Through my background in Early Childhood Education and Business, I was able to create a Summer camp for children called Bizkids.   My role at the Innovation Centre was to educate the community about entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.  It was my desire to plant the seed at an earlier age. This program has been running since 2004.  It has expanded into six additional communities in our region.

In 2015, I partnered with St. Elizabeth School to develop a social enterprise Bizkids Program. This program allowed the children to create businesses and donate a portion of their proceeds to the Thunder Bay Shelter House, and to their Parent Council.

Partnering with a local native organization, myself and two of my coworkers took Bizkids to three first nation communities. Each school held a Market Day in which the majority of the community attended and supported their children.

It was quite the task to convince our principal to let me re-vamp our communication strategy. The e-newsletter has received positive reviews. In addition to the e-newsletter, I was able to create a social media strategy for the school in order to increase parent/school engagement.

Through my work on Parent Council, I discovered Acacia Woodley through research on bully prevention and overcoming obstacles. Once I became a board member of the George Jeffrey Children's Foundation, I was able to work with their Executive Director to bring Acacia to Thunder Bay. In one day, we were able to plan two keynote presentations, a lunch and learn at the Innovation Centre and place six friendship benches in Thunder Bay.

I am a mother to a eight year old boy named Jack and a six year old girl named Claire. Their creativity and zest for life inspire me on a daily basis. I was fortunate to be a full time stay at home Mom for three years. I have not worked full time since having Jack in 2007. I feel blessed to have experienced this time with my children, but feel ready to take on a full time position that is exciting and gratifying.