Don Tapscott '66 & Ana Lopes - Volunteer profile
Don Tapscott arrived at Trent University in 1966, not knowing what he wanted to do as a profession. He studied psychology and sociology, opening his eyes to how to think better, write better and solve problems.
“I came out knowing that for the next period of my life I didn’t want a traditional profession,” says the man recognized as top digital thinker in the world. “I wanted to be an activist to bring about a new kind of world. I was against the Vietnam War; I was for human rights, civil rights and gay rights. I felt that the world, while full of potential for someone like me, was a place that was unsustainable and unjust and I wanted to change that.”
Little did he know at the time how much he would use what he learned at the University to open up countless people’s eyes to how technology and other changes have revolutionized the world we live in. Nor did he realize how much his actions, large and small, would impact the University where he learned so much from his fellow students and his professors.
“They equipped me to do anything that I wanted to do,” Don says, “because I had such a big picture and such a confidence and such passion, I knew things would work out well.”
He went on to set up the Tapscott Group think tank and to write 17 ground-breaking books about collaborative management, the digital economy, the impact of technology on learning, and the impact of blockchain and cryptocurrency. He has travelled the world, advising country Presidents and Prime Ministers, speaking to audiences of thousands of people and receiving numerous accolades including the Order of Canada. During that time, he drifted away from Trent while still embracing the values he had learned there.
“Who I am and what I value are what Trent is,” he says. “What it stands for and what it is to the world, it’s hard to separate that out for me.”
During the early 2000s, he worried that Trent would be shut down as then-Premier Mike Harris was critical of liberal arts’ education. Don collaborated with then-chancellor Peter Gzowski to get 40 business leaders sign a Manifesto in Support of Liberal Arts” to defend programs that taught students how to think and solve problems.
He became re-engaged as an advocate and a donor, saying his volunteer roles have led to some of the most rewarding relationships and experiences in his life. He is particularly proud of his involvement in the Beyond Our Walls capital campaign that raised more than $17 million for campus improvements.
He modestly cites one of his most impactful roles was getting his wife Ana Lopes involved, by serving on the Board of Governors from 1998 to 2005 and making the institution more functional and viable. When Beyond Our Walls began, Don was “excruciatingly busy,” Ana recalls so she stepped in to offer her skills in building a case for investment and fundraising. And thus began her Trent education.
“I was at Trent longer than Don,” she says with a laugh. “For me, it was a novel experience in the sense that I was raised in an immigrant household in downtown Toronto. When I graduated from high school, it was not expected of me to go outside the city. You could go to U of T or U of T.”
While there are smaller bubbles within large institutions, she recalls Don and his three brothers talking fondly about their intimate classes and developing relationships with their Trent professors.
She is particularly proud of the opening of Gzowski College in 2003.
“It was a big privilege to work on the team that ultimately named the college and raised money for the college,” she says, grateful that his family agreed to have the former CBC broadcaster’s name put on the college posthumously based on what he had done during his time as chancellor.
“It’s a very interesting and fulfilling place. So much of what Trent does is at the heart of all of the issues that Canada faces as a country, such as reconciliation and climate.”
While Ana arrived with strong skills in governance and fundraising, she credits her time at Trent for teaching her more about university funding and fundraising, and how to navigate the systems and funding at that level. While she had previously volunteered with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH), “it’s a very different world,” she adds.
She hones her ability to find common ground and negotiate with people with differing perspectives, which could apply to two adjacent colleges within Trent or departments within a hospital, she notes.
“Everyone has various interests,” Ana says. “If you can understand that, then those skills are absolutely transferable.”
In 2013, Don took on the role of Chancellor for two terms, serving until 2019. He was the first alumni to hold this prestigious role. In his speeches, he still encourages graduates to step up to the challenges facing the world and to stay engaged with the university as they proliferate ideas and not just human species.
“Trent will equip students with the skills to be a good person or a good educator but ultimately it’s not the skills you need to have that matter but it’s their underlying capabilities that are important,” Don says. “It’s not what you know when you graduate, it’s your capacity to think, to solve problems, to see the big picture, to give a damn, to put things in context with compassion, to collaborate, and to know how to research. These underlying knowledge-economy capabilities are the things that will ultimately contribute to their success.”
Ana agrees that a Liberal art degree, like the one she earned at the University of Toronto, gives graduates a grounding for “whatever you do next in life.” She ran her own communications company after working as former Ontario premier Bob Rae’s executive assistant.
After leading the TSO’s board during its rebirth she played various roles, at the CAMH Foundation including its Chair, helping lead a capital campaign which is on track to raise $1 billion for a redevelopment,. She also serves on the boards of the Toronto International Film Festival and Community Food Centres of Canada and for her community service was inducted into the Order of Canada.
As the person who conferred the degress at convocation, Don was often witness to the emotional moments where the first person in a family or an African village to recieve a university degree.
In particular, he recalls one graduate in a hijab for whom he bypassed the usual tradition of shaking her hand, out of respect for her culture. She approached him after the ceremony to present him with a rose, thanking him for his respect.
“I was concerned that today would be the worst day of my life,” she told him. Instead, she felt incredibly positive about her convocation experience.
“There were dozens of things like that,” Don says. “It was a tiny act on my part.”
On a larger scale, he was also part of the discussion about what type of leader Trent needed when hiring now-president Leo Groarke and how Trent will evolve in the future. He was chancellor during the University’s greatest period of growth and presided over several key university events including its 50th anniversary celebrations, the grand opening of the Student Centre and the transformation of the Bata Library.
“Trent, from a historical point of view, is just beginning,” Don says. “There’s a lot to be done.”
He says it made sense to connect with his alma mater at a time when the world faces the dichotomy of massive impending problems for humanity yet the unlimited potential as species to resolve them.
“A bright future isn’t just going to happen,” he says. “It’s going to be created by people who bring their sense of responsibility, sense of justice, and their good values to the table. When I left Trent, that is what I wanted to do and it still is.”
He also engages new supporters of Trent, giving them a single lesson he learned from his time here long after graduation.
“Trent is a special place and you will be enriched by working with this little institution on the Otonabee River,” he says. “You can make a contribution and it will contribute back to you.”