Due to severe flooding in July, Barnett House will remain closed until early 2027.
The ATA Library is still open and providing resources to members.
Staff are working from home and continue to serve members online and by phone.
The Southern Alberta Regional Office (SARO) in Calgary is unaffected and conducts business per usual.
A familiar face will be taking on a key leadership role at the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). Richard Svoboda will assume the associate executive secretary role, previously held by Executive Secretary Robert Mazzotta. As part of the leadership team, Svoboda will also work alongside Elissa Corsi, who holds the other associate executive secretary position. Svoboda’s portfolio will include overseeing operations and key governance functions, including the Annual Representative Assembly.
“My job is to allow the staff in the Association to be the best that they can be, so they are able to provide the best possible service to membership,” said Svoboda.
After getting his teaching degree in 1990 from the University of Calgary, Svoboda started his career teaching science and physical education, first in junior high and then high school. After eight years in the profession, he began taking on leadership roles, including physical education department head, athletic director, vice-principal and principal. During this time, Svoboda earned his master’s in educational leadership from Gonzaga University. Svoboda later transitioned to working in central office roles for Calgary Separate, where he served as supervisor of First Nations, Métis and Inuit education; director of instructional services; and superintendent of human resources.
In 2021, Svoboda joined the ATA as an executive staff officer. After working in the ATA’s Discipline unit and Regulatory Affairs unit, he was appointed coordinator of the Government program area in 2025.
“All I do is develop relationships and support people and work hard. And I think through my relationships and my efforts, opportunities continue to present themselves.”
Svoboda loves leading people and giving them the chance to be successful. He looks forward to continuing to serve the Association and its membership through this role.
“When I was a teacher, I was a teacher of students. When I was a principal, I was a teacher of teachers. And when I was a superintendent, I was a leader of leaders,” he said. “And that’s where I’m moving again with the ATA: leading leaders.”
