Author Biographies :: Al Etmanski

Al Etmanski

Al Etmanski is a curator, author, blogger (www.aletmanski.com), advocate and social entrepreneur specializing in innovative, multi-sector solutions to complex societal challenges.

Al is currently a partner in the J W McConnell Family Foundation’s Social Innovation Generation (SIG), which is dedicated to scaling up innovative solutions to deeply rooted social problems and exploring new methods of financing the social sector. 

He is an Ashoka fellow, a Vancity Community Investment fellow, a faculty member of John McKnight’s Asset Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) and Co-Chair of the BC Social Innovation Council.

Al is co-founder of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN), assisting families across Canada and globally to address the financial and social well-being of their relative with a disability, particularly after their parents die.  He proposed and led the successful campaign to establish the world’s first savings plan for people with disabilities,  the Registered Disability Savings Plan.

Once describing Al as an Abundant Community Pioneer, Peter Block wrote:  

Al Etmanski is one of North America's best social inventors. He has looked beyond traditional institituions and their failures to create new means of achieving a better life. His analysis of the forms of organization that enable local communities while avoiding rigid hierarchies is groundbreaking.

His book A Good Life is a wonderful and practical guide to the potential for neighbors to grow strong through the power of hospitality.