Daryl Rock

Daryl Rock is a recognized expert in social development, disability rights, research funding and policy development. He is committed to social justice and improving community participation. Daryl left the federal public service as a senior executive in 2008 after spending the majority of his 21-year government career designing and leading programs at Secretary of State, Human Resources Development Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Upon leaving the public service, Daryl worked as a senior executive with the Canadian Council on Learning. He now commits his energy to philanthropic activities, volunteering and spending time with friends and family. Over the past 30 years, Daryl has also directed his skills toward the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors.

Currently, as a director at the Westwind Association, a national policy and program design organization that aims to find real-world solutions to social, economic and physical barriers that restrict people with disabilities from fully participating in society, Daryl has provided several federal departments and Crown agencies with strategic advice on how to ensure compliance with the Accessible Canada Act. In 2003, Daryl helped launch Freedom at Depth Canada, an organization committed to teaching people with disabilities how to scuba dive. He is a past member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Specialized Populations for the province of British Columbia, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, and is the founding chair of both the Institute for Knowledge Mobilization and the Rick Hansen Institute. In recognition of his community and public service, Daryl was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, the Order of St. John in 2013 and the King Charles III Coronation Medal in early 2025. In addition to studying engineering at Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Daryl Rock holds a bachelors’ degree in Political Science and a master’s in Public Administration from Carleton University.