Bill Adair
William Adair has extensive professional and community leadership experience in the areas of healthcare and disability. Mr. Adair’s career in the non-profit and public sectors employs collaborative and principled leadership that inspires all involved to achieve extraordinary results.
Mr. Adair was the National Patient Services Director at the Canadian Cancer Society for 13 years where he created a strategic plan to coordinate cancer control efforts throughout Canada. He was the first Executive Director of Wellspring, a psycho-social support centre in Toronto for people living with cancer. He participated on an international panel to evaluate the first five years of Europe Against Cancer. He was the CEO of Spinal Cord Injury Ontario for 23 years, increasing its budget from $2 million to over $10 million during his tenure.
Mr. Adair is presently the Executive Director of Spinal Cord Injury Canada, a consumer-driven federation that assists people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities in achieving independence, self-reliance and full community participation.
He is a founding member of the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Candlelighters Canada and the Dorothy Ley Hospice.
Most recently, Mr. Adair has devoted his leadership and expertise to the Government of Canada through the Canadian Access and Inclusion Project; the Federal Accessibility Legislation Alliance; the Working Group on Alternate Format Materials; the advisory group to the Canadian Human Rights Commission on Compliance with the CRPD/Optional Protocol, and to the Parliamentary Precinct Accessibility Advisory Panel. Mr. Adair also led the committee that developed recommendations for the Government of Canada’s Accessibility Communications policy. He is a member of the Accessibility Standards Canada Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Disability Advisory Group led by Canada’s Minister Responsible for Disability Inclusion.
Mr. Adair has a Bachelor of Science (University of Minnesota) and is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Course on the Management of Non-Profit Organizations (Harvard University). He received a Meritorious Service Medal from the Government of Canada in 2016.