Russell Sawchuk
Steppingstones Partnership, Inc.
Box 8220, Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6H 4P1
Phone: 1-800-267-9997 (Canada & USA)
or 1-780-430-8245 (International)
Fax: 1-800-267-9993 (Canada & USA)
or 1-780-434-0412 (International)
E-mail: russ@steppingstones.ca
Web: www.steppingstones.ca
Steppingstones Partnership, Inc. (Steppingstones Seminars) was founded and is
operated by Russell Sawchuk. Mr. Sawchuk is the President, CEO and owner of
Steppingstones.
Mr. Sawchuk was born and raised on a small farm in northeastern Saskatchewan
near the village of Arran. For the first five years he attended Pasieka School -
a one room school that had 12 students in grades 1 to 8. When this school was
closed, he attended Arran School where he was the only one to graduate from the
class of 1964.
After graduating from high school, Mr. Sawchuk attended the University of
Saskatchewan at Saskatoon, where he received his Bachelor's degree in 1969. He
got married, packed all his worldly belongings into a trailer and drove to
Philadelphia for some graduate work at Temple University. After one year in
Temple, he transferred to the School of Public Communications at Boston
University where he received his Master's in Communication Research Degree.
In 1971, he returned to Canada, and took a job with Ontario Hydro in Toronto as
a Personnel Research Officer. He spent six years in Toronto focusing on human
resource research and specializing in the areas of recruitment and placement,
training needs assessments, attitude surveys and manpower planning. While at
Ontario Hydro, he had time to attend the Faculty of Management at the University
of Toronto where he received his Diploma in Business Administration. He bought
and operated a part-time photography business where he learned that MBA courses
have almost no relevance to running a small business.
In 1976, he and his wife moved to Edmonton Alberta. Alberta was in the midst of
a boom and opportunities were plentiful. Also, both sets of parents as well as
brothers and sisters were in the Alberta capital city. In Edmonton, Mr. Sawchuk
got a job with Grant MacEwan Community College where he was program head and
instructor for the Applied Research Program. At Grant MacEwan, he was
responsible for setting up the Applied Research Centre, that gave students
practical research experience. He also introduced children's computer camps and
was behind the establishment of the Microcomputer Program at the College. He
also spent a year as Coordinator of Research and Planning reporting to the
President.
From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Sawchuk worked with the ACCESS Network, a provincially
run educational media television and radio network. He was the Associate
Director of Instruction Technology, responsible for producing multimedia
educational materials and resources. His team developed some of the first
educational videodiscs in Canada.
After ACCESS, Mr. Sawchuk spent three years with the Alberta Department of
Education as a Planning Consultant and Technology Coordinator. He was
responsible for managing technology projects funded by the Department. He was
also responsible for various initiatives, projects and research studies focusing
on the management and planning of basic education for the province.
In 1989, Mr. Sawchuk founded Steppingstones Partnership, Inc, and its training
division - Steppingstones Seminars. His first major work was with the Alberta
Justice College where he was responsible for executive and management
development and assessment for the Department.
Another major assignment was with Alberta Education, where he provided services
as an Educational Telecommunications consultant. He was responsible for a number
of projects and assignments designed to enhance the use of electronic networks
to assist students, parents and teachers in the area of special education. He
developed and produced various teachers resource materials to integrate the use
of telecommunications with the approved curriculum.
Other projects included the development and running of financial simulations
systems to assess the impact of proposed taxation and funding changes on the
provincial educational system. Two major contracts were undertaked for the
Government of the Northwest Territories to develop competency profiles and
training courses for Corrections Officers and Child Care Workers.
Mr. Sawchuk has been a project manager and business consultant with the Alberta
Educational Technology and Research Foundation. Here he was responsible for
general business consulting services, writing of business plans and proposals,
and managing projects. His project involved use of desktop video to provide
teacher training and support services to teachers in projects schools who needed
assistance with special education students.
Mr. Sawchuk and designed and delivered a number of public and contract seminars
and workshops. These include Team Building, Time Management and Service Quality
in the Public Sector. Most recently he has completed over 100 seminars across
Alberta on How to Do Business on the Information Highway, A Farmer's Guide to
the Information Highway and A Community's Guide to the Information Highway.
As time permits, Mr. Sawchuk enjoys spending time in the great outdoors of
western Canada. He enjoys reading, keeping up with technological developments,
fishing, bicycle riding and spending time with his family.
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