Eric Windeler, BCom’82, LLD’15, shares that he’s shifted out of his role as executive director of Jack.org and into a founder role at the national mental health charity he started in memory of his son, who the family lost in 2010. “I’m grateful for the support of Queen’s University and my graduating class of Commerce 1982.”
Alumni Notes
Submit your alumni note to Smith Magazine1982
Eric Windeler, BCom, and his organization Jack.org, have received global recognition for their work in youth mental health. Be There, an initiative of Jack.org, won two Webby Awards, recognizing it as the top health website in the world. Hosted at BeThere.org, the educational tool helps young people recognize when a peer is struggling with mental health and shows how to provide support. Be There was created after a survey of Canadian youth showed that while 83 per cent said they have supported a friend struggling with mental health, only 39 per cent felt they were confident to offer the support needed. “We set about creating an evidence-based, interactive resource that was easy to understand and truly engaging” says Eric. Jack.org, a national charity with 46 staff, 3,000 youth volunteers, and activities all across Canada, was founded by Eric and his wife, Sandra Hanington, after losing their son Jack, a Queen’s student, to suicide.
Published in: Fall 2020
Eric Windeler, BCom, LLD’15, has been awarded the 2017 Queen’s University Alumni Humanitarian Award. Eric and his wife, Sandra Hanington, founded Jack.org in 2010 after their son, Jack, died by suicide while in first year at Queen’s. Eric has built Jack.org into a national youth mental health charity with a staff of 22, supporting the volunteer work of more than 2,500 young leaders at over 150 Jack chapters in high schools, colleges and universities in every province and territory across Canada.
Published in: Summer 2018
1981
Peter Drabble (MBA) is pleased to announce that Washington International Business Ventures (WIBV), the consulting firm he launched from an office on “K” Street in Washington, D.C., with no clients, and a phone that never rang, when he and his wife had a baby on the way, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. WIBV assists clients doing business between North America and Japan in the renewable energy, water management and environmental sciences sectors.
Published in: Winter 2015
Miles D.A. Protter (BCom) is enjoying life tremendously in Perth,where he runs the Australian business of JMJ, a management consultancy. He has learned to surf and kite board and notes that it is a very steep learning curve when you take up those activities later in life. He is excited about his daughter Lily getting ready for university. Miles has gotten involved in taking groups of young men and their dads to help at an Aboriginal school in Alice Springs during winter break.
Published in: Winter 2011
Elizabeth Geiger (BCom) died June 28 in Ottawa after a courageous battle with cancer. Liz was an Associate Partner at IBM and had an international career that took her to the U.S., Europe, Asia and South America, where she developed business solutions for C-level executives across a range of industries. She was a talented visual artist, fashion designer, athlete and pianist. She is survived by Paul Sutcliffe, her husband of 19 years, sons Alexander and Malcolm, her mother Dorothy Geiger and five siblings.
Published in: Winter 2014
Peter Drabble (MBA) is pleased to announce that Washington International Business Ventures (WIBV), the consulting firm he launched from an office on “K” Street in Washington, D.C., with no clients, and a phone that never rang, when he and his wife had a baby on the way, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. WIBV assists clients doing business between North America and Japan in the renewable energy, water management and environmental sciences sectors.
Published in: Winter 2015
Jeffrey Anderson, BCom, died on Jan. 25. After graduation, Jeff embarked on a career in finance in Toronto and Pittsburgh, eventually moving to Chicago and reinventing his career as a senior solutions engineer in the telecom industry. Jeff enjoyed a full life filled with family, friends, travel, sport and a love of the outdoors. Jeff was an avid antique enthusiast. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Alisa, and children Meredith, Ben and Mac.
Published in: Fall 2020
Iain Bruce, BCom, after retiring in 2015 from his position as a Senior Managing Director of NYC-based Ambac Assurance Corp., is now operating Barrell Mill Advisors, LLC, an independent consultancy in credit-risk management and related fields. He has immersed himself in not-for-profit board work in and around his hometown of Westport, CT. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Westport Weston Family YMCA Foundation. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the Westport Library, he chairs the Building Committee responsible for the Library's $19.5M renovation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Staples Tuition Grants, an organization providing needs-based university-tuition assistance to graduates of Westport's public high school. He continues to serve on the Smith School of Business Advisory Board and Global Council.
Published in: Summer 2017
Derek Briffett, MBA, has joined the board of directors of SunOpta, a global company specializing in organic, non-genetically modified and specialty foods. Derek has had a long career in the consumer packaged goods and food industries, working at such companies as Associated Brands, International Foods Group, Conagra, Loblaw Companies, Kraft and Procter & Gamble.
Published in: Winter 2018