FOOTNOTES - Better Living Health

Better Leadership: An Interview with William Krever, President and CEOto bring both Taylor Place and Thompson House togetherunder one senior leader. Up until that point, both theAdministrator of Thompson House and the Director ofTaylor Place reported directly to the Board of Directors.Under this model, the Board of Directors was very involvedin the management of the organization. To their credit, theBoard wanted to move to more of a governance approachand out of the management role. Once the position wascreated, they did move to a governance approach whichstill exists today and over the years it has been a greatBoard to work with.William Krever reflects on his experienceover the last 23 years at Better Living.Q: When did you first start working at BetterLiving (previously Don Mills Foundation forSeniors)?A: I first came to the Don Mills Foundation in December,1986 as the Director of Taylor Place. When I started, themembers were just completing their celebrations for thetenth anniversary of Taylor Place.Q: Why did you take the job of CEO?A: When the CEO job was created in 1991, it was intendedFrom my perspective, the position was very attractivefor two reasons. First, the Foundation had a concept ofproviding a continuum of care to seniors in the community.This approach is a very exciting and stimulating mandate towork under and makes the organization very dynamic andprogressive. To this day, the concept of a continuum of careis the cornerstone of DonMills Foundation and BetterLiving. Second, the policygovernance approach isa great model to workunder as a senior leaderwithin an organizationand the Foundation hadBill standing with Katherine McLeod, a very stimulating andManager of Administration andforward thinking group ofSpecial Projectsdirectors.The search processitself was a very intenseprocess. It was conductedby a national searchconsulting firm and was avery detailed process witha number of screeningsessions and interviews. Iwas very honoured and proud to be given the opportunityto be the first CEO of the Don Mills Foundation and I stillfeel that sense of pride just as strongly today. From theclients, residents and members to the volunteers and staffto the Board of Directors , this is truly a great organizationto work with.4