Kimberly Dawn Brown
| WORKSITE: |
OTBU |
| JOB TITLE: |
Teacher |
| BARGAINING UNIT: |
OTBU |
I am a mom of three, with the youngest in grade nine. I am profoundly deaf, and have come late in life to becoming an advocate for teachers like myself, and for disability rights in general. I am in the Rideau Lakes area, which also gives me a rural perspective.
For the past six years I have been a member of the UCDSB occasional teachers list for elementary and more recently secondary. In that time I have been on the UCDSB OT Local executive for two years, and on the provincial ETFO Disability and Accessibility Issues Standing Committee for four years (Chair for two of those years). I have attended many of ETFO’s workshops and conferences since 2023.
Some of the workshops and conferences I have attended were focused on disability and accessibility issues, collective bargaining, equity and social justice, leadership, and educating students who are FMNI, special education and in language development. Upcoming programs I am attending is the anti-oppressive framework.
I have been advocating for teachers like myself, on many occasions for accommodation supports, human rights issues, and impacting change within ETFO on the use of live captioning in their programming and conferences. I have spoken at the ETFO annual meeting several times in favour of motions supporting teachers with disabilities and health and safety related issues.
As a deaf individual this allows me to see other health and safety issues in our work environment, and allows me to advocate for you in the supports you need. I have identified a safety concern in some of our high schools, and I will work to advocate for upgrades/change. A couple of examples are the lack of visual fire alerts in some schools, and safety protocols for teachers with disabilities and accommodations when emergencies arise.
I believe that I am uniquely positioned to see gaps in health and safety for all of our teachers and will advocate for change that benefit all members. A vote for me is a vote for you the teacher being in a safe, accessible and welcoming workplace environment..
|