Giving For Lasting Change

Alister is the executive director of the Barrett Family Foundation. He was first introduced to Bob Barrett and the Barrett Family Foundation in 2014. At that time, he was a vice-president at Humber College in Toronto and led a team of educators to establish a partnership with BFF that resulted in the creation of the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation, which is outlined in Chapter 2. During this time, he was introduced to BFF's progressive approach to philanthropy and witnessed firsthand the inspiring impacts of their donations. When he retired from Humber, Bob asked Alister to come and work with him at BFF. Without a second thought, Alister jumped at the opportunity. Alister is an internationally recognized author of academic books in tourism and several children's books on Canada. His academic books, written between 1982 and 2006, have been described as seminal works in the discipline of tourism studies. His six children's books have been described by the Globe and Mail as "must reads" and have received endorsements from notable Canadians including former Governor General, the Right Honorable David Johnston, Wheel in Motion activist Rick Hansen, and broadcaster Peter Mansbridge. Alister and his family recently moved to British Columbia after living in Ontario for nearly 40 years Emilio is an entrepreneur, filmmaker, author, and proud grandson of Bob Barrett. He is a graduate of Economics and Management (BA) from the University of St. Andrews and a Co-Founder of Argon Prototypes Inc., a precision manufacturing company in Toronto. In 2024, Bob invited Emilio to study his philanthropic journey and to sit on BFF's board in an observational role. The following year, Emilio and Alister began co-authoring this book.