Board Of Directors
Malkin Dare, President
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Mrs. Dare began her career as an elementary school teacher after graduating from the University of Western Ontario and London Teachers’ College. She later joined the Department of External Affairs and served in Hong Kong and Barbados. As a result of her concern for the state of education in Ontario, Mrs. Dare was one of the founding members of the Organization for Quality Education (OQE). She was OQE’s founding president, a director of the Society for Advancing Educational Research in Education, a member of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Appointments for the Province of Ontario (West and South), and the author of How to Get the Right Education for Your Child and Stairway to Reading. Mrs. Dare is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of School Choice. Mrs. Dare fervently wishes that Canadian public schools would shape up so that she could spend more time on reading, travel, movies, volunteer work, tennis, and bridge.
Maddie Di Muccio, Vice President
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Maddie Di Muccio is a Municipal Town Councillor in Newmarket, Ontario. Since her term began, she has been outspoken regarding transparent and accountable government, appearing on the Michael Coren Show, Newstalk 1010, AM 640, and various print media, such as the National Post and the Toronto Star. Ms. Di Muccio has hosted local lectures on a series of "Empowering" groups of individuals and featuring prominent personalities, and she writes a bi-weekly column on York municipal issues in the Toronto Sun. Her priorities focus on children and youth issues and concerns. Ms. Di Muccio is the parent of three school-age boys.
Nancy Wagner, Secretary-Treasurer
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Mrs. Wagner has a diploma in nursing from St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario and practiced her profession for many years. She and her husband owned and operated their own business, The Bow Shop in Waterloo, Ontario, until its recent sale. Nancy has sat on various boards in her local community and was a member of the Training and Education Committee of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. She is past executive committee member of Resurrection High School. Also an advocate for education reform, Mrs. Wagner served as President of the Organization for Quality Education. She has three children and five grandchildren.
John Bachmann, Director
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Mr. Bachmann is a professional engineer who recently retired from his job at an industrial distribution company in Mississauga. After graduating from the University of Manitoba in Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Bachmann went to teachers’ college and taught high school in Winnipeg for five years, during which time he earned his B.Ed. Since that time, he has accumulated more than 30 years’ experience in industry, along with an MBA. He is the Past Chairman of the Canadian Fluid Power Association and is involved, with other international associations, in projects intended to improve technology education in elementary and secondary schools. He has written and now teaches a number of online courses in the Industrial Distribution Leadership Certificate Program at Mohawk College.
Tom Berend, Director
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Tom Berend is an entrepreneur and software developer. After graduating with an engineering degree, he worked for and consulted to well-known companies such as Canadian Pacific and Loblaws. He then founded and built a software-development firm that sells warehouse management systems around the world, and another that builds control systems for automated conveyors and carousels. After selling those businesses, he became interested in the remediation of severe reading disability and returned to school; he recently earned his Masters of Education and plans to pursue his research interests in a doctoral program.
Carleana De Kelver, Director
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Mrs. De Kelver's 20 years in Public Service included training and education in Community and Workplace Diversity, Conflict Resolution, and Facilitation. For more than 15 years she has been involved in organizations such as tykeTALK, the Special Education Advisory Committee, London Anti-Bullying Coalition and Elgin Suicide Prevention Coalition. In order to mentor and advocate for children impacted by bullying and challenges related to mental wellness, Mrs De Kelver has spent countless hours counseling families to ensure their children attain the education to which they are entitled. Mrs De Kelver lives in London, Ontario with her husband and three children.
Monika Gucma-Deras, Director
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Mrs. Gucma-Deras gave up her full-time career in public relations to raise her two school-age daughters. After noticing her older daughter's success at her Montessori school, followed by a steep regression in public schools, Mrs. Gucma-Deras home-schooled her daughters for a time - with excellent results. When personal circumstances made it necessary for this family to give up home-schooling, her daughters were placed in a private school. Mrs. Gucma-Deras is involved with community theatre, and recently began teaching dramatic arts at her daughters' school. She is an avid reader and, if additional time became available, Mrs. Gucma-Deras would spend it taking long walks, going to the opera, ballet, and theatre, and taking part in ballroom dancing.
Frank Gue, Director
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Mr. Gue is a retired professional electrical engineer, BSc Alberta, MBA McMaster (Hamilton), who worked in the manufacturing and systems management fields and has written published works on these subjects. Mr. Gue also taught technical and management subjects at the college and university level. Mr. Gue has published a hardcover book on factory management and many articles in various professional periodicals, and he has consulted world-wide on this subject. He has served on provincial education task forces, such as the one for 'Standards of Practice for Teachers" and several education policy advisory councils. Mr. Gue founded Burlington Youth Aid, a crisis intervention service, and Taxpayers Coalition Halton. He has served as member or chair of Hamilton Industrial Education Council and several Provincial education task forces and committees. Mr. Gue and his wife are residents of Burlington.
Gerry Nicholls, Director
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Gerry Nicholls is one of Canada’s most prominent defenders of our economic and political freedoms. For more than twenty years he was a senior officer at the National Citizens Coalition, Canada’s largest independent pro-free market advocacy group. While at the NCC Gerry directed the group’s political strategy and oversaw its communication campaigns. Gerry now works as a freelance writer and as an independent political consultant. His columns on political affairs have appeared national newspapers including the National Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Sun Media chain. Currently Mr. Nicholls is a Senior Fellow with the Democracy Institute. He is the parent of two sons.
Staff
Doretta Wilson, Executive Director
- Mrs. Wilson
holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business, economics
and psychology from the University of Western Ontario.
She has worked in the private sector mostly in the
area of accounting. Mrs. Wilson has also been a strong advocate
for improving the quality of education offered in
Ontario schools. She served on the board
of Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability
Office (EQAO) from 1997 to 2005 and chaired its audit committee.
She was also a director of the Organization for Quality
Education, co-chair of the Ontario Coalition
for Education Reform, founder and past-president of
the Madonna High School Alumnae Association, and a
past member of the St. Gregory Catholic School Council. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network's National Literacy Strategy Advisory Committee. Mrs. Wilson has been involved in her local community in
various capacities and is a parent of three.
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