A Lifelong Commitment to Support

Martina MacDonald sees connecting people as a way of life. “It’s rewarding,” says the self-professed extrovert. “It’s all about helping people and making it a little easier for them.”

Martina is executive director of CBDC PEI East and general manager of the Rural Action Centre in Montague. The CBDC helps entrepreneurs start or expand businesses, while the Rural Action Centre provides a hub for organizations dedicated to business and community development.

Martina says she started volunteering as a PEI Connector because she values its work, understanding firsthand the challenges newcomers encounter. She is the daughter of Dutch immigrants, who faced language barriers, isolation, and even prejudice as they tried to integrate into PEI.

Nurturing Connections, Embracing Diversity

As a Connector, Martina has welcomed newcomers on bus tours to eastern PEI, chatted over lunch with the visitors, and ensured they felt comfortable to reach out. In her work, she also meets newcomer entrepreneurs individually and makes sure to personally walk them to any other support organizations at the Rural Action Centre that can help.

“Networking on Prince Edward Island is pretty easy — and pretty necessary,” she says. Martina notes “who you know” on the Island can often lead to employment, business opportunities, and access to information.

She says helping newcomers build their own networks on the Island has a big payoff. “It really only takes a little bit of your time, maybe an hour out of your day to meet with someone face to face, but the end result is huge for the person looking for the information, and it’s established a trust and a relationship.”

She suggests, in turn, everyone gains from supporting newcomers and building the diversity of the place they call home. “It brings such a beautiful blend to the community.”