I work as a youth settlement worker and employment program assistant, and in my job, I’m usually behind the scenes, helping to connect people and organizations with shared goals, and finding new ways to get young people and immigrants involved in their communities. I always knew that I would be involved in politics in some way, but until this year, had not imagined myself as someone who might run for office.

But then, I considered that running for park board with Vision Vancouver could be a real opportunity for me to channel my passion for community, youth and seniors’ engagement, and intercultural understanding into making tangible change for people in every neighbourhood in Vancouver. Someone needs to step up to represent this point of view—and why not me?

I was raised by a single mom and ended up moving all over the city, and while I was growing up, I spent a lot of time discovering Vancouver’s parks, neighbourhood houses, and community centres. I fell in love with music and hip hop dance. As a teenager, my friends and I would practise dance routines all the time, and try to perform and compete everywhere and anywhere we could. Even when we did not have an indoor space, we would practise at the outdoor basketball courts.

Today, I love the fact that I have the ability to be creative and provide a safe and fun space and create intergenerational programs for youth and seniors to learn how to dance together, and that’s something I’d definitely like to expand and influence in my role as a park board commissioner, if elected. Where else but in one of Vancouver’s diverse neighbourhoods are you going to see seniors and youth dancing together—Gangham style?

Running for park board is also a chance for me—as a young woman with two younger sisters—to inspire other young people to get involved in making change and moving our city forward. As someone who speaks Tagalog, I also know that language can often be a barrier to accessing public services, particularly for new immigrants. I can help to act as a bridge between women, youth, the Filipino community—it’s something I feel really passionate about.

Young people, seniors, immigrants all want to be connected to their communities, but sometimes don’t know how. As a Vision Vancouver park board commissioner, I will help make those connections and create more opportunities for under-represented communities.

For me, running for park board is all about civic engagement, access to services—no matter who you are and where you came from—and affordability, so that everyone can enjoy our parks and services we have to offer. That’s one reason I’m so proud of what Vision Vancouver commissioners have achieved over the past year with the wildly successful OneCard. Over 135,000 Vancouverites hold a OneCard today, and that number is growing.

I’m running for Vancouver park board because I believe that parks, community centres and public spaces play an important role in creating and reflecting who we are as a city, and want to ensure that everyone—especially youth, seniors, newcomers and immigrants—are genuinely included in this process. If you believe in the same things, I hope I can count on your support on November 15.