Darleen Bogart is a Canadian Braille literacy advocate. She is a founding member of Canadian Braille Authority and served as its president. She was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian national order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Bogart was born in

Churchbridge, Saskatchewan Churchbridge is a town in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, located at the junction of the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), and Highway 80. Churchbridge is a part of the Rural Municipality of Churchbridge No. 211, which is located withi ...

, the youngest of seven children.

Career

Bogart's mother-in-law was involved with the

Canadian National Institute for the Blind The CNIB Foundation () is a Canadian charitable organization and volunteer agency dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians. Founded in 1918 as th ...

(CNIB) and encouraged her to volunteer. She became a volunteer at the Women’s College Hospital beginning in the 1960s. Bogart joined the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) Planning Committee board from 1982 and 1988. She eventually became chair of the BANA in 1991 and was a key figure in the adoption of

Unified English Braille Unified English Braille Code (UEBC, formerly UBC, now usually simply UEB) is an English language Braille code standard, developed to encompass the wide variety of literary and technical material in use in the English-speaking world today, in unifor ...

in 2004. As a result, she received the 1992 Arthur Napier Magill Distinguished Service Award from CNIB. From 1991 until 2012, she was a founding member and President of the Canadian Braille Authority (now known as Braille Literacy Canada). In 2015, Bogart received the BANA Braille Excellence Award and was later awarded the Volunteer Recognition Award from CNIB. Two years later, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017. Due to her advocacy work, Bogart is an honorary life member of the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario. , Bogart sits on the Women's College Research Institute Research Ethics Board and the Advisory Council of the Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogar, Darleen Living people Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian activists Activists from Saskatchewan Year of birth missing (living people)