Hero Public Servants

I was let go by Harley-Davidson Canada in 2010 and became a restaurant waiter in 2011. And that was one the best decisions I have ever made.

But only because of four very specific people. Kent Aitken, Joshua Belinko, Laura Wesley, and Jodi LeBlanc.

Now, one of the many reasons I did not go back to a “9-5” was because I needed a job that would pay the bills, but not take over my life. I had begun work, alongside a few others, on a new platform called CitizenBridge and hoped it would lead to grander things.

It did, but not how I thought it would.

We applied to speak at the 2012 GTEC Conference as part of our CitizenBridge efforts. We also did not think we had a chance to be accepted since we were such a small outfit, but as the saying goes, the answer is always “no” until you ask.

To my surprise, a few months later I got an email from Kent Aitken and Joshua Belinko saying they would be interested in possibly having us in their Ignite Session. I was ecstatic. I mean, GTEC was a huge technology conference with thousands of people, and we were basically just an idea with a wireframe. This was our first big opportunity, and we could not blow it.

But that euphoria was short lived. During our first call both sides came to realize that a terrible mistake had been made. Kent and Joshua originally thought CitizenBridge was a government contractor, and not part of civil society. I remember the gut wrenching feeling when the tone in their voice changed. Seeing I had nothing to lose, I put on the hard-sell.

I do not know if my tactic worked or if they felt sorry for me, but by the end Kent and Joshua sounded promising and opted to give me a shot, but it would have to be vetted by the organizing committee.

A few weeks later we got the official green light. If you are interested, below is a link to the whole Ignite Session (my presentation begins at 15:19min mark).

So now, I am at GTEC trying to make new friends at a new school. Luckily, this is one of those instances where Twitter worked the way I think it was meant to work. I connected with Laura Wesley and Jodi LeBlanc through the GTEC hashtag, and we eventually met on the GTEC floor.

Both welcomed me with open arms and introduced me to their colleagues.

I was shocked. They were all so passionate and selfless about their work. I mean, they were nothing like the stereotypical bureaucrats in the movies. After learning more about them, their work, and their colleagues, I would start calling these non-stereotypical bureaucrats as as “Hero Public Servants.”

Since that day I have made it my mission to help Hero Public Servants any way I can. Whether it be short films on Open Government or articles about “less-mass-media-sexy” initiatives, I want to do my part and give these individuals the recognition they deserve.

Perhaps ironically, CitizenBridge would disband a few months after the GTEC event. But my work in Open Gov and Open Data continued.

In fact, you could say it went into overdrive.

A couple last 10 years of my life working on Open Gov and Open Data in my spare time was recognized by the Canadian Open Data Community. I was announced as this year's winner of the Canadian Open Data Leader of the Year Award.?

You have no idea how much it means to me.

It is a culmination of a decade’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears; living below the poverty line; doing in-kind blog writing in exchange for event tickets; pestering people to crash at their place when I travelled to those events; and all done in between my restaurant shifts.?

And I cannot help but acknowledge it never would have happened if it was not for Kent, Joshua, Laura, and Jodi in 2012. Their courage and compassion were the first domino that led me to work with hero public servants across Canada, and even a few around the globe.?

Those tiny little acts in 2012 were the quintessential flap of the butterfly’s wing that has shaped my life for the last decade.?

Thank you for believing in me and making me feel welcomed so many years ago.?