Change in Directors at Engage Barrie Organization

It is with both sadness and gratitude that the Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of our Chair, Victoria Scott. Founding member Brandon Rhéal Amyot will be completing Victoria's term as a Director.

Victoria Scott

Victoria joined the EBO Board of Directors in October, 2022, but first became a part of the Engage Barrie community as part of our Supervised Consumption Saves Lives team in the early days of the pandemic, as well as a core member of our Elections Committee during the 2022 municipal election lead-up.

With her health care background and fierce compassion, Victoria has been especially dedicated to our campaigns around harm reduction and homelessness, women and violence issues, and has been a steadfast champion of human rights. We are especially grateful for her work in procuring two substantial donations from the Ontario Nursing Association, which have allowed us to cover EBO's insurance and website for the past two years, which in turn has allowed us to continue supporting our members without having to charge membership fees. Despite her distaste for social media technology, she was also willing to dive in as part of our Accountability Team, recording Council decisions for our blog.

Victoria has had to step back as Director, as some new responsibilities had to take priority, and she was unable to dedicate herself to EBO at the same level as before. But she remains a valued Contributing Member, and hopes to remain involved as much as current life will permit - though we highly doubt she'll be volunteering to help edit our blog again any time soon. 🤭

Victoria, thank you for your three years of service as a Director of Engage Barrie Organization, and as our Chair for this past year. Your strength and dedication have been greatly appreciated, and you will be missed.

Brandon Rhéal Amyot

EBO is thrilled to welcome back Brandon Rhéal Amyot, who has agreed to complete Victoria's term, which will continue through the next AGM in 2026. Brandon was already planning on running for the Board at this year's AGM, so when we learned of Victoria's resignation, we asked if they'd be willing to jump on a month early. All five of us did a "happy dance" when they agreed!

Brandon is one of EBO's founding members, and was a key organizer as Engage Barrie came together out of a group of people showing up at City Hall regularly, eager to both have our voices heard, and help others get involved in our municipal voice. They were part of the core group that lead the then-grassroots organization to develop our mission, mandate, values and founding principles. EBO's strong foundation is due in no small part to Brandon.

In the years since, Brandon has been busy lending their talents and time to the Lakehead University Student Union and Canadian Federation of Students, but has often made themselves available to help out with an EBO cause or campaign. We are excited that they now have the time to return to a leadership role with EBO, and look forward to their new ideas and insights, as well as their connection with our EBO roots and foundation.

Welcome back, Brandon!

Remaining Board

Between now and our Annual General Meeting on November 25, Alyssa Wright will serve as Interim Chair, as well as completing her current position of Treasurer. James Kerekes remains as Secretary, Sarah Jensen, Brandon Rhéal Amyot and Rob Romanek as Directors.

New Directors to be Elected at AGM

Alyssa's, James's and Sarah's terms as Directors will be coming to an end on November 25, at our AGM - at which time, three new Director chairs will be open for election. Any members interested in learning more about becoming a Director are welcome to contact admin@engagebarrie.org for details and answers to any questions - we're lucky to have such a great team, and look forward to having some new faces join us on the Board!