Whenever Ashley Giroux (BRLS ’23) needed support, she knew she could always turn to her grandparents.

“Growing up, I had a bit of a social delay, and I just didn’t have that sense of belonging,” said the Brock Master of Applied Disability Studies student. “Finding that welcoming space with my grandparents and being able to connect with them was always so magical.”

That bond inspired Giroux to want to create more inclusive spaces for older adults and individuals with disabilities. Her ongoing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) led to her being recognized as the EDI Changemaker of the Month for December.

The award is presented by Brock’s Office of Human Rights and Equity (HRE) each month to a student, staff or faculty member who has helped advance EDI on campus.

“I’ve always been an advocate for people with disabilities — and just people in general — so being able to say this is recognition I’m getting from Brock, for the work that is possible because of Brock, is a really big deal,” she said. “I’m truly honoured.”

Giroux’s first experience working with the disability community came when she joined Brock’s Accessibility and Empowerment Day planning team, a role she’s held for the past three years.

“Ashley truly represents what it means to be inclusive and accessible,” said Megan Kuzak, HRE’s Accessibility and Inclusion Advisor. “She ensures that she uses an accessibility lens in all she does and makes sure that the people around her are supported and feel like valued members of the team.”

After spending some time working in nursing homes, Giroux also became interested in researching age-related changes for individuals with pre-existing disabilities.

“We typically see people age into a disability, but there are individuals who have had a disability their entire life who are also managing the complications from dementia or needing assistive devices for walking with Parkinson’s disease, for example,” she said.

As an Inclusive Adaptive Specialist at the Centre for Adaptive Physical Activity (CAPA), Giroux has most recently been working with her research supervisor and CAPA Director of Research Maureen Connolly on the new Evergreen program. Launched last summer, it provides a space for seniors to build a sense of community while engaging in activities to improve their physical health as well as memory recall and retention.

Connolly said Giroux’s administrative support of CAPA’s community programs and enthusiasm for the process analysis and program evaluation components of ongoing research related to disability and aging “allows us to provide meaningful active leisure programs for participants of all ability levels across the lifespan.”

While she sees a beauty to aging, Giroux said it can also be an isolating experience — which is why she is so passionate about providing opportunities for “everyone to have a seat at the table and a role in the discussion.”

“To see these incredible participants in the Evergreen program flourish and have such a positive experience in a space that they’re finally fully welcomed and embraced in has been truly impactful for me,” Giroux said. “It’s pretty evident when you give people space to feel that they are being heard and their feelings are being recognized — there are magical things that happen because of that.”

Building from those experiences, Giroux’s current research project will explore different experiences of aging with a disability, seeking to also help disseminate critical knowledge from the disability community and caregivers to help organizations better support those individuals.

Giroux also wants to continue to explore her passion for teaching, hoping to bring all that she’s learned into the classroom as a teaching assistant.

“EDI is also about being critical about everything that we do and always thinking about how to make sure everyone is heard and recognized,” said Giroux. “I always tell my students that when we’re learning there are a lot of things that make us uncomfortable, but it’s important to sit in that because you grow in discomfort and learn a lot more by asking the hard questions.”

EDI Changemaker criteria and nomination information is available on the HRE website.