On this episode of No Coaster Needed, I sat down with Irek Kusmierczyk. Irek is both the Director of Partnerships with WEtech Alliance and a Windsor City Councillor For Ward 7.

Irek has a PhD from Vanderbilt University in the United States and a Master Degree in Government from the London School of Economics. Irek sits on multiple boards including Essex Regional Conservation Authority, Transit Windsor and Windsor Public Library. He is also a proud Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

On the show, we talk about Irek’s move to Canada from Poland, returning to Europe to study, interviewing for a Rotary International scholarship halfway across the planet in the early 2000s, being in Nashville during the 2008 election, snakes and all of the anecdotes in between.

If you want to follow Irek or see his full Windsor City Council voting record, you can visit his website at irek.ca. You can also follow him on Twitter @Irek_K.

Interview Notes:

1:40 Being born in Poland, becoming political refugees and a one-way ticket to Toronto4:50 Moving from Toronto to Windsor (and almost ending up in Winnipeg) 7:55 Being embraced the Polish community in Windsor10:05 Moving to Ottawa for a journalism degree and looking up to Anna Maria Tremonti 11:50 Getting more international experience at the London School of Economics13:22 Studying Eastern European politics in Poland and the unbelievable tale that got him there21:50 Hiking across Poland24:35 Lessons learned from all of that walking28:25 Vanderbilt University, Nashville and the election of Barack Obama32:00 Returning to the Windsor area in 2010 and snakes38:00 Working with FIRST Robotics at WEtech Alliance41:10 Hacking Health43:50 Running for Windsor City Council48:50 Time Management and Wrap-Up

Season 1 of No Coaster Needed focuses on people with ties to Windsor, Ontario.

To see updates about future No Coaster Needed shows, visit NoCoasterNeeded.com or follow me on Twitter @JacobMcCourt.