Ken's Bio

Ken Lister grew up in this ward and graduated from Westbrook, then Grandview Junior High, and finally Scona High School. Ken then completed his Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Alberta. While completing his degree, he worked at the Green Shack program in Lendrum, volunteered at McKernan in a grade 4 classroom, and did teaching practicums at Malmo and Sweet Grass. So he knows many of our schools and communities very well. He left Edmonton after working as an elementary teacher with the Edmonton Public School Board.

Ken moved to Toronto, and in 2014 he was elected as a School Trustee for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).

At the TDSB, Ken was elected Chair of the Budget Committee with a $3.1 Billion Operating Budget. As the Chair of the Budget Committee, he successfully eliminated the structural deficit without impacting classrooms by cutting central discretionary budgets for Superintendents and cutting School Trustee budgets by more than 50%. Due to demographics, enrolment at the school board decreased each year. With the decline in enrolment, funding for the board decreased each year from the province. However, due to Ken's leadership as Budget Chair, the spending on Special Education was never reduced.

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Ken made many positive changes directly in his community. He added a total of 134 childcare spaces in the community for infants, toddlers, kindergarten and school aged. He also added special education program offerings in the community for students with Autism and made a motion to raise a flag for Autism Awareness Day. Ken worked hard to expand access to specialty programs and added French Immersion to four more schools in the community, a new gifted program and a new STEM specialty program at a high school. Ken led the fight to fix our schools and ensured repairs were completed. Ken stood up to fight against hatred and bullying and to keep Marijuana stores away from elementary schools.

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As a School Trustee, Ken had a 97% attendance record at board meetings and was constantly holding Ward Forums to make himself accessible to constituents and answer their questions. In fact, Ken held 32 ward forums in four years - more than any other School Trustee. He also worked hard to attend graduations and attended 120 graduations over four years!

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Ken remains active in his community and he is currently on the parent council at his children's school and a volunteer with the Friends of Terwillegar Park Society. In his recent role as the Program Director for Brookview Community League, Ken organized a community fitness event and started up a community garden. He was previously the Vice President of Garneau Community League. He has also coached boys and girls soccer teams in Aspen Gardens and Grandview.

​Ken has spent his professional career working to improve the lives of children and he believes Experience Matters when choosing the best candidate for EPSB School Trustee.