Orland (Oly) Backstrom gives a lifelong career focus of bringing equity to Manitobans with Intellectual Disabilities through employment and participation in our community. As the CEO of SCE LifeWorks, he drives the organization from a place of empathy and strength. He believes people deserve dignity and respect, and an opportunity to find their place in society…a valued place, where they can earn a wage and experience the pride a job provides.

Oly spearheaded the process to bring Project SEARCH, a unique school-to-work transition program initially developed by Cincinatti Children’s Hospital Medical Center, to Canada for the first time. After three years of work, he achieved this success in 2011, partnering with local school divisions, a crown corporation and the provincial government. An incredible amount of dedication, tact, negotiation and hard work paved a path for high school students with developmental disabilities to learn job skills while participating in a variety of worksite rotations and the goal of competitive employment. Today, Manitoba has two Project SEARCH sites, one at Manitoba Hydro/Government of Manitoba and one at HSC – Winnipeg. This Manitoba Model has allowed other jurisdictions to seek out his expertise to start other Project SEARCH sites in Canada, including Toronto, Hamilton, PEI and Calgary. Much of this was due to his ability to be a willing conference speaker where he freely shares what he has learned about Project SEARCH and supported employment with intellectually disabled adults.

He is a tireless advocate and educator for people to see a vision and a belief in the possibility for people with intellectual disabilities. This dedication has opened opportunities for many young Manitobans, who face barriers to employment, to have paid work, and to feel success and satisfaction in their lives.

Oly has a long time commitment to volunteerism and has served on numerous committees and non profit organizations in our community, bringing awareness that people deserve the opportunity to live and work in the community; where they are respected and rewarded for their efforts, skills and accomplishments. Disability Vote Matters, Abilities Manitoba, Manitoba Supported Employment Network (MSEN) and nationally the Canadian Association for Support Employment (CASE) have all benefitted from the time Oly has given to community. Oly has also been a Board Member with the Winnipeg Folk Festival for more than two decades.

At the start of the pandemic, while gyms were closed, he started to walk his neighbourhood. Before he rallied together with his fellow neighbours to plant replacement trees, he mapped, over the course of several months, diseased and cut down trees in a large swath of his neighbourhood. This simple process spurred other neighbourhood members to do the same in their own neighbourhoods. This process was shared on social media and the City of Winnipeg and provided invaluable information about the dwindling tree canopy.

Oly is a bridge builder and this was evident when he was recognized with a Volunteer of the Year Award through the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. He has been reaching out to this organization for many years to help educate employers on being more inclusive in their hiring practices.

As a leader in many areas in life, Oly truly takes the time to listen to people and let them know they are being heard. He looks at difficult situations that matter to people through a kindness and empathy filter. He gives his undivided attention to everything he does and inspires others to work with passion. He is genuine in interaction. Oly is a strong leader, and is well-known for his advocacy around true inclusion in Manitoba.