Look out world, I went on the radio and I was not limited to talking about LiveWorkPlay and the Ottawa RedBlacks (although we did start with a lot of football chatter!). I joined host Mark Sutcliffe and former MP Paul Dewar on The Power Lunch on 1310 News. I was four days short of my 49th birthday, so this is off the bucket list! We talked about Royal protocols, outer space, Ontario energy, OJ Simpson, and more!
It’s a little known fact that back in the day (early 1997) Julie and I went to visit various executive directors in the Ottawa area to talk with them about our start-up of LiveWorkPlay and to figure out how we could best work together with other agencies to build a more inclusive city. We were not always welcomed, and somewhat hilariously, the head of Service Coordination responded to our overture with “It’s nice when young people have ideas.”
Well, times have changed: new leadership and new ideas! I had a great morning contributing (I hope!) to the Service Coordination staff retreat, who invited me to talk about person-centred support. Despite a very busy schedule and I am sure a great deal on their minds, it was a very attentive and enthusiastic group, and I am very encouraged by the work they are doing to help individuals and families better understand not only the challenges they are facing but also the opportunities for a good life in the Ottawa community. My presentation featured a few twists targeted to the audience, but it was not radically different from this presentation.
Back on the “Empowering Ability” podcast with Eric Goll, who selected this clip from a previous interview. I think it’s a solid 15 minutes. After some 30 years thinking about these issues, I’m finally able to express my feelings about them with a reasonable degree of confidence.
I contributed only a very short speech at this event, as a I yielded the floor to LiveWorkPlay Employment Task Force volunteer Matt Shipley instead, but this was a great day and I couldn’t let it pass by without making note of the incredible effort of the organizers Jocelyne D’Aoust and Denis Brisson (he’s in the video below and I am filming). $10,000 was raised, a new record for this event.
I very much appreciated the opportunity to share some of my life journey thanks to an invitation from Plenty magazine. Here’s a clip to hopefully entice you to explore the entire article.
“I do hope to see many of our best and brightest young workers choosing to make their mark in the evolving non-profit sector. At a time when one can “start a cause” with the push of a few buttons, it’s important to understand that those who are able to make a meaningful long term impact will be those who are engaged in an authentic social change process. They will challenge not only the conditions in their community, but will constantly examine their own role in the social change process.”
My chat with the host with the most Dylan Black about this year’s Make A Buzz Ottawa!
