About Us

Anne Danielle Gingras has been active in the education field for more than 26 years and is the ressource teacher in the learning assistance center at École secondaire catholique Algonquin in North Bay.  She completed her Bachelor in Arts (Honours)  with a specialisation in Music from the University of Ottawa, and received a Bachelor of Education from Université Laurentienne in 1993. She also holds a specialist qualification in Special Education and numerous supplemental qualifications in the field of autism from various institutions. In 2016, to honour her inner intuitive capacities, she completed a doctoral diploma in Applied Metaphysics and also became a Holding Space practitioner, facilitator and life coach, accompanying many individuals through their more difficult life paths. She is also an active Reiki Master – and a small business owner.  In June 2019, she was conferred the degree of Honorary Doctorate of Education ( honoris causa ) from Nipissing University in North Bay. She currently teaches Special Needs for Students at the School of Education – Nipissing University – North Bay ON.

Anne was instrumental in the development and the implementation of Snoezelen rooms in our area.  During her career, she taught many subjects such as language arts and also served four years as autism consultant at Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord.  She was also the autism resource teacher and one of the key founders of ‘Carrefour TSA’, the first francophone resource center within a provincial high school setting geared to accompany students on the autism spectrum on their life journey.  She has served on the Board of Directors of Autism Ontario and is the current vice-president of the Board of Directors for Community Living West Nipissing.   An altruist at heart, Anne has composed numerous musical compositions which she has dedicated to important social causes in her community such at the Remember Adam – Stop for the school bus and families afflicted with autism and Huntington disease.  Diagnosed with autism at the age of 41 years old, she continues to be a model for professional women on the spectrum and has actively participated in webinars and presentations about the matter.  She regularly speaks to local, provincial and national media, giving both radio and television interviews pertaining to autism awareness.  Although she stresses many elements of importance while discussing matters in education, Anne’s primary focus is and has always been that of the needs and capacities of each individual student.

Anne is the author of three books and continues to pursue her special interests pertaining to education, writing and music.

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Joël began his career in education in 1997. He has worked as a science and chemistry teacher at the intermediate and secondary level and has been a school principal since 2006.

From 2014 to 2018, Joël was on detachment from his school board as a Pedagogical Leader at CFORP, serving the 12 French school boards of the province of Ontario in Canada, as well as various educational partners. As a leadership coach, he worked with school principals throughout the province to help develop their leadership skills, as well as board-level pedagogical teams regarding leading, teaching and learning in the digital age.

Joël is presently a school principal at Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord, as well as a Provincial Leadership Coach at l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes. He is the founder of Inspire Leadership Coaching, and the host of Inspire Leadership Podcast. Joël is also a Certified Life & Executive Coach through the Certified Coaches Federation (CCF).