others whose opinions may be wildly different from hers, a level head and an open heart always with the bigger picture in mind. She has the extraordinary ability to be cool, calm and collected when sometimes we know that her mind is racing as she’s making sure all the ducks are lined up to serve the best interests of everyone involved. She has no personal agenda – ever!

In my own personal experience with Marcia, I have seen her in action in most of these afore-mentioned roles, as well as as a fellow singer and learner and of course, as a friend. She models the behaviour she expects from others. She is passionate about her craft, and it shines through when she speaks about it or when she teaches it. As President, she led the organization with a calmness and selflessness, even when things might not have been going so well behind the scenes. She has been personally profoundly influenced by the benefits of belonging to the organization and is an influencer herself, paying it forward wherever she goes.

In her many leadership positions, Marcia will always look at other possibilities as status quo may not be the best way of approaching something today. She believes that the best ideas come from collaboration and the synergy that is created when people with similar interests and passions come together. She never leaves anyone out of the dialogue and ensures that every voice has a chance to be heard. Her sense of fairness and inclusiveness is second to none. She collaborates but she also has the bravery and moxie to make decisions alone when called for. She walks the leadership walk!

Marcia and the words "excellent leader" go hand in hand. There are very few people in this organization or this region who have garnered more respect than Marcia. She has earned this respect through her compassion and excellence in everything she does, in her humility and vulnerability, her strength of character, her desire to be a role model for others and her beautiful soul. It was an honour to be able to present her with this award.

Marcia Pinvidic – 2023 Recipient of the Cammi MacKinlay Leadership Excellence Award

Written by Cammi MacKinlay, September 2023

Nominations for the 2024 Leadership Excellence Award are now being accepted.

The award was created to recognize members of Region 26 who have demonstrated a heart for leadership at all levels of the SA organization and are an ambassador for the organization working hard to strengthen the bonds between the chapter, region and international levels of the Sweet Adelines organization.

Go to https://www.region26.ca/cammi-award for the Nomination Form.