Young Alumni Achievement Award nominee:
Applying the same committed work ethic that made her such an accomplished student, Catherine Pan has created a vibrant career as a professional planner and has earned her the respect and admiration of her peers.
Jumping feet first into big projects after graduation, one of Catherine’s earliest assignments was undertaking a visioning exercise for City of Yellowknife’s Downtown Streetscape Plan, helping promote safety, walkability, community and economic development.
Catherine then moved into Planning and Management consulting where she worked nationally on several economic development, tourism and business plans for various levels of government.
Today, Catherine is a Development Manager with the Sorbara Group of Companies, where she integrates principles of sustainability into the various communities that the Group designs, develops and builds. She managed the first Low Impact Development community in the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority watershed, which won an award for its innovative stormwater management design.
Professionally, Catherine is an active member of the Building and Land Development Association (BILD), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP). Last year, she was recognized with the yBILD Leadership Award for demonstrating exceptional leadership qualities.
Dedicated to promoting planning and environmental education, Catherine co-founded the Bethune Environmental Action Team (BEAT). Today, BEAT has over 100 members, multiple committees and serves to inform and educate high school students and community members of the importance of sustainability and environmental action.
Since graduation, Catherine has remained actively involved in the University of Waterloo and School of Planning. She has helped breathe new life into the Pragma Council program after its longtime champion, John Horton, stepped down. As an Executive and Organizing committee member for the past two years, she has been instrumental in developing a new format for the meetings and directing Pragma funds in a more meaningful way.
Catherine also served as a member of the University of Waterloo Planning Alumni of Toronto (UWPAT) committee from 2011 – 2016. In this role, she identified the need to make it easier for young alumni and current students to participate in the annual UWPAT dinner; one of the largest industry events of its kind. She then conceived and implemented the UWPAT Young Alumni Social, a welcoming forum for networking that is currently in its sixth successful year.
Always keen to support and mentor younger planners, Catherine has returned to campus as a guest speaker on several occasions, provided informal mentoring and career advice to recent grads and has been a sponsor and mentor to young planners through OPPI.