Al Etmanski

Al Etmanski is weaving a safety net for people with disabilities, allowing them to cope with the loss of their care-giving parents and the unpredictable changes in government-funded support services. His organization, Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN www.plan.ca), has created an infrastructure that systematically builds community, while dismantling the obstacles inherent in the social systems that control publicly funded services for the disabled. Al’s current focus is scaling up proven solutions to the social and economic well being of people with disabilities.  He proposed and led the successful campaign to establish the world’s first and only Registered Disability Savings Plan.

Al is also a founding partner in Social Innovation Generation (SiG), a national collaboration addressing Canada’s social and ecological challenges by creating a culture of continuous social innovation.