I love telling our untold stories. This year, I had the honour of not only curating exhibitions at the Museum of Vancouver and the Surrey Museum that marked the 100th anniversary of the Komagata Maru, but leading a team of eight institutions across Metro Vancouver to collectively commemorate this Canadian story.

For the last several years, I’ve been focused on community engagement and building bridges between diverse communities to discover our shared values and aspirations. Learning from community elders and stakeholders, artists and activists has informed my views on how to make our parks and community centres responsive to neighbourhood needs. In my experience, it’s not about “giving voice” to a community—that voice always exists. Rather it’s about providing a space and platform for multiple voices to be heard.

From listening to speakers on reversing climate change, to hearing that a park needs more benches for seniors, I understand our green spaces are important resources for creating a sense of home. For me, that’s a big part of why I’m running for Vancouver park board with Vision Vancouver.

As park board commissioner, I will work with my fellow commissioners to foster a strong intergenerational and intercultural engagement strategy, one that includes diverse voices, and works towards fulfilling the goals of the Greenest City Action Plan to increase the amount of parks, green spaces, and community gardens in Vancouver.

With my background in museums and art galleries and as a member of Vancouver’s public art committee for the past two terms, it will come as no surprise that I’m a passionate advocate for arts and culture. I think our parks and recreation network can do a lot to support artistic development in our city, whether it’s continuing to offer affordable arts space in our field houses, hosting cultural events in our community centres, or looking at new opportunities to place public art within these shared spaces.

Community engagement requires a diversity of voices at the decision-making table—voices that understand the barriers to our public services. I am a strong supporter of the Vision-led park board’s introduction of the OneCard, which has helped to break down some of those barriers. Of Vancouver’s 135,000 OneCard holders, 40 percent are from low-income families. I am proud of what Vision has done to make equal access for every resident our top priority, and it’s something I’d like to see continue at park board.

Of course, as a Vision park board commissioner, I’ll also be focused on sport, health, recreation and fun. Every day in Vancouver parks and community centres, I see places where seniors and kids can come together to take a yoga or dance class, or play hockey, soccer, or kabbadi. Our goal of creating more community garden spaces can aid local food security and revitalize neglected areas to further that sense of community. It’s an important part of what makes our city so special.

In order to bring about real, progressive change in Vancouver, we need to build consensus. I’m looking forward to helping to build this consensus with my colleagues at the park board table.

As a historian of the city I know there was a time when women and people of colour could not vote in municipal elections. This civil right that we share is the result of a long struggle by our community pioneers and has only existed for a handful of decades. I ask that you honour that struggle by voting in this year’s election and I hope to earn your support on November 15.