She was raised in the Ottawa Valley, has a close knit family and is an influential women in the nuclear industry. Nancy Chaput has worked at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) for upwards of 30-years and is currently the Senior Director of Human Resources. Nancy is married with one child and she’s the primary caregiver for her niece and nephew with her spouse. She says her daughter in law is soon to be expecting and she’s excited to become a nana. Nancy describes herself as a people person who likes to see others grow and succeed. She’s also a member of Women in Nuclear which supports females in the industry.
Nancy says growing up in the Ottawa Valley, AECL seemed like a good fit since they’re one of the biggest local employers with a rich history in the community and provided opportunities to grow and develop. She says since joining the team in the late 1980’s the nuclear family has accomplished so much from energy development to significant medical breakthroughs. Nancy says she’s overcome many personal and professional tragedies with compassion, resiliency and empathy.
She says a lot has changed in her time at AECL and remembers meeting at the bus stop before getting picked up and heading to the labs. She mentions one of the biggest transitions was in 2015 when they restructured into a government owned, contractor operated site. Nancy says AECL owns the site and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) manages the day to day operations. She says AECL determines the what and CNL determines how it’s done. She adds that AECL relies on highly skilled personnel to conduct oversight of CNL.
While she was employed at AECL, Nancy also taught part-time at Algonquin College in Pembroke. She spent roughly 15-years teaching night school one or two days a week. She says she taught Microsoft products and project management courses.
Outside of work, Nancy says she’s kept busy by her many animals at home and says she essentially lives in a personal farm zoo. When she’s not catering to all of their needs she enjoys going to the hunt camp, snowmobiling, spending time at the farm, growing the garden, haying, splitting wood and spending time at the cottage on Sundays. Nancy says she’s looking forward to learning how to be a nanny and when she retires hopes her and her husband have a place where people can stop and purchase vegetables.
Some of her biggest accomplishments include constantly pursuing learning opportunities and continuing to grow throughout her career. She says balancing family life, school and work was not an easy task, but adds it was possible by remaining focused on where she wanted to go. Nancy encourages others to have a dream and pursue it. She says the journey isn’t always easy and adds you should see opportunities instead of hurtles and celebrate the small challenges and milestones along the way. She adds in recent months the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Nancy says self-care is important and adds you should find time to unwind and continue to dream.
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