We cannot govern effectively from a closed boardroom.

The people who understand our schools best are the people who are in them every day: students, parents, teachers, educational assistants, custodians, bus drivers, clerical workers, administrators and other support staff. I will build meaningful relationships with the people who make our schools work. That means listening directly to students and families, working with DPAC and PACs, and treating CUPE Local 703 and the Maple Ridge Teachers’ Association (MRTA) as essential partners in building a healthy school system.

Workers should have a meaningful voice before decisions are made - not be asked to help fix decisions afterward.

Good governance means listening, being accessible, being transparent about decisions and holding senior management accountable for delivering on the Board’s priorities.

I will listen before I decide. And when I make a decision, I will be prepared to explain it.

A Passionate, Relentless And Unapologetic Advocate

I bring years of experience as a public sector worker, elected union leader, community advocate and political staffer. I understand governance, public policy, labour relations and political advocacy. I know how government works, how to build relationships and coalitions, how to ask difficult questions, and how to turn an issue into action.

As a trustee, I will work collaboratively with my fellow trustees, school district staff, community partners and all levels of government. But collaboration does not always mean compliance.

When our students, families or front-line workers need something, I will tirelessly advocate for it. And when decisions are made elsewhere that put pressure on our schools, I will not be afraid to push back.

This is especially important when it comes to funding.

Financial Advocacy

One of the biggest challenges facing SD42 is ensuring that provincial funding keeps pace with the realities facing our schools. Maple Ridge is growing, student needs are evolving, and our schools are being asked to do more with less. Funding structures can be rigid, narrowly targeted and disconnected from the needs of individual communities.

Our schools need stronger, more flexible base operating funding so that local decision-makers can put resources where they are needed most.

School districts should not have to compete with one another for a limited share of an already inadequate pool of funding.

As trustee, I will work with our education partners, unions, families, community organizations and elected representatives to make the case for the resources Maple Ridge schools need.

And when governments download responsibilities onto our schools without providing the resources to meet them, I will work harder. I will organize and advocate for better.

Childcare that Works for Working Families

Working families need reliable, accessible and affordable before and after school childcare. Schools are already at the centre of our communities, and I believe they can play a much greater role in providing the childcare families need.

I support a publicly delivered and publicly accountable approach to before and after school childcare that works for working families.

This model can make childcare more accessible while reducing the number of transitions children experience between home, school and separate childcare providers.

For many families, the current system means multiple drop-offs and pickups, long commutes, waitlists, unaffordable fees and difficult choices about work. That is not a system designed around the realities of working families. A publicly delivered approach to school based childcare offers an opportunity to do things differently. Children can start and finish their day in the same school community, surrounded by familiar people and spaces. It means affordability for families. For students with diverse abilities, reducing transitions can be particularly important. And by making better use of existing public school spaces and education workers, we have an opportunity to expand access without waiting years to build entirely new facilities.

But we cannot simply download another responsibility onto school districts and expect already-stretched schools and workers to pick up the slack. Governments must provide the funding, staffing, training and infrastructure required to do this properly. My pledge to my community is that I will relentlessly advocate for this funding.

Publicly delivered childcare must also come with public accountability. Families should know who is providing the care, who is responsible for it and how concerns will be addressed. This model will place programs within the public school environment, with school administration and elected trustees ultimately responsible for oversight. As a trustee, I will advocate for SD42 to work with the provincial government, families, education workers and community partners to expand high-quality before and after school childcare in our schools.

Working families should not have to choose between keeping their jobs and finding care for their children. We can build a school system that works better for both.

School District Budgets: Investing UI In Students

Maple Ridge is growing. The cost of living is rising, student needs are becoming more complex, and staffing shortages are placing increasing pressure on the people already doing the work.

We cannot keep asking educators and support staff to do more with less.

A responsible school district budget should reflect our priorities. That means putting students first and investing in the people and programs they depend on every day.

I will advocate for the recruitment and retention of the staff our schools need - including educational assistants, teachers, custodians, clerical workers, counsellors, Indigenous education workers and other front-line staff.

It means supporting meaningful mentorship and retention strategies, strengthening workplace safety, and ensuring staff have the resources they need to do their jobs well.

It also means protecting the programs that enrich a student's education and support their success - from literacy and libraries to arts, music and specialized learning supports.

Forward-Thinking Governance

When governments reduce or withdraw community supports for children, the needs do not disappear.

They arrive at school.

When families cannot access speech and language services, behavioural supports, specialized equipment or other community-based resources, teachers and educational assistants are often left trying to fill those gaps in already busy and, in many cases, understaffed classrooms.

That is not fair to students or families, and it is not sustainable for the people supporting them.

This is why I am concerned about the impact of changes to MCFD funding for children with autism and other disabilities.

While the province is moving toward a broader, needs-based model, that transition cannot come at the expense of families who are losing supports they currently rely on. A new funding model should be judged by whether children actually receive the support they need.

For many families, privately funded therapies and services help bridge the gap between what is available in the community and what can reasonably be provided through our public education system. If those supports disappear, the impact will inevitably be felt in our schools.

Children may arrive at school without access to services they previously relied on. Teachers and educational assistants may then be expected to respond to increasingly complex needs without the additional staffing, resources or specialized support required.

That is not fair to students, families or the people supporting them.

I believe this transition must be transparent, carefully monitored and informed by the families, educators, disability advocates and professionals who experience these systems firsthand. We need to identify where gaps are emerging and respond before they become crises.

Schools should help families navigate change, but they should not be left to navigate it alone. Where appropriate, the district can help families access information, connect with community organizations and strengthen relationships with disability and family-support services.

But schools cannot become the default provider for every service that another level of government fails to fund.

Our teachers and educational assistants cannot be expected to replace speech-language pathologists, behavioural specialists, therapists or other community-based professionals simply because those services are no longer accessible to families.

As a trustee, I will pay close attention to what these changes actually mean for students and schools in SD42. If unmet needs are showing up in our classrooms, I will ask what resources our schools need to respond - and who is responsible for providing them.

I will advocate for the school-based staffing, resources and supports our students require, while holding the provincial government accountable for the responsibilities it places on our public education system.

I will also work to build stronger relationships between the district, families, unions, Indigenous communities, disability organizations and other community partners. Good governance means identifying gaps early, listening to the people experiencing them and bringing the right people to the table to find solutions.

Most importantly, I will listen to the people who know our schools best - the families navigating these systems and the educators, educational assistants and other workers supporting children every day.

Our students deserve the supports they need to thrive. Families deserve a system that helps rather than leaves them to navigate gaps on their own. And the people who make our schools work deserve the staffing, resources and support to do their jobs well.

Safe Schools, Safe Workplaces

Every student and every person who works in our schools has the right to a safe, respectful and supportive environment.

Increasing violence and safety concerns in schools are student issues, staff issues and community issues. When schools are understaffed and resources are stretched, it becomes harder for educators and support staff to respond to challenging situations and harder for students to get the support they need.

As a trustee, I will make school safety a governance and accountability priority.

Trustees do not manage individual incidents or direct the day-to-day operations of schools. Our role is to set policy, approve budgets, oversee the Superintendent and senior administration, and ensure the district is meeting its responsibilities to students and employees.

That means asking the difficult questions:

· Are our health and safety policies actually working in practice?

· Are incident-reporting processes accessible, straightforward and responsive?

· Are Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committees properly supported, resourced and able to do their work effectively?

· Are staff receiving consistent, appropriate training in intervention and de-escalation?

· Are students and staff receiving meaningful support following serious incidents?

· Are staffing levels and resources adequate to maintain safe learning and working environments?

· Where systems are not working, is senior leadership being held accountable for making improvements?

I will listen to the people experiencing these issues firsthand - including students, families, teachers, educational assistants, custodians, clerical workers and other school staff - and bring their experiences into the Board's oversight and policy discussions.

A responsible school board should not wait for a crisis before asking whether its systems are working. We need to identify risks, listen to frontline workers, invest in prevention and hold senior leadership accountable for delivering safe schools and workplaces.

Inclusivity and Human Rights

My role as a trustee would not be to find a middle ground with intolerance.

I will oppose attempts to restrict or eliminate SOGI resources, and advocate for continued professional development and cultural-safety training.

Reconciliation must be part of governance.

SD42 is situated on the traditional territories of the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations. Truth and reconciliation is a deep, systemic responsibility. As trustee, I will work to strengthen relationships with local First Nations and Indigenous communities and ensure that Indigenous perspectives are meaningfully reflected in strategic planning, budgets, policies and educational initiatives.

That means supporting Indigenous student success, protecting Indigenous education resources and positions, supporting professional development for educators, respecting local protocols and knowledge systems, and advancing the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

A Simple Question

What can I do with the experience I have gained, the people who have invested in me, and the capacity I have right now to make my community better?

The answer, for me, keeps coming back to public education.

I know what an exceptional teacher can mean to a child. I know what it feels like to struggle to find your place. And, as the child of an immigrant family, I know what education can mean - not only to an individual child, but to an entire family building a new life and a future in Canada.

Chilean poet and educator Gabriela Mistral wrote: “Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot.”

I keep coming back to that.

Kids get one shot at their K–12 education. They don’t have the luxury of waiting out bureaucratic reviews, government stalling, or funding gaps. We need a well-funded, high-quality public system right now.

I want every child - including immigrant children, Indigenous students, students with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ students, children living in poverty and children facing challenges that may not neatly appear on a form - to be seen for their potential and given the opportunity to reach it.

Every child deserves the chance to thrive.

I am fortunate to have the support of an incredible family, friends, mentors, colleagues and a community of people who have helped me along the way. I recognize that I have achieved a thing or two because of the many shoulders I have stood on, and I want to pay that forward.

I am not running because I think I have all the answers.

I am running because I know how to listen, and how to organize. I know how to turn advocacy into action.

I bring years of experience in community organizing, the political and public realms, and the labour movement. I understand governance, public policy, accountability and the importance of bringing people together around shared goals.

As a trustee, I will bring that experience to the work of governing our school district.

I will listen to students, families, educators and support workers. I will ask difficult questions. I will work collaboratively when collaboration serves our students - and I will challenge governments and systems when they fall short.

Most importantly, I will be a strong, relentless and unapologetic advocate for Maple Ridge students, working families and the educators and support workers who make public education possible.

There is a lot of work to do.

I can’t wait to get started.