Cheryl Piper
What does inclusion mean to you?
Inclusion to me means acceptance for everyone.
What motivated you to join the board?
My son, Alex. He has autism. I joined the board in hopes of ensuring a brighter and more accepting future for him and his peers.
What do you hope to achieve during your time on the board?
I hope to make important connections in the community and to help craft, support, and drive our mission forward.
Is there anything about your personal, board, or professional experience you'd like to share?
Inclusion NB (formerly NBACL) supported our family through turbulent times when Alex was in elementary school. I want to make sure that no other families have to go through what we did.
Christina Nicoll
What does inclusion mean to you?
Inclusion means that everyone has a seat at the table and that their voices and lived experiences
are valued and heard. It means that all people, regardless of their circumstances, have the
opportunity and support to live their best lives—defined by their own choices and aspirations.
What motivated you to join the board?
My motivation to become involved with Inclusion NB stems from my lived experience as a parent. What began as a conversation about supports for my daughter opened the door to learning about the organization's mission and a board vacancy in the Fredericton Region. The meaningful impact Inclusion NB has across New Brunswick inspired me to give back and support this important work.
What do you hope to achieve during your time on the board?
I am committed to continuing my support of Inclusion NB in a meaningful way. Serving on the Board allows me to contribute to strong governance, collaborative leadership, and strategic oversight, while supporting the Executive Director in advancing the organization's mission. I hope to leave Inclusion NB stronger than when I joined, ensuring its ability to support families across New Brunswick well into the future.
Christine Thériault
What does inclusion mean to you?
In my view, inclusion involves, in particular, making the effort and using the resources necessary to ensure that everyone feels like a full-fledged human being, regardless of the barriers or challenges they face. I believe it is essential that everyone be able to progress at their own pace, set goals based on their interests, push themselves, be successful and fulfill their dreams.
What motivated you to join the board?
There were several reasons why I decided to apply to sit on the Inclusion NB board of directors as the representative for the Northwest.
As a member of the Association d'intégration communautaire Edmundston-Madawaska affiliated with Inclusion NB, I am becoming increasingly aware of the importance of working to create an inclusive community.
Over time, I have come to know Inclusion NB and what the organization achieves on the ground. In my view, many of Inclusion NB's achievements deserve to be known on a wider scale, including in the Northwest.
Also, I believe it is important that local associations – which strive to achieve a great deal with limited resources – as well as the Northwest and the Francophone community, are represented and have their voices heard at the board of directors' table.
Finally, I think that the best way to make a difference is to go for it and dare to take an active part in the process and the organization.
What do you hope to achieve during your time on the board?
My goals include familiarizing myself with how an organization of Inclusion NB's scale operates, seeing everything that is being done in the field of inclusion, and representing the Northwest region.
Being a member of a local association affiliated with Inclusion NB means I want to develop practical collaboration and build links between Inclusion NB's head office and the committees working at the local level.
In my view, it is essential that everyone works towards the same goal and shares a common vision to make a difference across the province.
Is there anything about your personal, board, or professional experience you'd like to share?
From a young age, I learnt to respect people and accept them with their strengths, weaknesses, obstacles and differences. I also have two cousins with disabilities, one of whom passed away a few years ago. They have made me realize that every small gesture we make to value and encourage them means the world to them.
Over the years, whether as a journalist or a volunteer, I have learnt to connect with these people and realized that they too have interests, goals and dreams, and that, like anyone else, they need to be supported and valued.
As well as volunteering in various fields, ranging from mental health and music to community integration and youth work, I have been working as a journalist for over 25 years, which helps me to maintain an open mind and a passion for engaging with people from all walks of life.
Driven by a desire to learn, I have served and continue to serve on boards of directors. Overall, this experience allows me to push myself, develop skills and competencies, and collaborate with passionate people determined to make a difference in their communities.
Although some volunteering experiences have been more difficult or demanding, I realize that it is always possible to take something positive from them, whether it be anecdotes, knowledge, friendships or lessons learnt.
Marilyn Luscombe
What does inclusion mean to you?
To me, inclusion means that everyone has a true sense and reality of belonging and the opportunities to fulfil their potential. All people are integral to our communities, and we ensure support for that in every way possible.
What motivated you to join the board?
My family has been involved in the inclusion movement since i was a small child, and one of three siblings, two of whom were born with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I tried to embody inclusion in my leadership in the Canadian college movemenet, and joining this board seemed a natural fit to help make a difference.
What do you hope to achieve during your time on the board?
This is my last year on the board, and I hope that I have contributed in a small way to the development of governance policies and practices to better enable our board to ensure the successful leadership of the inclusion movement in NB.
Is there anything about your personal, board, or professional experience you'd like to share?
I had an incredibly strong mother who showed strength, grace, and resilience in her care and advocacy for her children. She embedded inclusion in my head and my heart, and was an activist ahead of her time. I have met many wonderful people in this journey who have led the way, and still others who will lead forward. Let's shine the light on them!