Reflections on the Life, Leadership and Legacy of David Stiller

Friday, June 14, 2024, saw the passing of a giant, as David Morley Stiller completed his earthly journey. There was so much depth to the man, captured so elegantly by family members during his beautiful and inspiring celebration of life service. I knew him as the founder of Opportunity International Canada (OIC), where it has been my honour to serve as CEO since November 2018.

I remember well my first encounter with David. I was completing my tenure as CEO of Teen Challenge Canada and had recently given notice that I was moving on to the CEO role at OIC. David was on the list of attendees for a Teen Challenge event in London, and I knew that he was the founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors. Suddenly the pressure was on to impress the founder of my new organization. I introduced myself to the gathered guests and when I got to David, he looked directly at me and said, “You’re the incoming CEO at Opportunity International Canada”. 

As I came to experience, David was sharp as a tack and missed nothing.

I met David for lunch the following week, still several weeks before moving to my new role. We talked for over 2 hours, and I asked about his story – how and why he started OIC. His story moved me profoundly and sticks with me to this day along with many things about his life and leadership.

His voice is gone, and I miss it deeply already. But I am convinced that the best way to honour David is to continue to learn from the life he lived, so intentionally.

He turned pain into purpose

The first and most difficult story David shared with me, was the tragic loss of his beloved 17-year-old daughter, which triggered a complete turning point in his life. In so many ways, OIC emerged out of the pain of that loss.

He told me about a trip back to a village in Africa where he’d been involved in some well projects. The villagers had learned of the death of David’s daughter and as his SUV pulled in after a very long trip, he saw a group of men coming to his vehicle. Not big on ceremony, he was initially a little annoyed. But each man, one at a time, told him how sorry he was for his loss and each man, one at a time, hugged him. David realized that with the high child mortality rate in the area, it was likely each of these men had lost one or more children. It humbled him to be accepted into this brotherhood.

“That day, I began to sense my life’s new calling, and that calling was given a face – many faces. This new calling was personal in its focus, even if it remained yet unfocused in its objective. Whatever I was to do, I knew that it would have to speak directly into the profoundly challenging situation in which the brothers and sisters of my new circle found themselves. It would have to be hopeful. It would have to involve partnering as equals. It would have to provide my brothers and sisters a hand up. And its overall impact would have to bring strength to families”, David Stiller, Circle of Opportunity

He was a visionary and a pioneer

Another story was about a trip to Mali in Africa where he visited a local market and met a man on the outskirts, chiselling what looked like no more than a cinder-covered block. He sat on the ground beside the man and asked about his business. He was a day labourer, working with a shovel when he could find the work. From his meagre wages, he saved what he could and borrowed from others until he had enough to funds to buy the brass, moulding sand, and charcoal –  $15. As they continued to speak the cinder-covered block, eventually became the brass figure of a woman. David learned that the man could sell the figure for a mark-up of 100%. This is where the impact of microfinance hit home for David.

David never failed to light up when hearing about the work in the field, and the partners in places he knew like Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Colombia, and Ghana. And he would tear up when hearing about clients and their journey out of poverty. The work was as moving and meaningful to him then as on the day founded OIC in 1998.

In September 2023, I was honoured to attend and speak at the 40th Anniversary of the founding of ASPIRE, our partner in the DR. While there, Daniel Rodrigues, previous ASPIRE Board Chair and OIC Board Member, told me he watched the birth of OIC. He said that David had brought seven men and women to the DR on his third and possibly last attempt to launch OIC. After visiting clients and various projects David called a meeting in the hotel. The project needed $70,000 to move forward. David challenged the group to raise funds but also to become the founding Board of OIC. 

They agreed to both requests and Opportunity International Canada was born.

He led with intentionality, respect for others, and humility

After becoming CEO, it was my habit to meet David for lunch a couple of times annually. These would be wide-ranging and honest conversations, mostly about challenges and opportunities at OIC. Over these last five years of lunches, David has become a mentor, especially in my role at OIC. He never gave unsolicited advice, but his questions were penetrating, and I always had his full attention. He had mine as well.

He was intentional, down to every word.

David was also humble. He never wanted recognition or the limelight. He intentionally stepped off the OIC Board when he felt it was in good hands. But he never lost sight of the work. He always spoke so highly of the partners he worked with. And each partner shared such a great deal of respect for him.

He also shared his immense respect for others who had played an important role in OIC’s founding story, including Howard and Janet McLean in Calgary, who had been involved with OI globally before David. Howard sent me a moving note following David’s passing.

He also spoke with such warmth about David Bussau, the founder of OI Australia and co-founder of OI as a global entity along with Al Whittaker of OIUS. David Bussau came to Canada to help advise on setting up OIC and he has been an honorary member of the OIC Board ever since. David Bussau called Evelyn the weekend after David passed, in a private conversation of condolence and support.

David also told me how our colleagues in the USA were so very generous and open-handed in helping launch OIC. Several Canadian donors had been supporting the work through Chicago, and a Canadian arm was needed if tax receipts were to be issued. David said he told his US colleagues that if he was to set up a Canadian charity, while it would be collaborative it would not be a branch plant of the USA. He said that his main correspondent Mark Lutz was simply committed to the overall mission and was selfless in providing help. Mark Lutz attended David’s funeral last week, in a demonstration of respect for this giant of a man.

For David, it was never just about him.

An enduring legacy

It is astounding to consider the impact that David Stiller’s life has had. In 2023 alone, OIC reached 3.1 million people along their pathways out of poverty including family members and other indirect beneficiaries. And yet, I suggest that we’ve only just begun.

The team at OIC is deeply inspired by David Stiller and committed to significantly growing the impact of OIC, which is David’s legacy.

In one of his final email communications with me, David shared,

“I sense the Spirit is at work and that vision which was so dramatically born in 1998 still has legs. My health has been a real challenge of late and it remains to be seen how much contrition and thoughtfulness remains. I can still dream, pray, and care.”

David’s passion and heart for OIC endured through his final days. His vision, born in 1998, continues to guide and inspire us.

Isaac Newton made the following statement: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”. We stand on the shoulders of the many great staff, volunteers and donors who have gone before to bring OIC to where it is today.

But David Stiller was a giant among giants, and we stand on his broad shoulders today.