New president to help alumni find their voices

By Crystal Lamb

When David Simmonds was searching for his voice, he found it as a student on Western’s campus. And now, as he begins his term as President of the Alumni Association, he plans to use that voice to share the university’s story and encourage alumni to engage with each other, current students and the broader community.

Simmonds, BA’07 (Political Science), grew up in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In his current role as Vice-President of Public Affairs at McKesson Canada, he manages corporate marketing, public policy and communications for the large health company. He knew from the moment he first crossed over University Drive Bridge on a campus visit with his parents that Western had the atmosphere he was looking for in a university.

“The student voice is important at Western. When I was a student, I found myself having a role to play in offering that voice – and it just never stopped,” he said. “When I look at what we do with Western Alumni, I’m thinking ‘How do we make the alumni voice as central to that experience post-Western as the student voice is to that experience while at Western?’”

Prior to taking the reigns as President, Simmonds served as President of the University Students’ Council (USC) Alumni Chapter and volunteered on several association committees prior to his nomination to its Board of Directors in 2013. He hopes to use his skills to promote the association and its mission and value to the more than 285,000 alumni living around the world.

“I became passionate about telling stories early in my family life. You had to tell stories to get fed in a family with six kids,” he laughed. “And then I learned to tell stories in a powerful and persuasive way in the liberal arts program. My experiences at Western gave me tools in my toolkit I use to this day.”