ABOUT ME

MY STORY

My family has been visiting Meaford for 40 years, and thankfully my Nana moved here shortly before I was born because this gave me the pleasure of regularly visiting as I grew up. I always looked forward to coming up here because I loved the natural beauty, the farms and orchards, general town atmosphere, and interconnected way of life. I have fond memories of warming my hands by fire barrels on Sykes during the unveiling of the Christmas windows, playing on the wooden ship at Fred Raper Park, rooting through the kids toy chest at the Backstreet Café, or getting my first black eye by tripping and falling on the old wood and iron seats in the Hall before a Charlie Brown production.

At 24 I chose to leave Mississauga for Meaford because of this connection, and because I realized that a town like Meaford offers more for the foundational drivers of wellbeing than the city does. We all know how incredible Meaford is. Given my passion for sustainability, I knew that I wanted to learn how to run a family homestead, and so we moved into an historic property in Annan with the goal of learning how to bring it back to be a functioning small farm. This journey has further developed my understanding of what a sustainable lifestyle is and the hard work that is required to do it. Further, I have developed an understanding of agricultural living, which I had never been exposed to before. Since moving in, we have learned how to raise laying and broiler chickens, care for cattle, and next season we will take on vegetable and fruit gardening.

Now that I’ve lived here for a few years and have had time to learn about the community’s challenges, I am driven to use my perspective as the youngest candidate for council to become increasingly involved in guiding Meaford along a path of lasting good development. I sit on the Municipality’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and believe that economic development is the key to establishing a healthy future for Meaford. To strengthen my skills in this area, I am now working on a Master of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI) at UWaterloo to follow up on my Honours BSc in Psychology from UofT and certificate in Sustainability and Behaviour Change from UCalifornia. These studies will help me bring new ideas to Meaford’s local economy.

In addition, I worked in recruiting / headhunting for 4 years and specialized in businesses in small towns. This gave me a thorough understanding of the issues these businesses face with finding labour. Having developed business relationships with people in all levels of seniority within companies of all sizes, I learned about the impacts one’s career has on their life and their sense of meaning, purpose, and connection to their community and help them find better opportunities. By combining this experience with my psychology background I have been able to develop a well-rounded understanding of the value of living in a small town and doing meaningful work. This summer I began working on economic development and community engagement initiatives with the Métis Nation of Ontario’s Lands, Resources, and Consultations branch. This has put me at the front line of some major development projects where I have learned about the path to reconciliation, the Crown’s duty to consult, how to analyze the impact of development proposals, and maintain relationships with proponents.

I am looking forward to using my unique perspective and skillset to represent our community’s vision for a great future in Meaford.