Board Members

A member of The Ontario Genealogical Society for several years, Debbie Tibando’s experience as administrative assistant and office administrator at a non-profit organization helped her develop exceptional organizational skills, time management, and the ability to establish partnerships with new and existing organizations and service providers. In this role she planned meetings and produced minutes, and handled program planning and implementation.

Debbie was the key person in recruiting and supervision of volunteers, including job assignments and follow up. She participated in grant writing projects, and worked in collaboration with multiple organizations to provide programs for mothers and their children 0-6 years old.

Debbie is currently taking courses in research techniques, producing finding aids, marketing, and advocacy with Durham College’s Information and Library Technologist Program.

Debbie’s interest in genealogy began forty years ago, and she has researched ancestors in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy and Scotland.

When asked to suggest some goals that would serve Ontario Ancestors in the coming years, she outlined the following four areas:

Membership Enhancements – Develop opportunities for helping Branches engage with organizations and individuals in their local communities to build interest in family history pursuits

Visibility – Make Ontario Ancestors more visible to the public by participating in community events such as Heritage Days, Summer kickoff at the local library, Canada Day celebrations, local fairs or high school career day programs. This approach will also help in building and enhancing partnerships.

Education – Resources on the Ontario Ancestors website and on branch sites need Finding Aids for those who don’t know how to use them. Another aspect of education is introducing genealogy to those who may be just starting, particularly the younger generation, possibly through partnerships with schools and local library programs.

Volunteer Recruitment – Volunteers are an asset to any organization and Ontario Ancestors is no different. The ability to recruit and keep volunteers requires hard work and organization. Volunteers would be an asset to preserving what the OGS already has and enhancing the collections through indexing, research, and organization.

Contact Debbie:
Email:  [email protected]
Telephone: 1-855-697-6687  Ext: 250