Richmond County Sherry grew up in St.Peters, Cape Breton in an entrepreneurial family where she still resides today. Her family has been involved in several small town businesses including a drug store, hardware store, laundromat, video shop, and more. She enjoys the rural community lifestyle, people and values. Her first business was in cosmetology; running[…]

Antigonish, Antigonish County Maureen is an Associate Professor & Chair with the Department of Adult Education, St Francis Xavier University. Her primary area of interest in adult education has been community health and development. She brings critical adult education and adult learning focus to conversations about development and social change. Maureen has always lived and[…]

Bridgetown, Annapolis County Jean is involved in rural leadership through employment in Agriculture as a producer on her family farm. She also has experience as an ARC (Agriculture Resource Coordinator) and an ALC (Agriculture Leadership Coordinator) with the NS Department of Agriculture. Past community involvement includes 4-H NS as a Specialist for the organization. Jean[…]

Hubbards Kathryn Gamache is the Executive Director of the Aspotogan Heritage Trust, which is located in Hubbards along the beautiful South Shore. She has long-standing family roots in rural and coastal Nova Scotia and throughout her career has been active in community development at both local and provincial levels. She is invested in organizations that[…]

Guysborough County Marta is a Real Estate Broker and owns her own brokerage. She is a member of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and has earned her FRI designation. A resident of Canso, Guysborough County, Marta is also a long time director/volunteer for The Canso Harbour Authority, and a member of the Guysborough Board[…]

Millbrook Christopher Googoo is a proud member of the We’koqma’q First Nation, living in Millbrook with his wife and three children. Since joining Ulnooweg Development Group in 2000, he has helped hundreds of Aboriginal entrepreneurs secure loans and access business services. Chris also co-led the development of the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Economic Development Strategy and[…]

Cape Breton County Ben is a former sport therapist in pro Hockey and a VON Canada nurse. He grew up in rural Canada and been involved with youth in rural areas all his life. Ben is concerned with the experiences that rural youth lack because of financial restrictions, and is interested in providing opportunities for[…]

Antigonish County Mark Embrett lives in Antigonish and Halifax and is originally from Cape Breton. Mark is an Assistant Professor in St. FXU’s Health Program and as an embedded researcher for NSHA where he enthusiastically works to support evidence informed decision making and rural representation in health through co-production activities. Mark has spent over 15[…]

Halifax County Penny grew up in both Vancouver BC and St. John’s NL and has lived and worked in several different countries around the world. She now lives in rural HRM and has been an active community member for several years. Penny has worked with many different rural communities and community groups throughout her career[…]

Hants County Ella Lent grew up as a 4-H member in Hants county, Nova Scotia. A recent graduate of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture, she is currently working as a research assistant for the Wild Blueberry Research Program and living in Truro. She has experience working in extension and outreach with the NS Department of Agriculture,[…]

Stellarton, Pictou County Heather is a Recreation Therapist with a passion for community building. After graduating from Dalhousie in 2017, Heather worked in a youth and community development capacity with the YMCA. She currently works with Positive Action for Keppoch Society as the Inclusive Program Developer and with Recreation Nova Scotia as the Provincial Recreation[…]

Tatamagouche, Colchester County Jayne works for Literacy Nova Scotia with a mandate to ensure equal access to quality literacy education. Literacy Nova Scotia was one of the founding organizations of the Foundation. She believes we need to invest in the people and communities of rural Nova Scotia. “People are our greatest resource; I am passionate[…]