Even though Toby has been a DUCW member for only a few months, his association with the Club goes back several years to our Folklorama pavilion in 2004. His parents from Australia were visiting Winnipeg at that time, and attended our show with him. He has had an oblique interest in the Club ever since.
Toby was born in Adelaide and attended Brighton Primary School and then took his high school at Westminster School. From there, he earned a B.Comm. at University of Adelaide, and a Chartered Accountant designation in the three years he was working with KPMG Adelaide. After a 3-month secondment to Wellington and Auckland, Toby transferred to KPMG Toronto (for what was only meant to be 2 years) and his work shifted to IT project management.
Next, he was two years with Delano Technologies, which involved travelling to Dallas, Kansas City and California in the US, and a year long project in Copenhagen with weekend visits to a number of European cities.
Back in Toronto, he met Jennifer Horbaty from Kenora and they were married by the shores of Lake of the Woods in 2001. In 2003, they moved to Winnipeg where he was a contract Project Manager to Investors Group for three years before becoming a staff member for the past seven years.
Jennifer grew up in Kenora, ON. She attended school there and later graduated from University of Guelph with a degree in Wildlife Biology. For the past three years, she has also worked at Investors Group as an administrator in their insurance group.
The Elsons have a son, Tiernan, who is six years old and now in kindergarten. He really enjoys soccer and Lego!
Toby and Jennifer are outdoorsy types – fishing, kayaking, hiking – and they enjoy summer visits to Kenora.
They have other down under connections too. In 2000 Jennifer did research on Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef for a month and in 2006 they spent two months travelling New Zealand and Australia.
It’s great to finally have them on board as DUCW members, and we look forward to their participation in our many events.
Gordon Keatch