In the Beginning….
“In the spring of 2002 a group of old IDRC “hands” began to meet regularly to discuss the merits of creating an IDRC former-staff organization. Essentially in these informal gatherings we remembered the extraordinary group of people who came together to give purpose and body to IDRC. Increasingly in our discussions we realized that, as David Hopper, the Centre’s first president, shaped and directed many of us and the activities that would realize the Centre’s goals, we had been privileged to be involved in a continuing adventure that included some strange, humorous, and significant times and events.
In polling our IDRC colleagues about a former staff group we encountered an overwhelmingly positive response. We developed a preliminary list of former staff members and organized the inaugural meeting of the group–the September 20, 2002, reception. That evening nearly 100 of us joined the new organization–which we called IDRC ALUMNI [Les Anciens du CRDI]–and, after the shortest corporate meeting in history (a tradition we will maintain), the Members present decided to convert the founding committee into the founding Board, charged with the responsibility of developing a more clearly defined set of activities and a form of corporate structure.
Our plan is to continue to work in the context of an Annual Reception and Meeting….
That first took place on Friday, October 24, 2003 at 5 pm, in the IDRC Conference facility in Ottawa.
The first Board: James Pfeifer – Chair, Mary Blackwell – Secretary, Gerry Bourrier – Treasurer, Alison Craig – Membership Director, Claude Paul Boivin – Director Programs and Activities, and IDRC staff representatives Angie Anton and Jean-Marc Fleury.”