How did you become a part of ECNO?
Tim:
I have worked for school Board’s for 30+ years and have been a part of many ECNO events. I have also done multiple Board Best Practices presentations at ECNO’s annual conference. As such I feel that I have been a part of ECNO for quite sometime. I have always believed in the work that ECNO does and decided to put my name forward and apply when the opportunity arose. I was very happy to have been offered the position of Director of Customer Solutions and started to work in this exciting role with ECNO in November 2019.
John:
My first experience with ECNO was as the CIO at SCDSB. Timing was such that the annual ECNO conference was my first experience putting faces to the names. What a great initiation! That was 16 years ago for me now. While time has moved on, the essence of ECNO has not changed as much as deepened. As the new Director of Business Development, it is my pleasure to work with a great ECNO team to further expand and deepen the relationships between our member boards and educational vendors and partners/stakeholders working to ensure a primary focus is Student Achievement and Success for every student in Ontario.
If someone needed to fill in for you for a year, how would you describe what success in your role looks like?
Tim:
Success in this role is focusing on our member Board needs and fulfilling those needs. They need to provide leadership for the maintenance and enhancement of ECNO’s suite of products/services. They must foster productive working relationships, maintain and build upon the current relationships with ECNO’s vendors, ECNO committees (e.g. ECNO Advisory Committee and the Shared Technology Services Advisory Committee), ECNO IT Managers, and the Ontario school board community.
John:
Success in this role is achieved by a combination of focusing on ECNO’s member Board current needs while maintaining a vision that incorporates and anticipates the effects of technological change going forward. There will always be a need to live in both the current world and be open and prepared to embrace change. Maintaining an ability to meet the changing needs of student achievement and success through technology demands being open minded and collaborative.
What is your favourite ECNO story (past or present?)
Tim:
Presently ECNO has a new strategic plan built on the following 3 pillars.
Evolve our services to meet changing member needs
,
Expand our reach
, and
Create a culture of ongoing learning
. The new strategic plan shows ECNO’s increased commitment to find effective, innovative, IT solutions for Ontario School Boards. The education sector in Ontario is changing and is faced with financial pressures. Educators, students, and the community want innovative technology and appreciate the role of this technology in education. This is very important because ECNO’s new strategic plan is responding to the changing needs of Ontario School Board’s by changing and enhancing the way we service our member Boards.
John:
I’m sure we all have some great stories to tell about late hour guitarfests or social hours that ran into the wee morning hours at the ECNO conference. While some of these may be interesting, I think the greatest moments for me within ECNO are the “AHA!” moments achieved during periods of open table collaboration and sharing between Boards. For me, one of these moments occurs when we undertook the classroom application shared services project. Working with 4 very talented technology professionals from very different backgrounds and locations on their journey through the project reminded me daily of why we do this. The collective learning on the project far outweighed any other measured outcome.
What is one thing above all else you would like to achieve for ECNO in the next 3 years?
John:
The Director of Customer Solutions and the Director of Business Development positions align in our strategic purpose and activities. Therefore questions relating to the vision and mission of ECNO, are relevant for us both…
Tim:
I agree and we both want to continue to positively impact student achievement by improving student learning and School Board operations through the efficient use of technology to meet the changing needs in education.
John:
I concur and through those efficiencies we can grow our partnerships, focus on member needs, and become more agile so that we can continue to add value to our members and other educational organizations. Our goal is to work with our stakeholders to empower students, educators and administrators. This work reflects our new strategic plan.
