When Edward Mishaud talks about his work, the words that come up most often are connection, service, and empathy. For nearly 20 years, the College of the North Atlantic (CNA) graduate has dedicated his career to improving the lives of others through his work with the United Nations (UN) – helping communities around the world amplify their voices, share their stories, and build and strengthen their policies and systems.
Last night, Edward’s commitment to global service was recognized closer to home. CNA honoured him with an Acclaim Award acknowledging his remarkable efforts to advance diplomacy, build cultural awareness and understanding, and promote sustainable development across communities and borders.
When Edward received the call telling him he’d been chosen as the recipient of the Community Service Award, he wasn’t in Newfoundland or even Canada. He was in Geneva, Switzerland – thousands of kilometres away from where his story began – continuing his work in helping the UN shape global sustainable development policy.
The moment, he says, made him pause.
“Receiving this award has been an important milestone for me,” Edward reflects. “It’s enabled me to reconnect first and foremost with the college, to be able to interact with individuals who had such an influence on me at that time, and to see how far I’ve come as a person. Being able to recall those moments in my career journey that shaped who I am today is quite a unique experience.”
For someone who has spent two decades helping communities and governments across continents, that reflection carries deep meaning. And while his career has taken him from local newsrooms in Atlantic Canada to the corridors of the UN General Assembly, he says his heart has never strayed far from home.
“Everything I do comes back to community,” he says. “Whether that’s in Stephenville or Geneva, it’s all about people coming together, putting their differences aside for something greater than themselves.”
A foundation of curiosity and compassion
Growing up in Newfoundland, Edward recalls he was curious about the world and about how people connect through stories. That inquisitiveness led him to CNA’s Journalism program in his hometown of Stephenville, and it was a decision that would set the course for his life’s work.
“The program was incredibly hands-on,” he remembers. “Our instructors pushed us to talk to people, to get out of our comfort zones, to listen deeply, and to understand. We weren’t just filing stories. We were learning about the communities around us.”
The program was immersive, hands-on, and deeply community-focused; lessons that would serve him well years later, on an international stage.
“I was always interested in the concept of ‘community’, the impact of community, and the role of journalism at the community level,” he recalls. “That sparked this idea of wanting to know how to be engaged at the local level through storytelling, and that’s something the program at the college provided as a foundation.”
After completing his diploma, Edward transferred his credits to Cape Breton University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Communities Studies, and later to the University of King’s College in Halifax, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism.
But the lessons he learned at CNA – empathy, curiosity, and the courage to engage – would stay with him long after graduation. It was ultimately his passion for people, not prestige, or titles, that would eventually lead him to the UN.
Redefining community on a global stage
When Edward joined the UN, he carried that mindset from CNA with him – the belief that true change begins with listening.
Over the years, he has worked across a range of fields, from promoting volunteerism (UN Volunteers) and HIV advocacy (UNAIDS), to combatting malaria (WHO) and climate change (GCF), to now advancing sustainable development (UN Geneva – Beyond Lab). The red thread, he notes, has been helping shape international programs that touch millions of lives.
“The UN Charter begins with ‘We the peoples,’ and that speaks to the role of individuals but also the aspect of the collective – thinking and acting outside of ourselves,” he says. “For me personally, it’s an honour to do the work that I do, to share my skills, but also to learn from others and to be inspired by what they are doing to bring about change.”
One of the projects he’s most proud of came during his time with UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS. His team produced a groundbreaking publication that featured transgender individuals living with and affected by HIV on the cover — a first for any organization within the UN at the time. It was a move that placed representation and visibility at the heart of global health advocacy and equity.
“As Ban Ki-moon, our UN Secretary-General at that time would say, one of our most critical tasks in the UN is to give ‘voices to the voiceless’, and that aspect of using our global platform and mandate to work towards that objective was extremely motivating,” Edward adds. “Importantly, as a member of the UNAIDS communications team, I always ensured I made the distinction that it was not my voice, but I was acting as a relay, a megaphone if you like.”
His projects are all driven by the same guiding principle: progress begins with inclusion. He describes his vocation as largely one of ‘building bridges’ between governments and communities, between ideas and action.
“From my experience, being an effective bridge builder means stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging your own biases and perspectives. One thing that I’ve learned at the UN is the necessity—and power—of reaching across divides, of connecting with different groups of people who may not share your values or beliefs, while still recognizing how fundamental it is to meet others where they are,” he explains.
“One thing that has become clear to me through the United Nations, particularly in my current work at UN Geneva and through community engagement, is that if people in the room look like you, talk like you, think like you, and agree with you, then you’re not creating the best conditions to build bridges or advance diplomacy. You have to bring together people who differ from you professionally, personally, and in their world views. That’s really important. But it’s hard, especially today when cooperation and multilateralism are no longer a given,” he adds.
In the vast, ornate halls of UN Geneva, Edward has stayed grounded in the human side of policy work, even while navigating the frustrations that inevitably come with any large, process-driven organization.
“When you work at the UN, with governments, civil society, and other partners, where consensus is the glue that holds everything together, it can absolutely be challenging to stay the course and measure success,” he admits. “If someone is looking for fast results or so-called ‘quick wins’, they may find multilateral work difficult. And while it’s essential to move with urgency, especially on issues like the climate crisis and conflict, the reality is that multilateralism is a long game.”
The power of mentorship and exchange
Even in the hierarchical world of international diplomacy, Edward has made intergenerational mentorship a cornerstone of his work. He believes that the exchange of knowledge and experience across generations and between cultures is what keeps institutions human. He considers mentoring younger professionals both a responsibility and a privilege.
“Mentorship isn’t one-way,” he says. “You learn just as much from others as they learn from you. This ebb and flow brings such creativity, innovation, and boldness. My younger colleagues at UN Geneva challenge me in so many ways, particularly when it comes to testing assumptions and inviting me to see things from their vantage point.”
Whether he’s guiding early-career colleagues in Geneva or speaking with soon-to-be graduates in London at his former post-graduate university, the London School of Economics, Edward believes in the same principle that guided his own teachers at CNA: confidence grows when someone demonstrates what’s possible.
“When I think back to my Journalism instructors at the college, they didn’t just show us how to be journalists. They pushed us out of the classroom,” he laughs. “They made me and my classmates believe we could do this — that we could make a difference through storytelling. That belief still drives me.”
Reflecting back, looking forward
Edward says receiving the Community Service award has given him an opportunity to contemplate on how CNA shaped his outlook on life.
“It was at CNA that I learned how powerful listening can be,” he says. “When you are attentive to others and you listen deeply, whether it’s an organization, a community, or a person — you can serve as a conduit for change.”
Furthermore, he believes that education is not just preparation for a career but an act of discovery; a chance to explore how one’s skills can serve a greater good.
“What I learned at CNA gave me the courage to ask a simple, often overlooked question: how can I help? That question has taken me all over the world.”
Edward Mishaud
Now, 26 years after graduating from CNA, Edward still carries the lessons he learned in those classrooms and media studios in Stephenville.
“CNA gave me the foundation to explore, to ask questions, to take risks,” he says. “Journalism taught me how to listen, how to connect, and how to build understanding. Those skills shape everything I do today.”
Receiving the Community Service award has allowed him to not only reconnect with those beginnings, but to acknowledge how much community means, no matter how far one travels.
“We rarely stop to reflect on what we’ve done as individuals, particularly in large organizations where visibility often follows certain roles or titles,” he says. “This award gave me that pause. It reminded me that individual agency and service — whether in your local town or across the world — always starts small. It begins with one person reaching out to another.”
Words for the next generation
Asked what advice he would offer to today’s students, Edward doesn’t hesitate.
“It sounds a bit cliché, but be curious, take risks, and be humble. Don’t be afraid to get things wrong because that’s how you learn and grow,” he says. “Pair your passion with purpose. When you use your talents in service of others, that’s when everything truly connects.”
He pauses for a moment, thoughtful.
“In the end, community isn’t just a place,” he says quietly. “It’s a way of being. It’s how we show up for each other — in big ways and small ones. That’s where change begins.”
