The 2024 Dr. David Jory Award
As part of the 2024 Inclusive Education Awards, the 2nd annual Dr. David Jory Award was presented to Ken V. Pike, ONB.
Ken recently retired as Inclusion NB’s Director of Social Policy after more than 35 years and is a well-known disability advocate. He received the New Brunswick Human Rights Award in 2008, was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick in 2020 and awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for service to New Brunswick in 2023. Upon his retirement in April of 2024, Inclusion NB created the Circle of Excellence for team members with Ken as its first inductee. In May of 2024 Ken was presented with the 2nd Annual Dr. David Jory Award.
In 1985, a group of New Brunswick parents rallied to address an injustice in our province. They knew it was a contravention of children’s rights to segregate those with a disability from being educated alongside their peers. They mounted a legal challenge using the Canadian Charter of Rights. Dr. David Jory was a key member of these change-makers. David and his wife Rosie, have a son, John, with Down Syndrome. Following John’s graduation from high school, Dr. Jory remained an advocate for other families and continued to be involved in working to improve New Brunswick’s educational system.
Dr. Jory passed away in February of 2023. In his honour, Inclusion NB created an award in his name that recognizes an individual from our community who works tirelessly for inclusive education. Dr. Jory received this award posthumously at the 2023 Inclusive Education Awards. The second recipient is Ken Pike. Ken was mentored by Dr. Jory and spoke frequently of the “David Jory Test” when writing policy briefs. If Dr. Jory approved it, it was of the highest quality.
This is what Dr. Jory said about Ken. “Ken has the remarkable gift of being a strong and principled advocate for human rights and for change without unduly annoying the people who can make the changes he wants to see. The changes he proposes are eminently reasonable, based on clear and sound principles.”
