Thomas Tam joined S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in 1992, not long after he had immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong with his wife, Adela and his two-year-old daughter, Ling. 

For his first five years with S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Thomas Tam served as the Director of Administration and Resource Development.  He then took on the role as Business and Economic Program Director continuing in that position from 1997 through to 2009. For four months (January to April 2009), he served as Acting Chief Executive Officer when then CEO Tung Chan had a short sabbatical. In 2009, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operations of all major social services and programs. During this time, he engineered a major departmental restructuring.  With the retirement of CEO Tung Chan a few weeks ago, Tam has been acting CEO.

Some of the highlights of Thomas Tam’s career with S.U.C.C.E.S.S. include:
• Establishing S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’ first Social Enterprise (the Sustainable Employment Network Inc.) in partnership with three other major social service organizations to service the disabled individuals throughout BC.
• Building an extensive network with business corporations and diverse government funding sources.
• Developing the Gateway to Asia project, an innovative economic strategy that reached out to northern B.C., other western provinces and China, subsequently leading to the opening of offices in Fort St. John, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China.
• Transforming several business training projects into a comprehensive Business and Economic Development centre – the only such center for immigrants in Canada.

Other Work Experience
Prior to immigrating to Canada, Thomas lectured in the Social Work Department of the Hong Kong Baptist University.  He also served as a social worker with Stewards’ Social Services in Hong Kong and as a Medical Student Social Worker at Surrey County Hospital in England.

Education
He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Administration in Human Service Organizations, Chinese University of Hong Kong (1989), a Master of Science in Applied Social Studies, University of Surrey, England (1984) and completed his Undergraduate in Social Work at the Hong Kong Baptist University (1981).  He has also earned his Certificate Qualification in Social Work in England in 1994.
 
Community Involvement
His commitment and involvement in the community is an integral part of his life and over the years he has served on various committees and task forces. He currently sits on the National Multicultural Advisory Committee of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. In the past, he has worked with the Burnaby Board of Trade Asia Pacific Committee, the Chief’s Diversity Advisory Committee with the Vancouver Police Department, the Premier’s Asia Pacific (China Region) Task Force and the Coast Capital Savings Community Economic Development Committee.

Board Involvement
He currently sits on the Board of the BC Prior Learning Action Network, the Ethno Business Council in BC and Metropolis BC. He is also the Vice Chair of the Vancouver Chinese Lutheran Church.  His contribution to the community is constant and over the years, agencies such as the Vancouver Multicultural Society, the Economic Development Association of BC and Little Mountain Neighbourhood House have all benefitted from his expertise.

Advocacy
Thomas Tam has been a strong advocate for immigration issues and has been a speaker at international and national conferences and forums. This year, he was a guest presenter on the Canadian Immigrant Service Model at the Joint World Conference in Hong Kong.  In 2009, Thomas outlined S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’ Service Model at the Chinese Immigrant Service Agency Network International conference held in New York.  In 2009, he also presented to the House of Commons’ Federal Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Canadian Best Practices.  He was a member of National Citizenship and immigration Canada Expert Consultation on Immigrant Services (March 2010).  He has served on the Prime Ministers’ Task Force on Youth Entrepreneurship Consultation (1999) and on the Premier’s Consultation on Small Business Development in BC (1998)

Political Experience
In addition to working with elected and government officials, Thomas Tam also brings first hand political experience and expertise to his new role as he was an elected City Councillor of Shatin region in Hong Kong (1988- 1991).

Future Focus
Like his predecessor, Tung Chan, Thomas is a strong advocate for better recognition of international credentials of new immigrants.   He is passionate about the leadership role S.U.C.C.E.S.S plays in helping new immigrants becoming contributing and valued members of Canadian society and believes this area will continue to grow and evolve.

Over the past year he has taken the lead in preparing the management team in the 2011 Request for Proposal for major Settlement and Employment service contracts which account for over half of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’ budget. 

In Thomas Tam’s own words:
“From the very beginning, it has always been my passion and goal that S.U.C.C.E.S.S will become the most effective and forefront agent in bringing new Canadians and host communities together to build a ‘world of multicultural harmony.’ As leader of this great organization, I will continue to be an advocate and continue to focus my attention on national and international collaboration with major sector councils, public institutions, business corporations and leading immigrant serving agencies.