Schedule II: Operation Interview

“I’m free whenever you are!”

My inbox pings with a message and I can’t help but smile as I click to open Skype. Despite our initial interview time being delayed by a meeting running long (according to my subject, a “typical workday for me is mostly meetings, most of the time I’m in meetings” – I hear you, pal), the message I receive is still somehow upbeat and encouraging. In fact, I think those sentiments also sum up the man himself.

As Skype plays its cheerful ringtone, I wait for the screen to fill with the image of another office, across the city, and with the face of my interviewee for this profile – Mr. Ronnie Lebi, Manager of Application Administration. I couldn’t make it out to his home base at 140 Borough to conduct the interview, so we’re meeting in the digital landscape, which, given his role in the IT department, is serendipitously fitting.

Ronnie’s workspace is typical of most TDSB offices; grey‐beige walls, L‐shaped desk, and a filing cabinet decorated with a smattering of magnets. A framed picture with splashes of orange, yellow, and black hangs on the wall behind him, and a T‐shirt is pinned proudly to his adjacent wall – but more on that later.

“I’m on the fourth floor, the penthouse,” he jokes, when I ask him where he’s located. It’s at this point I have to confess I’ve only been to 140 Borough once, and it was to visit the basement (which, granted, was very nice despite the fact I got very, very lost). “It’s actually a cool building, it was designed by the same architect that designed the North York Public Library,” he tells me.

(Some quick Googling tells me that this would be , a architect who designed three notable buildings in the city – the North York Central Library (1987), the Scarborough Civic Centre (1973), and the Toronto Reference Library (1977) – all characterized by their massive atriums and zigzag staircases. Fun fact: Incorporated into the atrium at the North York Public Library is a frieze depicting six alphabetic symbols representing Runic, Roman, Cree, Chinese, Indian and Semetic cultures! Source)

This is typical of Ronnie, from my experience. His attention to detail and genuine interest in things makes him thoughtful and curious. More than once he’s surprised me by asking about some small detail of my life or work that I’ve only mentioned in passing. When I ask him if he’s always worked out of Borough, I find out that he spent half his career at 1 Civic, in Etobicoke. “So I have both ends of the city covered, but never the middle.” Now don’t tell me you live in the middle, I tease. “I live in the middle,” he deadpans. Ba dum tss.

I discover that Ronnie actually started with the TDSB right out of high school, as a student caretaker roving between sites during the summer. From there he did some clerical work, some hours as a summer school OA, and after graduating university, he joined the Client Service desk. He dabbled in development and worked his way up to Supervisor. Then, he made the jump to Manager.

So what does an Application Manager do? Let’s circle back to those meetings – “making sure that our projects are on schedule and are aligned with Board strategic goals and IT strategic goals,” he tells me, which involves liaising with people and groups all across the TDSB. His team works on device management (desktops, laptops, Macs, PCs, iPads, etc.), application management (procuring and pushing out software; managing applications like GSuite, BAS, FSWeb, Parklane, and Key to Learn; troubleshooting) and IT change management (ensuring that IT changes are implemented successfully and with the least amount of disruption). When I ask him what time his day starts in

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order to fit that all in, he admits to being in the office by 8 am. I accuse him of being a morning person, which he denies, but then admits he’s become a bit of one. He likes the light and the energy in the morning, and would rather leave the office before the sun sets on his commute. (We take a moment to commiserate on our shared lack of visible windows in the office. I can see one in the distance, I tell him. I think I make him jealous.)

I’m interested in what appeals to him about his work, so I ask. He takes a brief moment to think, then says, “Seeing change happen. Seeing things that we work on make a difference to teachers, staff, and ultimately students.” He enjoys the problem solving aspect of his work, and the opportunity to work on new initiatives. He’s excited by change, rather than fearful of it, and talks more than once about how students today are really pushing the organization to adopt new technologies and find ways to use them in classrooms and work environments. He’s enthusiastic about the future and the flexibility he sees there.

I try, but I can’t resist asking the one question that plagues all IT professionals: Apple or Android? He laughs. “Android.” We share a virtual high five across the broadband.

Obviously, now that I have confirmed he has a good head on his shoulders, I’m curious about Ronnie’s education. When I ask him about school, he tells me he attended Jewish Day School for K to 8, but joined the TDSB for high school – William Lyon Mackenzie CI in North York, to be exact. “I loved it,” he confesses, “The diversity – learning about different people and different cultures helped me to develop a more inclusive world view.” From there, he was off to , where he studied Computer Science. I ask him about the other folks in his department, and if they have similar backgrounds and experience. He tells me with another laugh that they’re not all just ‘tech heads’ as he puts it – in fact, he feels that one of the strengths of his department is that the people are unique and have other interesting things in their lives. It’s what allows them to come up with creative solutions, how they develop out of the box thinking.

It’s now that I ask him about that T‐shirt pinned to his wall. He glances up at it and when he faces the camera again, he’s grinning. “We did a Habitat for Humanity Build,” he explains. “It was in Scarborough, near us. And in order to participate you have to raise a certain amount of money, so you’re not just donating your time, but also funds.” He explained how neat it was to see people who work together every day out of their element. Because a lot of their work in IT is intangible, it was a unique experience to have a hand in building something so solid.

I want to tell him that I think he’s built something pretty solid out of his career, but before I can, the power goes out in his office. If that’s not a fitting way to end an interview with IT, I don’t know what is.

Fast Facts What’s the last thing you really geeked out about? “An Aston Martin Vanquish parked in the area.” (No seriously, look at this thing…)

What’s a book you’ve recently really enjoyed? “The World According to Garp, by John Irving.” (Also a movie starring Robin Williams!)

Lastly, and most importantly, who was your favourite cartoon character as a kid? “Marvin the Martian!” Ronnie Lebi

Manager of Application Administration [Stephanie Romm for TSTN, September 2019] & Noted Fan of Marvin the Martian

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