Social Justice Co-operative NL
I have a 25-year history as a dedicated community volunteer. In Ottawa, I was a volunteer, writer, and editorial board member for four years at the Carleton student community newspaper, The Charlatan. In Vancouver, I served on the board of the UBC Pottery Club; I was a co-founder and co-facilitator for the Robson Park Area Working Group; and I was a long-term youth work volunteer with Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Greater Vancouver, Outreach, and the Pacific Legal Education Association. In Saskatoon, I was a classroom volunteer with refugee and Indigenous students, a psychiatric hospital volunteer with youth patients, and a volunteer youth self-advocacy trainer with the Saskatoon Open Door Society, as well as a contributing member of and volunteer for the Saskatoon Pottery Guild. In St. John’s, I was an active volunteer member of the Craft Council Clay Studio committee for two years; I was a contributing member of the Victoria Park Lantern Festival steering committee for four years; and I was a volunteer instructor (three years) and board member/training director (two years) with the Newfoundland Athletic Dog Association. I have been a credit union member since 1997, belonging to four credit unions across three provinces. The first co-operative I joined (other than Mountain Equipment Co-op) was in Saskatoon at Steep Hill Food Co-op, where I was an active member and weekly volunteer. I joined the St. John’s Farmers’ Market Co-operative in 2019 as a vendor member, where I served on the membership committee and was a consistent advocate for vulnerable members, for the cooperative democratic and educational principles, and for Indigenous vendor participation. I also suspended my micro business in order to revive and expand the volunteer program at SJFMC in a six-month role as the volunteer Volunteer Coordinator. I joined the Social Justice Co-operative this past year, and I currently serve as a working member on the board of directors, as the communications coordinator, as a co-facilitator of the Transformative Justice Working Group, and as a volunteer for our signature event, Socials 4 Justice. I am happy to be a part of regular, open-floor style monthly membership general meetings, and excited to see where the co-operative model can take activism, advocacy, and sociopolitical spaces in our province. By trade, I am a certified teacher and have worked as an English, ESL, alternative and adult secondary school, and newcomer language educator in three provinces. I have owned both small and micro businesses in NL. I am also an experienced—but always still learning—systems advocate. I am currently a PhD candidate at Memorial University in the Interdisciplinary Program, combining political economy, political anthropology, and critical mental health studies.