Accessibility Committee

The Accessibility Committee provides guidance on the implementation of the Accessibility Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan.
Members help to:

• Provide guidance and advice on the Accessibility Strategy and its renewal
• Review and provide feedback on Accessibility Strategy departmental action plans
• Help review public feedback to identify accessibility barriers and solutions
• Embed an accessibility lens into City policies, programs, and services
• Review and provide feedback on annual progress

The Accessibility Committee includes community members with lived experience of disability and City staff.

Committee membership is limited to:

• People with lived experience of disability
• Representatives from organizations that provide services to or support disability communities
• People who live and reside in Vancouver

The majority of committee members are people with lived experience of disability.

In selecting committee members, we consider the spectrum of disability and intersecting identity factors to support a committee that reflects the diversity of Vancouver.

We provide supports to help members participate in committee meetings.

Supports may include:

• Honoraria
• Transportation reimbursement
• Interpreters
• Other supports as needed

As outlined in the Accessibility Strategy, disability includes physical, mental health, cognitive, intellectual, sensory, and age-related impairments.

These impairments, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

Disabilities may be visible or invisible, permanent, temporary, or episodic. Disability can also intersect with other identities, which may result in compounding effects.

• Tasia Alexis (she/her)
• Martha Kahnapace (she/her)
• Sidney Smallman (he/him)
• Patricia Gooch (she/her)
• Ryan Ollis (he/him)
• Hannah Sullivan Facknitz
• Daniel Wilson (he/him)
• Abhinav Pandey (he/him)
• Tommy Chu (he/him)

City staff

• Bonnie Ma, planner, Reconciliation and Culture Change, Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability.
• Jason Olinek, director of development, Planning GM Office - Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability  (alternate)
• Monica Bennington, assistant manager, Public Engagement, Civic Engagement & Communications
• Simon Goldsmith, director of talent strategies, Human Resources 
• Paul Storer, director of transportation, Office of General Manager – Engineering
• Oswal Fuentes, project manager, Real Estate, Environment & Facilities Management (REFM)

Supporting staff

• Jody Sydor Jones, managing director of Social Policy and Projects, Arts, Culture, and Community Services (ACCS)
• Karen Lai, social planner (accessibility), Social Policy and Projects, Arts, Culture, and Community Services (ACCS)