MARY
GORDON
Mary Gordon
has been a teacher of children, a teacher of parents, and a teacher of
teachers, beginning her career as a kindergarten teacher in 1969. Through the
Toronto Board of Education, in 1981, she founded
Canada
’s first and largest school-based parenting and family literacy program whose
model has since been shared around the world.
She left her position as administrator of Parenting Programs in 2000 and
founded
Roots of Empathy
, a charitable organization that teaches elementary students human development,
emotional literacy, and nurtures the growth of empathy.
Thousands of children across
Canada
are currently involved in
Roots of Empathy
, and the program is now poised for international implementation.
Ms. Gordon has consulted in
South Africa
through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and The
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Ms. Gordon has spoken extensively throughout
Australia
and
Japan
. She returned to
Japan
in November 2002 to keynote at a national conference on
childhood & families and speak at several universities.
Ms. Gordon was a member of the Ontario
Early Years Study chaired by Dr. Fraser Mustard and the Honorable Margaret
McCain. In February of 2001, she received the Distinguished Educator Award from
The University of Toronto. In June
2002,
Mary Gordon
became one of the first-ever Canadian recipients of Ashoka's
global fellowship for leading social entrepreneurs. Again, in November 2002, the
Toronto Foundation for Student Success presented Mary with the Fraser Mustard
Award which recognizes corporations and individuals for their contributions to
the physical, emotional and intellectual well-being of
Canada
’s next generation of leaders.
In January 2003, Ms. Gordon was presented a Commemorative Medal for the
Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by the Ontario Teachers’
Federation for her service to students, teachers and the profession in
Ontario
.
Ms. Gordon’s devotes her
considerable energy to building caring, peaceful and civil societies, classroom
by classroom, through the
Roots of Empathy
program.
website:
www.rootsofempathy.org