Mary Jonik is a graduate of Business and Commerce Bookkeeping Clerk. After graduating from Cambrian College, Mary worked on campus in the Adult Training Department and then later as a counselor in the Ontario Basic Skills program. Her experiences there led her into her career helping individuals realize their full potential. She returned to school to study for her degrees, and while doing so, started a revolution in public housing. As a single parent relying on government assistance and living in public housing, she began the process of empowerment through the organization of a tenants association, and this led to her helping to found the first city-wide tenants association in Ontario. She also developed the first on-site Life Skills Program in public housing and was the first tenant board member of the Sudbury District Housing Authority.

Mary recently retired from Cambrian College to pursue her passion for teaching and counselling online. She was hired by a provincial college organization, the College Sector Committee for Adult Upgrading (CSC), to design and facilitate an innovative orientation course for individuals applying to participate in the Academic and Career Entrance (ACE) Distance Program. The orientation course, Learn to Learn (L2L), determines if an individual has the necessary personal, academic, and computer skills to succeed in an online learning environment. L2L has proven to be extremely successful not only for applicants to ACE but also for individuals applying to postsecondary online programs. Mary has two grown daughters, and two very young grandsons. Her grandsons fill her with wonder, joy, and amazement. Mary and her husband live on a sailboat in Vancouver with our cat and dog. My husband has taken a year off work, and since I am working exclusively online, we have left our dock and are sailing up the coast of British Columbia.