Doug Anguish has had a significant career in both the public and private sectors. He spent 20 years, from 1976 – 1996, in the politics of Canada’s prairie province of Saskatchewan. During that time he was a Member of Parliament and later a Member of Saskatchewan’s Legislative Assembly. While serving in the Provincial Legislature he was appointed to Executive Council where he was Minister of Energy and Mines and, later, Minister of Labour. Following his retirement from politics Doug moved to the Northwest Territories where he was Vice President of Marketing for the Northwest Territories Development Corporation. In 1998 Doug moved to Calgary, Alberta were he was part of the corporate management team for Renaissance Energy one of Canada’s top ten oil and gas producers. In late 2000 Doug became President of External Solutions a position he currently holds.
Helen Balanoff has lived in the Northwest Territories for more than 30 years, working in the field of education and learning. She has taught people of all ages in a variety of places. She later became Director of Early Childhood and School Services in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. She also worked as a researcher for the NWT Special Committee on Education and the Special Committee on the Review of Official Languages. Today she works for the NWT Literacy Council on family literacy, literacy research and workplace literacy projects.
Chris Bates leads the Essential Skills Outreach Team with the Human Resources Partnership Directorate, Government of Canada. He has been promoting this initiative to networks across Canada, for the past 3 years. Chris received his undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo with honours and has completed a certificate in human resources management at Conestoga College.
Mark Cleveland is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Education, Culture & Employment with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). He has worked for the GNWT for over twenty-five years in a wide range of roles – from community to regional and territorial levels. For the past eight years he has served, in several departments as a Deputy Minister. Mr. Cleveland's primary service has been in the field of adult learning and organizational development. He was directly involved in the establishment of the first regional education authorities in the NWT and played a key role in the establishment of a decentralized public college system in which he served as president for six years. For this work, he was recognized by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and was awarded the National Leadership Award. In his work with government departments, Mr. Cleveland has been actively involved in a number of major change activities. He led the establishment of long-term corporate plans for two government departments; managed the division of a department as part of the creation of the Nunavut Territory, directed the redesign of major programs including the NWT Income Support and Student Financial Assistance Programs and served in both leadership and participatory roles on a number of internal and external committees and boards.