I started my career as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in a variety of clinical settings working with adults who were diagnosed with neurological, orthopaedic and psychosocial impairments. As an OT, I advocated for equal access to community programs, adaptations to school/work, and accessibility to the community. My training and practice included seeing each of my patients holistically, while recognizing their cultural needs and values. It was during this stage of my career that I learned about systemic barriers and biases towards persons with disabilities; and where I learned to be an advocate and ally for equity and inclusion for my patients and their families.

As I transitioned to my business career with the provincial home care program, I was given my first real DEI program challenge - to improve the 'broken' school health program for OT services for children with special needs. The program was reported to have significant disparity between schools and school boards based on socio-economic factors, and a legacy model of services that did not put the child, teacher or family at the centre of its program. Through solid business analysis, project management, stakeholder collaboration and innovative thinking, I was able to partner with researchers, leaders and community partners to advise them on the implementation of a new service and billing model. This was a complete paradigm shift that created increased equitable access in the schools and reduced waitlists by months, as well as allowing for true-time treatment in the classroom. I am most proud of this legacy work, and was humbled to be recognized by the province with an award for excellence for individual program contribution.

Fast forward to one of my most recent career experiences as a manager on a corporate team, where I unfortunately experienced career-limiting biases and systemic barriers. Despite my organization's best intention to improve the Diversity & Inclusion agenda with internal marketing campaigns, D&I job recruitment, and company-wide education sessions; it became evident that the critical missing element was the operationalization of meaningful programs that bridged the gap between talking about diversity and inclusion, and seeing it in action. When I chose to challenge the inequities, the gap left my leaders and I feeling unsupported and lost due to an absence of in-house DEI programs and tools. Over time, the gap created increased feelings of mistrust, disengagement and exclusion. Ultimately, the gap gave me cause to question and re-assess my career trajectory. However, I chose to not let the gap define me. I chose to be empowered by it - to learn more about DEI, and pursue a career in DEI program management and implementation.