ST. PAUL - The St. Paul Abilities Network (SPAN) has a new executive director at its helm. Anthony opden Dries has been hired by the board to lead the organization forward following more than a year of uncertainty and significant change within the agency.
“After a long and extensive process sorting through literally dozens of qualified applicants from across Canada, our board is extremely pleased to have appointed someone with Mr. opden Dries’ qualifications. Anthony brings a wealth of experience in related fields and within our government partners,” board president Len Gagne said. “We are extremely confident in Mr. opden Dries’ ability in guiding our agency back to its core values.”
SPAN provides services and programming to persons with disabilities in the St. Paul area and has a 56-year history in the community. The abrupt departure of its former executive director Tim Bear in 2019 was followed by the board announcing a financial and operational review of the organization. SPAN also moved to divest itself of several business ventures, moving away from the social enterprise experiment that had been underway and announced it was re-focusing on the delivery of services to persons with disabilities. The organization’s biggest venture, the Hampton Inn by Hilton, went into receivership in April 2020.
However, with its energies refocused on service delivery and an $18.3 million nod of approval from Alberta Community and Social Services to continue in that role, Gagne is looking forward to concentrating SPAN’s efforts on the future.
“Our 135 employees are the foundation of our agency and as a board, appointing an executive director with Anthony’s strong collaboration style will ensure SPAN’s exemplary record of serving our clients for many years to come.”
For his part, SPAN’s new senior executive is pleased to be back in Alberta. He has moved here from B.C. but he grew up in Rocky Mountain House. He has worked in not for profit and with government entities both in Alberta and BC and believes his experience will support the organization in creating opportunities and supporting SPAN in moving forward.
“I’ve been working in the field of disabilities for a really long time and SPAN has a strong background in the community of St. Paul and area. As the board has been revisioning and coming back to the grassroots of SPAN’s original mission and vision of servicing people with diverse abilities, it’s an opportunity to reinvigorate the organization and the community of St. Paul,” opden Dries said.
He is a University of Lethbridge grad with a BA in Psychology, beginning his career in services for persons with disabilities by working for several non-profits in central and southern Alberta. He later worked as a client services coordinator, contract manager and manager with Alberta’s Persons with Developmental Disabilities branch before moving to BC and continuing his career in the field, most recently as a manager with Community Living BC.
Asked what his first steps are moving into the role, opden Dries said the organization has a “very strong core” and there are some strong leaders within the staff. He recognizes there has been some tumultuous times for the organization in the last year but he believes there can be some positive outcomes as a result of having gone through a period of challenge.
“That is part of what I am seeing. To be completely honest, in the week and a bit that I have been here, we have a very strong core team and they are very much embracing the vision of people are our purpose. They really want to see the individuals with diverse abilities succeed and they want to continue to be a part of St. Paul, and continue to really mobilize and move forward,” opden Dries said.
“When I look at it from a change management point of view and from a leadership point of view, I think there is a lot of opportunity here.”
SPAN provides support services and programming to more than 150 individuals and families in the area.
