The Holland College Foundation has named Lloyd Compton, Carolyn Simpson, and Robert Morris as the recipients of its 14th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards. The awards are presented to Holland College alumni who have graduated ten or more years ago, and who have demonstrated professional excellence and leadership on the local, national or international levels in one or more of the following areas: public service, business, the environment, community service, the arts, service to Holland College, professional achievement, or leadership.

Foundation Board Chair Kent Scales said that the 2021 recipients are being honoured for their accomplishments and commitment to their chosen professions.

“This year’s recipients join a prestigious group of Holland College alumni whose collective leadership in their industries and their communities has been remarkable. Each is a leader in their chosen field and sets a wonderful example to our current students of what one can do with at Holland College education.”

Lloyd Compton
Business Administration, 1987

Lloyd Compton, BBA, CPA, CA, CBV graduated from Holland College in 1987 with a diploma in Business Administration. He continued his studies at UPEI in the Business Administration program, which he graduated from in 1992.  In 1997, Compton continued his academic journey and became a designated Chartered Professional Accountant. He spent several years with Ernst & Young in Barbados where he was Manager of Financial Services and Offshore Banking.  He then moved back to PEI to help grow the consulting practice at MRSB Chartered Professional Accountants and Management Consultants. MRSB, where he became a partner in 2006, is a mid-sized firm with approximately 55 employees and four offices in PEI. As a partner, Compton provides a wide variety of local and international clients with accounting, tax, and management advisory services.  

 He is also an owner of Confederation M&A, Atlantic Canada’s largest Mergers & Acquisitions advisory firm with offices in Charlottetown, Fredericton, and Halifax. He provides services on both the buy side and sell side for transactions, and strategic advice on pricing, negotiating, and financing transactions.

Compton became a designated Chartered Business Valuator in 2010, which is considered an elite specialization with just over 2,000 worldwide. With this designation, he frequently presents at seminars and workshops on Business Valuation to the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of PEI, provincial and federal government departments and agencies, and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants.  He periodically acts as an expert witness in matrimonial, insurance, litigation, and commercial arbitration cases as well.

Compton participates in The Canadian Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants, Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of PEI, Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators, and the Forum for International Trade. He is co-owner of two real-estate holding companies which own commercial office buildings in Charlottetown. He is also an elder at his church, and an active board member of several charitable, political, and service organizations.

Carolyn Simpson, M. Ed
Human Services, 1980 and Early Childhood Education, 1987

Carolyn Simpson began her career after graduating from the Human Services program in 1980. She soon realized that she wanted to learn about all perspectives associated with child growth and development, and completed a second diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education 1987. In 1995, Simpson completed Holland College's learning management/instructor requirements. She then completed a Master of Education in Leadership and Learning from the University of Prince Edward Island. 

Simpson created a career pathway that had never existed for most early childhood educators in PEI. Starting as a front-line educator, and then becoming a director in the early learning and childcare sector; then a learning manager with Holland College Early Childhood Care and Education program; and then on to several career laddering positions within the PEI Government, where she is currently employed as the Early Years Advisor.

She was integral in bringing together numerous stakeholders and developing and implementing the policy shift in 2000 to smoothly transition kindergarten into a free, part-day, publicly managed community-based system of delivery. She was also a leader in the 2010 transition into the full-day kindergarten in the public school system. Simpson was also instrumental in leading the policy development of the 2010 PEI Preschool Excellence Initiative. This policy advance included the first government recognized wage grid for early childhood educators working in the province’s early years centres, only the second in Canada.

Simpson has worked in the national and international early childhood sector and led  provincial teams negotiating the 2017 Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework, the 2017 Canada-PEI Bilateral ELCC Agreement, and the historic first Canada-Wide ELCC Agreement in 2021.

Throughout her career, Simpson has volunteered with community organizations such as QCRS Inc., Hospice PEI, and the Early Childhood Development Association of PEI, and is a Lifetime Member and recipient of the Early Childhood Development Association of PEI’s 2018 Award of Excellence.

Robert Morris
Child & Youth Care Worker, 1989

For 32 years, Robert (Rob) Morris has dedicated his life to supporting youth as a youth worker and social worker. He began his career in Shelburne and Bridgewater, Nova Scotia after graduating from the Child and Youth Care Worker program in 1989. He began working with Phoenix Youth Programs, a non-profit, community-based organization located in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1992. 

Phoenix supports youth between the ages of 11 and 25, their families, and communities across multiple locations in Halifax. Morris held several positions as a front-line worker and case manager before being promoted to program manager in 1997. He held this position until 2003. when he joined the executive management team as the Director of Residential Programs.  Now the Senior Director of Residential Programs, Morris is responsible for six housing and sheltering facilities. He supervises three managers and approximately 50 staff. For the past 13 years, Morris has represented Phoenix on the National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness, a pan-Canadian community of practice consisting of leading youth serving organizations across the country.

Morris received a Bachelor of Social Work from Dalhousie University and has participated and contributed in many community-based committees, initiatives and programs designed to support youth in his community.

During his career at Phoenix, he has provided direct counselling, advocacy, and support to hundreds of youth. As a member of Phoenix’s executive team, he plays a key role in program development and the supervision and training of staff that has resulted in helping thousands of youth find safety and opportunities for healthier outcomes. Morris has played a key role in supporting hundreds of youth navigate significant crises in their lives.

Compton, Simpson and Morris join past recipients Vince McKenna, Harvey Stewart, Dawn Rix-Moore, Brian Burke, Chris Murray, Cheryl Roche, Jan Cowper, Irwin MacKinnon, David Poirier, Melody Dover, John Sylvester, Melanie Wildman, Scott Annear, Patti Larsen, David Trainor, Wayne Stewart, Cory LeDrew, Kevin Proude, Sue LeFort, Delaney Chisholm, Norma Lee MacLeod, John Ledwell, Paul Livingston, Robert Webster, Barry Sheen, Kathy Ward Doucette, Steven Barber, Tim Banks, Louise Vessey, David Garcelon, Basil Stewart, Jeff Poirier, Eva O'Hanley, Jamie Hill, Sonya Corrigan, Alan MacLeod, Steven Collicutt, John Avery, Brent Blackmore, Alanna Jankov, and Kevin O'Brien as Holland College Distinguished Alumni.  A display celebrating all alumni who have been honoured with the award is located at the college’s Prince of Wales Campus in Charlottetown.

Jo-Ann Campbell-Boutilier, Holland College’s Executive Director, Foundation and Alumni, said that celebrating the achievements of graduates is a priority for Holland College.

“We are so proud of our 45,000 alumni and the impact they are making worldwide,” said Campbell-Boutilier.  “We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of Lloyd Compton, Carolyn Simpson, and Robert Morris, and we know they will inspire current and future students.”

Find out how to nominate an alumnus of Holland College for a Distinguished Alumni Award by visiting the Alumni section of hollandcollege.com. Nominations are accepted year-round.