Robert Foster

Background

About Robert Foster

My overall experience has included work with health care, libraries, social media, newspapers, project management, information technology and politics - an interesting mix indeed. However, it provides me with unique perspectives in a variety of areas. Currently I am a part time professor at Niagara College. The focus of my teaching is in the Environmental program classes - Organizational Sustainability is a class that I focus on. Previously, I managed and project managed the Ontario Laboratory Information Systems application team at LifeLabs, an organization that serves the healthcare needs of Canadians. We were using an agile development framework, something that I was able customize for our use. In May of 2019, after my election as a Councillor for Lincoln to the Region of Niagara, I chose to retire from this position. I have earned two Masters Degrees from the University of Western Ontario. I completed a Masters in Public Administration (2021), while previously having achieved a Masters in Library and Information Sciences (2012). My initial degree was a BA in Political Science from McMaster University (1993). I have also achieved a PMP designation in 2011 and have maintained it since. While completing my initial Masters degree, I assisted Dr. Diane Rasmussen in developing and writing a chapter for a book on social media, which was published in August 2012. I have also been a guest speaker on relationships between elected politicians and libraries for programs of OLSN (Ontario Library Services North). Politically, I was elected to the Town of Lincoln Council in 2001 and served continuously for 18 years. For October of 2018, I was elected (and subsequently reelected) as Councillor of the Town of Lincoln at the Region of Niagara and have been elected of Corporate Services both terms. Specialties: systems design, applications development (both in agile and waterfall frameworks), project management, staff management, operational responsibilities, vendor relationship management, customer service, public speaking, politics.