RICK HANSEN FOUNDATION
Rick Hansen Foundation Announces 2024/25 expanded roster of School Ambassadors

22 people with lived disability experience available to speak with youth in K-12 classes and schools across the country

The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) is pleased to announce its roster of 22 Ambassadors for the 2024/25 school year. As part of the RHF School program, RHF Ambassadors are people with lived disability experience who engage with kindergarten to grade 12 students about their personal experiences and create space for an open conversation about what it is like to be part of the 1 in 4 Canadians living with a disability. Several individuals have returned for a second year, while several new Ambassadors have joined the program.

"Sharing the perspectives of people with diverse lived experience with school age children is critically important to empower our future leaders" said Amanda Basi, Senior Director, Programs at the Rick Hansen Foundation. "Attitudes are the biggest barriers people with disabilities face, and including diverse voices in the classroom brings a deeper understanding and growing awareness around disability and accessibility."

RHF Ambassador presentations take learning outside the textbook and provide a real-life experience for youth who may not have knowingly engaged with a person with a physical disability affecting their mobility, vision and/or hearing. This year's presentations focus on the popular theme of "Language and Interactions". The RHF School Program also provides pre- and post-presentation activities to help generate thoughtful discussion beyond the presentation. These activities create a lasting impression as students explore topics of compassion and empathy sparked by a personal connection. All Ambassador presentations are available in French or English and are free of charge.

Meet the 2024/25 RHF Ambassadors:

Ambassadors returning to the program this school year are:

Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D. is a researcher, speaker, and consultant on accessibility and inclusion. She teaches organizations and educators to solution-find and build environments that are accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to young families with disabilities. Her TEDx talk "What we can learn from disabled parents" was viewed over 50,000 times in the first week.

Mihai Covaser is a student at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, in Kelowna, BC. Mihai was born with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that affects the muscles in his legs and results in a mild mobility impairment. He believes that society's primary focus should be on what everyone, including people with disabilities, can do, rather what they cannot do.

Jared Funk demonstrates that if there is a will there is a way. In his home province of Manitoba, Jared stays involved with several organizations to help people learn about the benefits of fitness and sport for people with disabilities. Besides his family, Jared is most proud of being a three-time Paralympic medalist playing wheelchair rugby for Team Canada for 13 years.

Cameron Gelowitz sustained a spinal cord injury when in grade 11 while doing a flip on a trampoline. He then went on to join Wheelchair Basketball now plays for Team BC. After a summer of training and competitions, Cameron is now attending university, studying Business Administration.

Bean Gill is an Indo-Canadian woman who has lived through many adversities. After being paralyzed by a virus in 2012, she found her purpose and co-founded ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre, helping hundreds of Canadians reconnect their brain to their body, retrain their nervous system and most importantly redefine what is possible for people with disabilities. Her recent project is CBC's docuseries called PUSH, available on CBC Gem.

Paulo Guerrero is a 24-year-old living in Vancouver, BC. Paulo is an avid cyclist and motorcyclist but after hitting a parked car, he was paralyzed from the chest down. Since his accident five years ago, he spends time in the gym, training for athletics or working on building a future. "Everything is so temporary, so make the most of today."

Robert Hampson loves exploring the city of Toronto, where he lives with his guide dog Spokane. When Robert was four 4 years old, he learned to adapt to a world without sight. Robert shares with students the importance of kindness, overcoming adversity, as well as the importance of an inclusive and accessible world. "Never tell me something is impossible. I think if you want to do a thing badly enough you can find a way. When somebody tells me I can't, it usually makes me want to do it even more."

Maggie Manning is an outspoken advocate for accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities stemming from her lived experience as a person living with a physical mobility disability and chronic illness. On top of this, Maggie is a student at Thompson Rivers University pursing a dual-credential Bachelor of Health Science and Diploma in Respiratory Therapy. While in school, Maggie participates in elite para-sports, and helps to raise awareness and increase involvement of youth in adaptive sports.

Jenna Reed-Côté was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair to get around. Jenna is a social worker, she runs Phoenix Attitude, a service to help individuals manage their medical needs and is training to be a Paralympian as a para powerlifter During her talk, she will challenge students to discover new ways of doing things and highlight how these innovative solutions to problems will help them become more resilient

Jessica Kruger was an active teenager who played basketball and softball, and she dreamed of a profession where she could help people or animals. One summer, she fell off a ladder, leaving her with quadriplegia. She soon realized that people in wheelchairs could do all the same things as anyone else, just in a different way. Jessica graduated from Simon Fraser University with an English degree, and in 2019 started her own custom dessert business, "The Stubborn Baker". She plays on the BC Wheelchair Rugby Team. "Through positivity, hard work and determination any challenge can be overcome."

Martin Leduc is pursuing his full-time studies at the University of Ottawa in political science and law, works with youth through the Mouvement d'Implication Francophone d'Orléans (MIFO). In addition, he is a dedicated volunteer with the Air Cadets and is passionate about aviation. Martin spends his spare time flying planes.

Gina Martin was diagnosed legally blind in both eyes from Progressive Cone Dystrophy in 1992. She attended the intensive 9-month rehabilitation' training at the Louisiana Centre for the Blind in 2016 and today she says "I am living my best life only I do it different from when I had sight."

Megan Smith is a 22-year-old student athlete who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy - Lower Extremity Dominant (SMA-LED). She earned a roster spot on the Senior Women's National Team playing wheelchair basketball. Megan is currently attending post-secondary education and hopes to earn a degree in kinesiology.

Alex Smyth is 34 and lives with Usher's Syndrome. Usher's affects the development of cells in eyes and ears leading to vision and hearing loss. As a result he has partial sight. For the past seven years he has worked with AMI-tv in a variety of on-camera roles and is currently a co-host and producer of NOW with Dave Brown. It is a live daily show focused on the news and events of interest to the disability community.

For more information or to book a presentation, please visit RickHansen.com/Ambassadors. Ambassadors are selected by the RHF School Program based upon specific requests and timing.