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Pam FitzGerald — Biography

Pam FitzGerald - Zone 5 College 613-731-4976 613-731-2010 Newspaper Columns	Click to enlarge

Trustee Pam FitzGerald has been a volunteer in Ottawa schools and in the community for many years. She believes in ensuring all children have better life choices and opportunities. Pam lives with her husband, Godfrey, and teenage sons, Gabriel and Nick. She has been a resident of Ottawa for over 25 years. Pam has an academic background in chemistry and public health and more recently she has undertaken studies in management accounting, philosophy, political science and education advocacy. Pam recently completed the 2006 Leadership Ottawa program. Pam has served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Health Coalition and as the Chief Executive Officer of Operation Dismantle. As the Executive Coordinator of the Midwifery Group of Ottawa, she helped establish the first legally-recognized practice of midwives in the Ottawa area. Pam has served on the boards of two community health centres and a daycare, as the chair of a community housing project, and for two years as the chair of Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils (OCASC), the largest association of school councils in Ontario. For ten years, Pam has been a tireless advocate for parents. She has served as a parent advocate in special education placement hearings and has organized countless educational sessions for parents. Pam regularly writes articles and newsletters addressing parental and student needs. She has served on school committees addressing student needs in the areas of bullying, special education rights, and health. In 2005, Pam was recognized for her work and nominated for the YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction award. In November 2006, Pam was elected as a school trustee for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and serves on its Human Resources Committee, Trades and Technology Committee, and the Children and Youth at-Risk Advisory Committee. She is the Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Board Evaluation Process and the Director Performance Evaluation Process. This year, Pam attended conferences addressing the issues of bullying and inner city schools. She is a co-ordinator of the Community-as-a-Living-System Project, a think-tank that encourages community sustainability. For two years, Pam has made regular presentations about special needs students to the new recruits of the Ottawa Police. She is also the President of the Ontario Association of Education Advocates, an organization that works on behalf of exceptional students. Last spring as the field supervisor to a graduate student, Pam supported a study on effective alternatives to suspension for at-risk students with an emphasis on school-based projects based on restorative justice. She sits on the Ottawa board and is a volunteer tutor with the Pathways to Education Project, a community initiative that provides financial, academic and social support to needy secondary school students. Pam is passionate that we must find better ways to guarantee that all children have a good education and can play a productive role in life.