Frank O’Dea O.C.
Co-Founder of Second Cup and Proshred Security

In his early teens, Frank O’Dea’s life went off the rails into a downward spiral. Within a few years, he was living in 50-cent-a-night flop houses in Toronto’s bowery district where just surviving was about all one could do in a day.

Then, if that were not enough, he turned that same determination to the obstacles of life that challenges all of us. Within a few short years, he co-founded The Second Cup, which soon became the largest chain of gourmet coffees and teas in the country. Building on that success, he went on to co-found Proshred Security, a company that pioneered the entire industry of on-site document destruction. This company soon became an international organization with franchised operations in Canada, Europe and the United States.

As a successful businessperson, Frank took steps to give back to the community. He began by serving on the boards of directors of charities and not-for-profit organizations. But the entrepreneur’s desire to innovate and build was not to be denied. In 1985 he co-founded Street Kids International, an organization developed to help homeless children in third world countries, through education and self-reliance programs. A few years later, he became the founding Chair of War Child (Canada), an organization that provides assistance against suffering and abuse of children in war affected countries. In the same year, Frank co-founded the Canadian Landmine Foundation, an organization that raises funds for the dismantling on minefields around the world. He went on the initiate that organization’s most successful fund raising program, "Night of a Thousand Dinners", with participation of some 30,000 thousand people in 29 countries.

Frank’s achievements are, of course, a work in progress. Recently, amid the pageantry of a state occasion, Frank attended Government House in Ottawa to be invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada by the Governor General.