Founders
David is deeply committed to progressive social evolution and cohesion. He has held numerous leadership positions in charitable organizations, the most significant of which was the Chair of Kids Help Phone, from 1997 to 2000. While Chair, he helped grow the organization from 5 to 40 chapters across Canada, launch the National Walk For Kids and expand services to include the Parent Help Line and online counseling. In addition, he was a founding member of the Task Force on Competitiveness, Prosperity and Innovation, where he has served since 2001. David is a passionate entrepreneur and philanthropist.
After graduating from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, he co-founded two private equity firms, Jefferson Partners and Lincoln Capital. Together they raised and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in over 50 high growth technology companies between 1984 and 2011.
His parents separated while they were in their 70s, and David himself is a divorced father of two. He has faced the same family and relationship challenges that so many have. Inspired by his own life experience, he created The NEXT Program to help people overcome those challenges and produce healthy relationships in a powerful and wonderful new way—whether they are separated or together.
As part of a modern blended family he has two adult children from a previous marriage and co-parents the 10 year-old daughter of his partner in life and in business, Nathalie Boutet. More than a company founder and leader, David and his family are successfully blended because they actively employ The NEXT Program in their lives. To him, The NEXT Program is the access for people in all walks of life to create and sustain healthy, fulfilling relationships.
Nathalie is a dedicated community leader and builder and is deeply committed to the wellbeing of families, whether they are separated or together. She is a senior Family Law Partner at the Toronto law firm Basman Smith LLP, and has been a leader in the Collaborative Family Law Movement since its inception. She is also a Deputy Judge in the Small Claims Court, a mediator, a teacher of collaborative law in Canada and Europe and a member of the Chief Justice Committee on Professionalism. Nathalie is deeply committed to altering the trajectory of Family breakdown and the impact on families when breakdown leads to divorce.
During the course of her career she has counseled thousands of couples and families and witnessed first hand the tremendous challenge and suffering that people are subjected to inside and outside the legal process. Her pivotal role in co-founding NEXT is her ultimate expression and commitment to families being strong and well, separated or together.
Nathalie’s parents separated in her early teens. In her late teens her new family separated again. In her early adult life she faced the same family and relationship challenges that so many offspring of divorced families encounter. This inspired her to pursue years of personal development work in a wide range of areas to find relief from the trauma of family breakdown. Along the way she also endured the early passing of her beloved husband when their daughter was at an early age.
Today, Nathalie is part of a multi-faceted blended family across generations, including her ten-year-old, the two children of her partner in life and business, David Folk, and her family of origin. By using the tools and methodologies from The NEXT Program, Nathalie has enabled herself and her blended family to come together in an extraordinarily powerful way.
