BCEdAccess is a British Columbia nonprofit and a registered Canadian charity, number 723648317RR0001. The BCEdAccess Board of Directors is elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.
Constitution and By-Laws:
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kim Block, (she/her) – Chair
Kim Block is a mother to two children and a wife in a family with multiple disabilities and neurodiversities. She is a person who stutters and has been an advocate in the stuttering community for over 20 years through keynote speaking, facilitating support groups, writing children’s books and workshop presenting to various groups across Canada and the United States.
She has a BA in Human Relations with a certificate in Family Education from Concordia University and a BA in Criminology with a certificate in Legal Studies from SFU. She also has a diploma as a Developmental Service Worker from Humber College, Ontario. Kim is fluent in American Sign Language and has worked and volunteered in the Deaf community for over 20 years. Kim has previously worked in the disability community with children, teens, adults, and seniors in day programs, group homes, family support services, and as an Educational Assistant in schools.
Kim’s passion has evolved in advocating through a human rights lens. Through her own educational advocacy, she has navigated the BC Human Rights Tribunal system, Ombudsperson BC, the Professional Conduct Unit, and the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner. Kim’s goal is to provide as much information and support to parents as possible through her own lived experience her blog, website and volunteer work.
Kim sees disability as a beautiful natural form of human variation, but the oppressive inequitable social systems and structures that are harmful to disabled and neurodiverse people are not. She looks through a systemic lens and works towards breaking down those systemic barriers for true equity.
Kim@bcedaccess.com
Kaori Lau (she/her) – Secretary
Kaori is a mom to two elementary-aged children in Vancouver. She has been passionate about working with children since a young age, which led her to pursue her teaching degree. She currently works with children in a sports and recreation setting.
Her learning and unlearning began when her younger daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease at age 2. Becoming the mother to a disabled child led Kaori to learn about intersectionality and teach her non-disabled daughter about social justice. After navigating medical systems, Kaori came upon BCEdAccess while researching school systems. Through learning from parent/caregiver communities like BCEdAccess’s private Facebook group and other people she met along the way, Kaori has developed a passion for connecting families with support and resources for navigating the complex systems of our society, and advocating for change to these systems to better support families.
Kaori’s other volunteer commitments include PAC Co-Chair and DPAC representative at her elementary school, as well as DPAC advocacy efforts, especially relating to inclusive education.
Secretary@bcedaccess.com
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BIndy Kang-Dhillion (she/her) – Director At Large
Born and raised on the unceded, stolen territories of the Coast Salish peoples as an uninvited settler, Bindy Kang-Dhillon is mom to 2 brilliant, funny kiddos and married to a busy, supportive spouse. Her children are her wisest teachers and continue to nudge her to learn more and do better. Bindy has had the privilege of graduating from both Simon Fraser University (BA and MA), and University of British Columbia (PhD), and has worked on health equity issues for the last 25 years. Understanding how to dismantle systems of oppression and inequity have consumed a lot of Bindy’s time.
Her recent focus on education equity has led her down the ableism rabbit-hole and realizations that our current public education (and private education) systems are anything but inclusive of different learners and different needs. One thing Bindy has learned is the shift to being inclusive requires naming the inequities and understanding how ableism is operating. Learning what we can do as parents and community members is vital in fighting these everyday battles. Bindy has found solace and hope inside community spaces supporting each other and advocating for better like BCEdAccess and is thankful to be working with them. She looks forward to supporting collective action, learning from each other, building community, dismantling inequities and building/nurturing inclusive systems and programs.
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Vikram Bubber (he/him) – Treasurer
When Vikram Bubber was just five years old, he began to have issues with his right ear. It turned out to be cancer.
A life-long battle with health issues followed, which deeply impacted Vikram both personally and professionally. Despite this, or more likely because of it, he chose a life of giving back. Vikram has been a patient advocate for more than 20 years and a community advocate for the last 5 years.
“I’m happy with the way things are right now,” says Vikram. “I spend my time volunteering and giving back.”
Vikram has volunteered with numerous organizations. In addition to the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Foundation, he has given his time to the BC Cancer Agency, Richmond Center for Disability, UBC, City of Delta, City of Vancouver, Equal Access Collective and many other health organizations & authorities. Much of his volunteer work is as a motivational speaker. He has a story to tell and it’s not always an easy one to listen to.
After two years of radiation and chemotherapy treatments as a child, the cancer in his ear was eradicated, but there was a cost. He has profound hearing loss in his right ear and partial hearing loss in his left. The same radiation that cured his childhood cancer caused a bone tumour to develop more than 20 years later in Vikram’s right cheekbone.
Vikram worked for his father’s accounting firm and then started his own bookkeeping business when his health once again took a turn for the worse. In 2017, he had a transient ischemic attack, commonly known as a mini stroke. The stroke, along with his short-term memory loss, prevents Vikram from continuing to work a traditional nine-to-five job, but it hasn’t slowed down his community work. He’s become one of the most engaged patient experts, by speaking at different post-secondary institutions and working on several committees within different health authorities and organizations locally & nationally. He has recently joined a mobility & accessibility committee for the city of Delta and has started advocating for people who have physical & mental challenges.
“It’s so important to treat each other as equals,” says Vikram. “I want to change the status quo and help remove stigmas and biases in our community. I just feel like this is my niche, where I belong. I’ve had a few bumps along the way, but that’s life.”
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ADVISORY BOARD
The Board of Directors of the BCEdAccess Society works with a dedicated group of active volunteers comprising our Advisory Board, who make up the voting membership of the Society and help guide the strategic direction of the organization. As members of different Board committees, they also take on different roles such as moderating the community Facebook group, and help plan and execute group actions. Individually and collectively, members of our online Facebook community/discussion group take up action which we support and promote.
To learn more about getting involved in our work, contact us secretary@bcedaccess.com
BCEdAccess Society 
wow, that an all star team. i can’t believe i’m just discovering you! thank you for all that you are doing!
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What an amazing group!
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