Burris Devanney: Biography
Burris Devanney grew up in Halifax, NS. He took degrees at Saint Mary’s, Dalhousie and the University of Ottawa. He enjoyed a full career as a high school teacher and administrator in Halifax, but also found or created opportunities to work in seven African countries – Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Malawi and Uganda. For nearly 20 years, along with his wife Louanne, he managed an NGO (the Nova Scotia - Gambia Association) working in education, health and community development in Gambia. Since retiring from NSGA in 2006 he has worked for a few weeks each year with the national teachers' union in Ghana (GNAT) in initiating and developing a unique community mobilization program that has now reached 60 villages throughout the country. More recently he has worked with the Uganda teachers' union (UNATU) to introduce the community mobilization program into that country.
Louanne has degrees in Arts and Education from Mount Saint Vincent University, has lived or worked in four African countries, including about two decades in education and project management in Gambia. Burris and Louanne have always called Halifax home.
(Family photo on left shows Devanney children Sara (14) and Matthew (12) and niece Michelle Webb (10), who accompanied the family on Burris' first posting to Gambia from 1982-84.)
Louanne has degrees in Arts and Education from Mount Saint Vincent University, has lived or worked in four African countries, including about two decades in education and project management in Gambia. Burris and Louanne have always called Halifax home.
(Family photo on left shows Devanney children Sara (14) and Matthew (12) and niece Michelle Webb (10), who accompanied the family on Burris' first posting to Gambia from 1982-84.)
Career in Education: Canada
- Teacher: St. Patrick's High School, Halifax
- Department Head, Vice Principal, Principal: Halifax West High School
- Principal: J.L. Ilsley High School, Halifax
- Lecturer in International Development: Dalhousie University
- Lecturer in International Development: Seniors' College Association of Nova Scotia (SCANS), Halifax, Truro & Mahone Bay
Above: With 77 former colleagues at gathering of JL Ilsley High School retired teachers in Halifax in December 2016.
Burris (standing, back row, 8th from right) was the first of these Ilsley teachers to retire.
Burris (standing, back row, 8th from right) was the first of these Ilsley teachers to retire.
Politics
In the 1968 Canadian federal election, Devanney was a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the riding of Halifax-East Hants. He stood for the Nova Scotia NDP in provincial elections in 1970 and '74. He served as provincial party president (1968-70) and on the party's national council (1968-74). He was editor and principal writer of Always a Work in Progress: Policies of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (1962-2016), published by the Nova Scotia NDP in 2016.
In the 1968 Canadian federal election, Devanney was a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the riding of Halifax-East Hants. He stood for the Nova Scotia NDP in provincial elections in 1970 and '74. He served as provincial party president (1968-70) and on the party's national council (1968-74). He was editor and principal writer of Always a Work in Progress: Policies of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (1962-2016), published by the Nova Scotia NDP in 2016.
 |
|
|
Above: Burris with Tommy Douglas, 1968. Louanne, Burris, Peggy Prowse & Lloyd Shaw, 1971 NDP Policy Book: 2016
Education and Development Work in Africa (1965 - Present)
- Canadian External Aid Office: Teacher/Advisor: Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) & Nigeria (1965-67)
- Canadian Teachers' Federation: Teacher Training, Ghana (1981)
- Cape Breton University: Coordinator, Technical Assistance Program, Gambia (1982-84)
- Gambia Technical Training Institute, Kanifing, Gambia: Registrar & Administrative Assistant to GTTI Director (1982-84)
- Nova Scotia - Gambia Association: Founding Executive Director (1986-2006) & Advisor (2013-17)
- Saint Mary's University: Coordinator, University Extension Program, Gambia (1995-2000)
- Nova Scotia - Sierra Leone Programme: Executive Director (2002-06)
- Guidance, Counselling & Youth Development Centre for Africa, Malawi: Consultant (2007-09)
- Canadian Teachers' Federation: Resource / Consulatnt, Community Mobilization Program, Ghana (2007-2016) & Uganda (2011-2017)
Burris introducing UNATU-CTF Community mobilization program in Nakabaale, Uganda, March 2015
Awards & Recognition
- Award of Excellence & Moonsnail Trophy, Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax, 1987
- Named a Paul Harris Fellow by Halifax Northwest Rotary / Rotary International, 1997
- Distinguished Community Service Award, Saint Mary's University, 1999
- Order of the Republic of The Gambia (with Rank of Officer), 2000
- Lewis Perinbaum Award in International Development Work, Canadian Bureau for Iinternational Education, 2003
- Bill McWhinney Award for Excellence in International Development (to NSGA), 2004
- Honourary Doctorate in Civil Law (Honoris Causa), Saint Mary's University, 2004
- Health & Well Being Award, Mainland North Volunteer Recognition Committee, 2005
- Special Recognition Award, Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), 2007
- CTF International Program Volunteer Recognition Award, 2014
- Shirley Case Leadership Award for Global Citizenship, Atlantic Council for International Cooperation (ACIC), 2016
Major Articles in Books, Journals, Magazines
- "Kenneth Leslie: A Biographical Introduction," Canadian Poetry: Studies, Documents, Reviews. Eds. Michael Gnarowski & D.M.R. Bentley (London, ON, University of Western Ontario, Fall-Winter 1979), pp.83-104.
- "Kenneth Leslie: God's Red Poet - Nova Scotia's Revolutionary Mystic" [Cover Story], New Maritimes. Eds. Gary Burrill et al (Enfield, NS: June, 1986), pp.4-11.
- "The Nova Scotia - Gambia Association," Windows on the World: University Partnerships, International Cooperation, Sustainable Development. Ed. Ian McAllister (Halifax, NS: Lester Pearson Institute for International Cooperation, Dalhousie University, 1993), pp.213-40.
- "Development, Achievement, Conflict and Resolution: A Brief Critical History of the Saint Mary's University Extension Program in The Gambia," Partners for Progress: A Canada - Africa Venture in University Building. Eds. Michael J. Larsen & James H. Morrison (Halifax, NS: Fernwood Publishing, 2006), pp.41-69.
