Message from the President

Several years ago, I was looking for an opportunity to again become involved in my community in some manner when I saw a newspaper ad seeking Board members for CLNAD. My first job after university 15 years previous was with a Community Living association in Bracebridge, Ont. Serving on the Board for CLNAD would return me to my roots. As a result, I have been serving on the Board of Directors of CLNAD since 2002. 

Over the past several years, I have had the privilege to be mentored by such previous Presidents as Barb Bartlett, Ron Rose and Helen Clark. As a result of their mentoring, I feel confident in my current role as President.

Adding to the learnings and experiences of previous Presidents (not to mention the Board members themselves), I have opportunity to engage both staff and people we support along with their families/caregivers. These are also valuable learnings and experiences I bring with me in my current role. Finally, I also bring with me 20 years of Social Work experience as a front line worker, a Case Manager, program developer and trainer.

We at CLNAD are at the starting line of a very exciting journey. Thanks to the hard work of the Board of Directors over the past few years, in collaboration with all staff, people we support and their families/caregivers as well as other stakeholders, we now have a Strategic Plan that will guide us into the future. As we all know, there are many challenges in the arena of Developmental Services. I am confident that with our Strategic Plan, we will be able to manage these challenges and overcome the obstacles.

Along with our Strategic Plan, we are implementing a “Culture of We” in order to maintain transparency in our work, to engage and utilize the experiences and skills of all stakeholders and move forward together.

As President, it will be my responsibility to ensure that we are clear in our collective goals, that we each do our part in achieving these goals and that all stakeholders have opportunity to actively participate. My commitment is to the best interests of this Association and the people we serve. This will be my focus as we move forward together.

In closing, I would like to invite all stakeholders to feel free to contact me as necessary. I am particularly interested in peoples ’ positive experiences as when we focus on these positives and determine how we accomplished them we can continue to grow together.