It has been an honor to serve these last two terms as one of your city councillors and regional district directors. I grew up in Nanaimo, and now I am raising my two young children here.
I have an educational background in biology and ecology and have worked studying nature and the human impacts on it. I am also a registered clinical counsellor with a master’s degree. I worked as a counsellor at the Brannen Lake Correctional Centre. Building a community that is environmentally sustainable and provides opportunity for everyone is important to me.
In 2013, I started up a tree service company and ran it for almost ten years. In 2022, my co-workers and I turned it into a worker-owned cooperative. I am proud that this co-op is still growing and providing good paying jobs.
Before I was elected to City Council in 2018, I served on a Regional District advisory committee that helped write our region's new waste management plan. We set bold targets to cut waste, and I have helped put that plan into action ever since. In 2025, we launched programs that were the first of their kind in Canada, including a recycling bylaw for commercial buildings that could keep more waste out of the landfill than anywhere else in the country.
This last term I served as the President of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities. In this role, I lobbied the provincial government on behalf of every local government in our region pressing for action on homelessness, housing affordability, better health care access, protecting our drinking water and disaster response.
I have helped deliver real results, from fare-free transit for youth under 18, to protecting parkland, to the hospital funding and provincial commitments now moving the new NRGH patient tower and heart care lab forward. Next term, I want to use this experience to tackle our severe shortage of affordable housing. I will work with the community to build a new city system that brings together land, financing and faster ways of building, so we can deliver the homes that workers and families need.
I believe success comes from taking action, staying focused on solutions, and working together to reach shared goals. Nanaimo is growing fast, and with that comes both challenges and opportunity. We are the heart of Vancouver Island. By working together, we can reach our full potential and create a vibrant city where everyone can thrive.