Marianne Kayed
October 9, 2018Marianne Kayed is the Manager, Continuing and Community Education at the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB). This role targets lifelong learning opportunities for everyone in a family. The portfolio includes overseeing the largest provincially-funded adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program in Eastern Ontario, the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program, the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) program, International Languages (elementary) program, summer camps and fee-based programs.
She delivers innovative non-credit programming for immigrants, including several ESL/Skills classes (e.g. ESL for Building Interiors, ESL for Home Support Worker, etc.) and LBS work-preparation programs (e.g. landscaping, retail and custodial preparation).
With degrees in modern languages, applied linguistics, and certificates in database and risk management, she has spent much of her career in ESL and literacy of adult immigrants and refugees, both in southern Ontario and Ottawa. She is a recognized national expert in the area of Canadian language benchmarks, essential skills and occupational use of language and has worked on several projects to set national standards for both regulated and non-regulated professions in Canada.
She was the Senior Program and Partnerships Manager at the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks for over a decade. During that time, she lead national and provincially funded projects/resources and research with various sectors including nursing, physiotherapy, audiology/speech language pathology, engineers, the IT sector, trucking, tourism and red seal trades. The work produced fair, valid and reliable language assessments and professional standards to help newcomers meet defined, clear communication expectations for professional licensure and safe workplace practice.
From 2011-2013, she worked at the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada where she was Senior Manager, Policy, responsible for accreditation, risk management and educational programming.
Currently she is a director on the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks Board (member of the risk management/auditing and official languages advisory committees). She sits on the OCSB leading and learning committee. Marianne is a member of Hire Immigrants Ottawa (public sector table), the Ottawa Community Coalition for Literacy and the Eastern Regional Partnership for Adult Educators.