Bruce MacDonald - "Innovators in Action" Speaker Series
The SiG@Waterloo "Innovators in Action" Speaker Series, applied the ideas of social innovation to a number of specific sectors and issues - education, youth mentorship, inclusion, collaboration and cultural change. Each of the keynote speakers shared their experiences of operating at the national level to identify and address the root causes of intractable social challenges. Each keynote lecture was followed by a local panel discussion who shared their reflections on the presentation and offered insight into their own experiences.
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Frances Westley introduces Bruce MacDonald
Bruce MacDonald's Main Presentation
The Panel
Biographies
Frances Westley introduces Bruce MacDonald
On June 23, 2010 SiG@Waterloo invited Bruce MacDonald to come speak to a crowd gathered at the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo, Ontario. Bruce is the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and spoke about the organization's new approach in applying systems thinking to examine how a nationally federated organization can evolve into one that is more nimble and responsive to the needs of its members.
Bruce MacDonald's Main Presentation
Many established organizations struggle with adapting to a fast paced, ever changing world. As a national organization that is beginning to plan for its 100th Anniversary, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is attempting to understand how it will continue to be a relevant, important youth-serving organization when it kicks off its next 100 years.
In applying the principles of systems thinking, Big Brothers Big Sisters has created new approaches to old issues and is examining how a nationally federated organization can evolve into one that is more nimble and responsive to the needs of its members. More fundamentally, it is looking at how innovative approaches to mentoring can be created within a system that has been functioning for many years. This presentation will focus on the journey to evolve and change, the signposts along the way and the questions that are being asked.
Bruce MacDonald
President & CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada
Who would have thought that operating carnival games and rides would lead to a career in the voluntary sector? Certainly not Bruce. After an upbringing in Hamilton, Ontario, that consisted of bumper cars, the round up and the bomber game, Bruce decided to embark on a career in sport management.
Bruce headed to Northern Ontario’s Laurentian University to earn a Bachelor of Commerce in Sports Administration. He even took time off for five weeks to work at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid. After leaving the friendly confines of Sudbury, he took his first full-time job, working at the Hamilton-Burlington YMCA.
With primary responsibilities of developing recreational opportunities for disabled persons (the first calling from the voluntary sector) at the newly renovated downtown Y, Bruce soon left to become the Branch Director of the Stoney Creek YMCA.
From the Y it was off to become the Provincial Coordinator of the Ontario Senior Games, a multi-sport program for adults 55 plus. Reporting to a board of older adult volunteers (still calling..) Bruce got his first real taste of corporate sponsorship work. When the office relocated from Kitchener to Toronto, Bruce soon tired of the commute and decided to seek employment elsewhere.
Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Canada was his next stop, becoming the association’s first-ever Marketing Manager in 1989. For the next five years he worked with a dedicated team of volunteers (there it is again) and staff to try and modernize one of Canada’s oldest service clubs.
The journey to the voluntary sector was complete when, in 1995, Bruce joined the staff of Big Brothers and Sisters of Canada as Director of Marketing and Special Events. Three job titles and two organization names later, Bruce eventually moved into the senior staff position, becoming President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada in March 2004.
Of course, education and work are only part of the story. The real story is written with wife Heather and their three girls, Maggie and the twins, Erin and Kathleen.
In between job and family Bruce earned a second degree, a Masters in Management in the Voluntary Sector from McGill University and participated in the Governor General’s Canadian Study Conference.
Oh ya. He still likes hanging out at carnivals and organizing sports.
Christine Bird
Christine is the Facilitator & Manager of the Alliance for Children and Youth of Waterloo Region, a community-based collaborative which acts as a connecting point for 35 local child and youth-serving organizations. These organizations share a common interest in working together to enhance and promote the overall well-being of children, youth and families in our region. She has also worked extensively in the field of community-based justice, through a variety of roles including school-based crime prevention programming. Christine has a strong interest in mentoring, and believes that mentoring relationships often provide as much benefit for the mentor as they do for the mentee. She was a big sister for nearly 10 years and has served in other volunteer roles with our local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Christine was born, raised, and educated in Waterloo Region.
Gert Hartmann
A native of Kitchener-Waterloo, Gert has dedicated her career to the mentoring of children in the non-profit sector for the past 17 years. Gert started with the agency in 1990 as a volunteer with the Camp McGovern Committee. In 1993 she joined the staff of Big Brothers and held the positions of Director of Camp McGovern, Fund Development Officer, and Executive Director of Big Brothers where she played a key role in the successful merger of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organizations in KW in 2002. As Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, Gert’s focus has been on expanding the agency’s mentoring programs to be more inclusive of our changing community demographics. Gert's most recent initiative is bringing together the two local agencies of KW and Cambridge to help more children reach their potential.
Edwin Laryea
Edwin is a long-time resident of Kitchener-Waterloo and former Lecturer at the University of Toronto, former Department Head of Languages at Bluevale Collegiate in Waterloo, and former Chair of the Waterloo Region Youth Action Committee. He is a community advocate with several years of community leadership and service in the community and has worked extensively with youth as an educator, youth leadership trainer, mentor, advisor and advocate. At present, Edwin is the Youth Project Coordinator for the African Canadian Health and Wellness Project, an initiative sponsored by the Region of Waterloo Health Department, and is also involved with the African Canadian Homework Support Program, a community-based after-school initiative that supports students experiencing academic and self-esteem challenges in the school system. Edwin is also the founder of the New African Canadian Learning Partnership – a mentorship project to promote the skills and the knowledge base of African Canadians youth and their families in the Waterloo Region.
Nazanin Sultani
Nazanin is currently a grade 10 student at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener. As a dedicated volunteer she has worked with youth in Iran as well as her local community in Kitchener at after-school childcare programs. She has been part of the Pathways to Education program since 2008 and she intends on pursuing a career as a medical doctor in the future.
Facilitator: Frances Westley
Frances Westley joined the University of Waterloo as the JW McConnell Chair in Social Innovation in July 2007. In this capacity she is one of the principle leads in a Canada wide initiative in social innovation, SiG (Social Innovation Generation), a cross sectoral partnership to build capacity for social innovation in Canada funded by the J.W McConnell Family Foundation, University of Waterloo and the Ontario government. At University of Waterloo she leads a research team dedicated to understanding social innovation, and has designed both graduate and undergraduate curricula in social innovation.
Dr. Westley is a renowned scholar and consultant in the areas of social innovation, strategies for sustainable development, strategic change, visionary leadership and inter-organizational collaboration. Her most recent book, Getting to Maybe (Random House, 2006) focuses the dynamics of social innovation, and institutional entrepreneurship in complex adaptive systems. Experiments in Consilience (Island Press, 2004), focuses on the dynamics of inter-organizational and interdisciplinary collaboration in the management of ecological and conservation problems.
Before joining the University of Waterloo, Frances Westley held the position of Director, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (2005-2007) at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Other positions she has previously held include the James McGill Professor of Strategy at McGill University’s Faculty of Management, director of the McGill-Dupont Initiative on Social Innovation and director of the McGill-McConnell Masters program for National Voluntary Sector leaders – an innovative executive masters customized for the leaders of voluntary organizations across Canada.
Frances Westley serves on numerous advisory boards including Resilience Alliance Board of Science, , World Conservation Union-Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, , the Stockholm Resilience Center, the SARAS Institute and Evergreen Canada. She is on the editorial board of several journals, including Journal of Applied Behavioral Science and Ecology and Society. She is the recipient of several awards including the Ulysses S. Seal award for innovation in conservation, and the Corporate Knights Award.