After graduating in Philosophy and History from the University of Toronto, I taught for four years in the secondary school system and then moved to Algonquin College in Ottawa for the following 13 years. There I was a professor in the English Department, President of the Faculty Association for about two years, and later, Department Head of the 30-member faculty of English.
During the years from 1972 to 1985, I was elected for six consecutive terms as a trustee of the Ottawa Board of Education where, in fact, I had my first experience with the internet as it existed at the time. The experience included a phenomenal range of activities from dealing with curriculum initiatives, to school choices, and negotiating major collective agreements.
During the past decade, my wife and I have established The Irlen Centre which has successfully helped many hundreds of people overcome reading problems often identified as a form of dyslexia, but now recognized as Scotopic Sensitivity or Irlen Syndrome. I am also a Wellness Consultant, maintaining an active interest in a variety of complimentary health fields.
In 1998, I graduated from the Mediation Course offered by the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor.
What skills will you contribute to the NCF Board?
I have had experience on a variety of boards, including 13 years as a trustee on the Ottawa Board of Education, where I became quite familiar with the relationship between the making of policy and executing it. I have a good knowledge of the local community and its expectations and I can tap into a large network of local leaders.
What do you think are the most important functions of NCF for its members?
While those functions have surely changed as access to the Internet becomes easier, it remains important as a source of information on a wide variety of local issues; it continues to be significant in making the Internet accessible universally; and it serves to educate people on the enormous unrealized potential of the Internet.
Why do you want to be an NCF director?
Having been a member of NCF for nearly ten years now, I have appreciated its services and I am prepared to offer my services in whatever way may be useful. Beyond that, though, I recognize that through such service I can appreciate what NCF is doing much better and I know that I can learn a lot more about these phenomenal new means of communication.
Don Francis
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