Donald Bellamy holds an MSW from the University of Toronto and a Doctor of Social Welfare from Columbia in New York City. After experience in rehabilitation and community work, he was a faculty member in social work at the University of Toronto for thirty years teaching social policy, planning, and research. He served on the Ontario Children's Services Review Board during the 1970s and 1980s. He co-authored Neighbours, a history of three social settlements in Toronto, with Harriet Parsons and Allan Irving. He and his wife Gail have four children and six grandchildren between them.