Neil Nelson:  

Life Long time passing. I left Listowel in 61 and finished high school in St. Catharines, at Merriton H.S. Went to Teachers' College and taught in St. Kitts until 1970. Finished my B.A. in Psych and headed off the grad school at MSU (in Michigan). Spent 4 of the next 5 years there and got a PhD in Education Administration. Moved to Thunder Bay and taught at the Fac of Education and the School of Business at Lakehead U for six years. Fell in love with the North and travelled a lot, even in tiny bush planes. Farthest North was Ft Severn, Hudson Bay shore - but only a 12 minute visit! Spent a year teaching at OISE/UofT then stayed in Toronto. Good years and I enjoyed the big city for years, though in time it's noise and rush and greed over-ran the joy of the funky neighbourhoods and great food. But it was fine in the years that were right for me. Worked for Metro Toronto in HR and anti-racism until 1989. Got into consulting - from tiny non-profits to AMEX, CIBC and other such giants, various cities and government stuff too. Tired of that in time. Realized I didn't care if AMEX or AETNA had a good year; I liked the non-profit sector more. Began that change in Toronto and finally got a job back here in T.Bay, working with police and Aboriginals. Racism, over-policing, profiling - that kind of work. That lasted almost two years and it opened a lot of doors (few that paid well but that's OK) so I have been working with and for organizations that care about mental health, poverty, addictions and realities like the fact that 90% of the folks in jail in Kenora are Aboriginals. Seems to be the right place for me right now. I sit on some steering committees in that area, and on the board of the United Way. Small cities have more opportunity - if you care ab...Expand for more