Dignitas International
Heather Johnston serves as the President and CEO of Dignitas International. With more than 20 years of experience in international development, Heather most recently served as Director of Programs at Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC). In this capacity, she oversaw the design and implementation of projects addressing health, education, food security and climate change, and led efforts to build capacity with local partners across six country programs in Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Haiti, Bolivia and Canada.
Prior to her work with CFTC, Heather was a Country Director at Marie Stopes International in Mali from 2008 to 2011. In this role, she launched the organization’s first program in Francophone West Africa: a results-driven national program delivering sexual and reproductive health services to low-income women and couples. Heather also previously served as Oxfam’s Regional Gender Equitable Education Program Manager in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali and Niger.
In addition to holding a Masters in Management and Development of Cooperative Businesses from Université de Sherbrooke, Heather completed a Bachelor of Arts in Peace & Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.
Chuck Taylor joined the Rotary Club of Uxbridge in 2006. In the Autumn of that year he attended a session at U of T called, “Africa, Hope in the Balance.” One of the speakers was Dr. James Orbinski, co-founder of Dignitas International. This inspired Chuck to meet with Dignitas where he learned that Rotary had been supporting Dignitas since 2003.
In 2009, Chuck participated in a sweat equity trip to Malawi, an experience that deepened his commitment to Dignitas. In 2014 with the support of 14 clubs in 5 Districts, including Belleville, Chuck obtained a Global Grant for a program we will hear about today.
Chuck is also committed to basic education and literacy. He is a past chair of the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre for Children and is Vice-Chair of Durham Farm and Rural Family Resources. He is his club’s literacy chair and has twice been President of the Uxbridge Club.
He received the 7070 Doug Dempsey award for the promotion of literacy in 2012/2013.
This past year, Chuck was recognized with his club’s highest honour, the Micky Jokovich award, for his work with Dignitas as well as Amarok, Durham Farm and Rural and Learning Through Play.