Gina Clemenza’s Retirement

by Dan Mullins

Friends, family, and colleagues recently gathered to celebrate Gina Clemenza’s retirement. Gina has worked for the Lester B. Pearson School Board since its inception in 1998 following the merger of the confessional boards, and for the Baldwin Cartier School Board before that.

The celebration, held at the Le Crystal reception hall in Saint-Laurent, was much like the woman herself – filled with loud laughter and love, with an abundance of close friends, and with plenty of good food and drink on hand. It was a veritable who’s who of LBPSB personalities, comprising current and former staff from practically every imaginable job category—including several directors general, chairpersons, and senior administrators. Most notably, the crowd included her husband David Friedman, her children, grandchildren, siblings, and other family members.

Gina worked in many roles throughout her career, most recently in the Directorate General as a superintendent, with a diverse set of responsibilities, acting in some ways as the office manager of the department. Working from Head Office since 2001, she served in the Student Services and Human Resources Departments, and before that, since the inception of the board, at St. Thomas High School.

At the reception, Gina’s speech lasted nearly an hour, but the time flew by as she had the large crowd in stitches with her insightful, irreverent (and sometimes risqué) brand of humour. Those who know Gina, and therefore most of the people assembled, heard the deep affection just beneath the surface.

The large turnout was undoubtedly due to the remarkably large network of people with whom she has excellent working relationships, many of which have grown into friendships outside the workplace. This is unsurprising considering the primacy Gina gives to people and relationships. Within the Directorate General, Head Office, and extending out to the schools and centres, she has made her talent for engaging with people, listening to them, and speaking her truth a huge asset to the organization and to an incredible number of individuals within it.

Among Gina’s many abilities is natural leadership. While she does manage people, her true leadership is brought to bear from the side of the table. She does this with freely offered opinions, often incisive, sometimes brave, frequently humorous, and always based on her values. These insights serve as reminders to always consider the individuals involved and showcase her talent for looking past matters that merely seem important to focus on those that truly are.

Gina’s friendly advice, organizational knowledge, and ability to plan events and marshal resources to accomplish whatever task is set before her will be greatly missed. To many of us, however, what will be missed most will be having that steadfast, hilarious, and knowledgeable friend as part of our working lives.