Bio:
Ted Williams is a First Nation individual from the Chippewa’s of Rama First Nation. He comes from a family of 15 and has encountered many challenges living in the aboriginal community. Ted was schooled in a 2 room school house for 3 years on the reservation and graduated to riding a bus to the nearby town for the balance of his elementary education.
My past includes living in a pool hall and hustling snooker for 4 yrs.’, consuming too much alcohol, playing and excelling in hockey, softball and now golf.
I aspired to be a leader in my community since observing a Chief and Council meeting when I was 12. Thinking that I would need years of experience to become Chief I began to think regularly of being an elected official. At 25 my first term as a council member began, followed by another 2 years. During that last term as council member I was asked to become a candidate for Chief by the elders in the community, with their assistance, at age 29 I became the youngest elected Chief in our community history. I served for a single 2 year term as Chief.
A career in real estate and sales would follow and I became an achiever in that field over 4 years.
Native development, economic development, working with the non-native communities was another area of work in which I brought considerable expertise. Managing the Rama First Nation was a role that I cherished and lead me to head up the pursuit of the development of a casino in our native community. I co-wrote our winning proposal and handled a majority of the media and public relations for the project.
The winning bid to build the casino required a person to develop a plan, select team members and implement an ambitious $200 million project, I was asked by our leaders to develop Casino Rama. The project encountered various obstacles situations and issues which tested our resolve, nonetheless we accomplished the task and opened the casino 18 months after we had won the bid.
Once the casino opened I filled the role of Vice-President of Corporate Affairs in July of 1996, to be followed with the additional responsibilities of Human Resources in February 1998. Revenues the 1st year reached $550 million, and hovered at the $500 million level for the 5 yrs.’ I was at the casino.
I have been self-employed for 13 years, developing a consulting, speaking practice, a history as an artist, and a partner in a retail business’ during this time frame. My learning has encompassed over 4000 hours of personal development and practice in the last 27 years.
Golf has been a passion of mine for 29 years now, I started as a very high handicap, eventually winning 10 club championships, 4 professional tournaments and playing at the 2006 PGA Tours Qualifying School. I have also played snooker against the world champion snooker player 36 years ago.
My greatest accomplishments I share with my wife of 35 years, our 2 wonderful children who are adults achieving their own goals today.
I have lived on 2 golf courses, own a cottage, like to travel and share my experiences, skills, with my community and clientele.
As you can see, I have a wealth of experience in many areas both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. I am comfortable in either role and have grown as a result of my involvement in both worlds.
