Barry Forward is a proud parent of two recent graduates from the North Vancouver school system and is himself a graduate of British Columbia public schools.  For Barry serving on the Board of Education is a means to be involved in the decisions that connect young people with opportunity. He is deeply interested in empowering young people and helping them find their purpose.  Barry’s key priorities as a trustee are to be a champion for youth voices, and to facilitate greater community engagement in education.

Barry spent his early career in journalism and broadcasting, moving into communications and public relations.  He is a certified executive coach, and a partner in a youth career and life coaching business called Inspired Strengths.  Additionally, Barry has significant entrepreneurial experience, particularly in the high-tech sector.  He is a part-owner of a mobile technology company – a perspective he brings to the school system as it explores new media and innovative educational tools, and the way in which mobile technology is changing children’s patterns of thinking and learning.

Barry has been a sports coach for more than a decade and has worked with a variety of youth-oriented community organizations. He has served on the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s Vancouver Coastal Regional Planning Committee, the executive of the North Shore Girls Soccer Club and the School Planning Council for Canyon Heights Elementary School. Since being elected as a trustee in 2008, he has served as chair for the Finance and Facilities Standing Committee. He also serves on the North Vancouver Recreation Commission, and the NVSD’s Secondary Principals Screening and Selection and Policy Review Committees. He was elected vice chairperson by the Board in June, 2010.

January 2012