‘Truly refreshing’: OPG’s ION program helps Indigenous administrator find new career path
At a glance
- Thanks to OPG’s Indigenous Opportunities Network (ION) program, Jenna Driscoll is now working in the energy sector as a senior administrator.
- Since 2018, ION has helped place more than 120 Indigenous workers in roles across the energy industry, helping to build Indigenous capacity.
- Now gaining her footing in her new role, Driscoll encourages others to make the career shift.
Jenna Driscoll feels at home in her new job and career path.
After years working in the life insurance industry, she jumped at the chance for a shift into the energy sector by applying with OPG’s Indigenous Opportunities Network (ION) after hearing about the program through a friend.
Launched in 2018, ION works with Kagita Mikam, an Indigenous employment agency, to recruit and place skilled and qualified members from Indigenous backgrounds in jobs within the energy sector. So far, the program has placed more than 120 Indigenous workers in positions across the industry, helping to build critical Indigenous capacity.
Thanks to ION, Driscoll is now working as a Senior Administrator for Infinity Generation Services, a certified Indigenous and woman-owned company offering multi-trade contracting services to Ontario’s clean energy sector, including OPG.
The change has been refreshing for Driscoll, who is also a licensed phlebotomist.
To be employed by a workplace that allows you to feel safe about who you are and encourages you to be proud of is truly refreshing.Jenna DriscollSenior Administrator for Infinity Generation Services
“It has been a huge learning curve as the energy and trade sector are very new to me, but the entire team has been so welcoming and helpful,” she said. “I love that my role is diverse and requires various skills – organization, problem solving, critical thinking – and the opportunity for learning and growth are not in short supply.”
Born of Inuit heritage, Driscoll recalls growing up in a small fishing and trapping village on the northeast coast of Quebec. Her community is one of 14 small villages located on the isolated coastline, which is only accessible by plane or cargo ship.
During the winter months, the various villages are connected by a snowmobile trail.
Her career would eventually take her far from home, to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, where she worked as an audiology assistant, and then to Pickering, where she worked primarily in an administrative role for an insurance services provider.
Now living in the Courtice area, Driscoll is quickly getting accustomed to her new career as she works on-site at OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, where she helps coordinate Infinity’s work at the station.
In her short time at Infinity and at Darlington, she has been impressed by OPG’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. It’s what initially drew her to the ION program, she said.
ION, a key component of OPG’s Reconciliation Action Plan, also supports the company’s long-term ED&I strategy by working to increase representation of Indigenous peoples.
“To be employed by a workplace that allows you to feel safe about who you are and encourages you to be proud of is truly refreshing,” she said.
With her positive experience with ION, Driscoll is quick to encourage other Indigenous workers looking to make a similar jump into the energy industry.
“It’s a great opportunity with so much potential for growth,” she said of the sector. “The process can be lengthy, but I encourage you to be patient as the end result is very much worth it.”
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