Elevating Education, Participatory Action Research, Community, and Impact
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​​Currently engaged in project and program management, participatory action research, and instruction across education and community-based contexts in Nova Scotia and internationally.
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This living space documents my professional journey and evolving insights as I continue to refine my research identity and impact.
My Impact in the fields of Education, Participatory Action Research,
and Knowledge Mobilization
Who am I?
As an educator and emerging participatory researcher working at the intersection of education, community, and knowledge mobilization my work is grounded in participatory practices and culturally affirming approaches that center lived experience as knowledge and prioritize reciprocal, community-rooted engagement.
I am a resilient and adaptive leader with over 20 years of experience in teaching, educational leadership, and program management across international and community-based contexts.
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My professional experience includes designing and coordinating experiential and global learning initiatives; leading and supporting education programs within the Ministry of Education and at the Delmore “Buddy” Daye Learning Institute; and building strategic partnerships across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Africa.
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I bring a strong commitment to inclusive frameworks in academic and co-curricular programming, strengthening institutional visibility, and fostering student and community success through culturally responsive and relational approaches.
My Why
In 2005, I encountered a moment that permanently reshaped my understanding of education. I met a group of students I had taught two years earlier; children who were once confident, curious, and deeply alive in their learning. Though they were still capable, something essential had dimmed. The light in their eyes had softened. Their motivation had thinned.
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I realized then that when potential is constrained, something vital recedes. That moment clarified my calling. If I wanted to impact possibility beyond my own classroom, I would need to make an impact within and beyond its walls.
Protecting Learner Potential​
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Watching the same group of students experience two different teaching approaches taught me that education is never neutral. Instruction either expands imagination or quietly narrows it.
This realization shaped my commitment to teaching, action research as a professional development model, and instructional practices as well as leadership that recognize and cultivate potential, particularly in learners whose brilliance is often constrained by rigid systems rather than lack of ability.
Beyond the Four Walls
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That experience made the walls of a single classroom feel increasingly claustrophobic. I began to ask how learning could remain expansive, affirming, and alive across systems rather than isolated classrooms.
This question led me to global education and, in 2010, to my first formal role as an international educator teaching across multiple curricula while supporting elementary students to navigate language, assessment, and identity simultaneously.
Learning as Integration
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Teaching within global and national systems required me to merge curricula, cultures, and expectations without fragmenting learners. This perspective now informs my work in participatory action research, writing instruction, and research communication, where I focus on how knowledge is shaped, translated, and carried across boundaries.
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​I envision a provincially supported learning pathway that connects local communities in Nova Scotia to global contexts through mentorship, inquiry, and cultural exchange.
What I Do?
I work at the intersection of education, participatory action research, and community engagement, translating research into practice that strengthens learning systems and advances equity.
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My work spans research program and project management, instructional leadership, and knowledge mobilization, with experience across local, national, and international contexts. I design and coordinate initiatives that bring together educators, researchers, community partners, and institutions to address complex educational challenges through collaborative and culturally affirming approaches.​
Current Engaged Practice
Across my career, I have led and supported work that is grounded in a commitment to reciprocity, inclusion, and impact, ensuring that knowledge does not remain abstract but is accessible, relevant, and responsive to the communities it serves.
Participatory and community-engaged research initiatives
Literacy and learning improvement projects
Experiential and global learning programs
Research dissemination events, hybrid conferences, and multimedia output
Academic writing instruction and student support in university access pathways