Prior to becoming an MLA and Cabinet Minister, she was the project lead for Turning the Tide, at the non-profit organization Inspiring Communities. She also spent four years as the YREACH Immigrant Settlement Staff Member at the Fundy YMCA. It is this love and commitment to community development that motivated her to enter politics.

Dr Tara French is a leader in co-designing equitable, human rights–based health and social care systems, with a particular focus on improving integrated care pathways. With an interdisciplinary background across academia, social care, NHS and government, she applies systems and service design approaches to create inclusive, person-led pathways through working collectively with people with lived and living experience, service, community, organisational and policy perspectives.
Tara has led large-scale transformation programmes focused on digital innovation and integration, leading to the creation of roles such as the ‘Care Technologist’ and principles for human rights-based digital care. Tara combines her skills in strategic leadership, systems thinking, design and change management to drive sustainable improvements in pathways, experiences of care and outcomes for people accessing and providing health and social care.
Tara currently works alongside several national programmes in Scotland including, Digital Mental Health, the Digital Care Collaborative Scotland and the Digital Front Door programme.

Megan (she/her) is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Team Lead with Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia. She is passionate about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and working with families to support and achieve communication goals that are meaningful to them.

Bette brings to her career, 40+ years of health promotion and cross-sector collaboration for social change in communities across Canada.  After a 30-year career with the YMCA - culminating as the first woman President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Halifax- Dartmouth, she has continued to work across sectors on programs and multi-year social impact initiatives aimed at improving the health and quality of life of Canadians.
Bette currently serves as Project Manager with the Canadian Coalition for Seniors Mental Health (CCSMH). In this role, she supports a national working group of subject matter experts and staff team who developed and are now mobilizing the “first in the world” clinical guidelines on social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Prior to this role, Bette was working with a collective impact initiative in Dartmouth North called “Between the Bridges” and in that role was proud to be part of the initial team that identified the need for “getting everyone online” as a response to the initial pandemic shut down of in-person community development and student access to the internet and devices in their homes.  She is also a certified leadership coach, group facilitator and part-time faculty in the nonprofit leadership program at Mount St. Vincent University in Nova Scotia. Bette lives in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship.

Louise Holly is Policy and Research Coordinator at Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab). Her work focuses on strengthening the governance of digital environments to support better health for young people. Prior to DTH-Lab, Louise worked with Save the Children and UNICEF, and as an independent consultant supporting a number of international NGOs and UN organisations.

Indra Kubicek is the CEO of Digital Moment, an award-winning Canadian charity advancing digital skills and AI literacy for youth, especially from underrepresented groups. Under her leadership, the organization has reached over 1 million young people and 35,000 educators. She established Canada’s first national K-12 AI literacy framework using a systems approach to ensure equal access nationwide.

Indra champions an inclusive tech ecosystem, advocating for diverse voices, youth involvement in AI ethics, and digital skills to solve local and global challenges. Recently, she created an AI Learning Lab focused on intergenerational collaboration and skill building. In 2025, she spoke at the UN High-Level Political Forum—framing AI literacy as a human right—and launched Canada’s first national AI Council for the Future Workforce.

Her career includes ten years in the UK leading international programs at the Raspberry Pi Foundation to bridge the digital divide. Her personal barriers as a young female tech entrepreneur drove her commitment to systemic change in digital literacy. Indra serves on the board of Québec Tech and previously advised Mila’s Startup Committee for student entrepreneurs.

Her achievements earned her the 2026 'Woman of the Year' award from the Montreal Council of Women. Indra is a Canadian Chartered Accountant holding a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Master's in Professional Accounting, and a Master's in Public Policy & Management, along with executive certifications in Social Entrepreneurship from INSEAD and Impact Management & Measurement from Oxford.

Prior to becoming an MLA and Cabinet Minister, she was the project lead for Turning the Tide, at the non-profit organization Inspiring Communities. She also spent four years as the YREACH Immigrant Settlement Staff Member at the Fundy YMCA. It is this love and commitment to community development that motivated her to enter politics.

Since earning her master’s in sociology from the University of Toledo in 1997, Angela has been in the field we now call “digital inclusion.” Starting with setting up computer labs in underserved areas and managing local digital inclusion programs, Angela’s first-hand knowledge led her to consult for the US Department of Commerce and testify four times before Congress. In 2015, Angela saw that the growing field needed its own place to build best practices and community, so she founded the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in the U.S., which advances digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policymakers to act.

Angela serves on the Board of Directors of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and on the Board of Directors of the FCC’s Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), representing low-income consumers. Angela has received numerous awards, including being named  Top 25 Doers, Dreams, and Drivers of 2019 by Government Technology Magazine and in 2023, Google.org named her one of its seven worldwide Leaders to Watch.

Angela works tirelessly to connect and uplift the digital inclusion community to address the pressing needs for affordable internet access, devices, and digital skills training for all. Through relationship building, high-profile speaking engagements, and interviews with news outlets, including the Washington Post, Forbes, and NPR, Angela has been key in building awareness and advocating for billions of dollars to move the digital equity movement forward.

Born and raised in Gaspe, Quebec, Bonnie spent 20 years in Vancouver, BC where she worked in municipal government and had a music career.  Her unique collection of work experiences have facilitated her capacity to tackle complex systems and address issues that disproportionately impact equity-deserving groups.

Bonnie is solution-focused and thrives in creative spaces that champion change and innovative approaches to addressing complex issues through collaboration. Her move to Nova Scotia in 2010 enabled her to continue her community-serving commitment by working to support Nova Scotians facing unjust barriers who live with lower incomes.  She has enjoyed interweaving Nova Scotia-centric perspectives, promising practices from other provinces, and learnings from international practices for human rights, inclusion, gender equity, LGBTQIA+ and women rights.

She was Executive Director at Chebucto Connections in Spryfield and worked in Poverty Reduction with the Province of Nova Scotia.   Bonnie’s passion for inclusion and diversity extends equally into her personal and professional worlds.

Aaron Slater is Digital Inclusion Manager at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), where he leads national work to tackle digital exclusion and support a more inclusive digital Scotland.
 
He has played a key role in the development and delivery of major programmes including Connecting Scotland and Digital Lifelines Scotland, helping shape approaches that enable people, communities and services to thrive in an increasingly digital world. Aaron specialises in building organisational and system-wide capability for digital inclusion, with a particular focus on partnership working, place-based approaches and sustainable change.
 
Before joining SCVO, Aaron held service management roles in the justice sector, bringing extensive experience of frontline services, leadership and supporting people facing complex challenges.

Elliot Sawers is the Executive Manager of the WA Digital Inclusion Project, a statewide initiative delivered by the Western Australian Council of Social Service that brings together communities, government, industry and the community services sector to address digital exclusion across Western Australia.

With a background in education, and community engagement, Elliot has worked alongside metropolitan, regional and remote communities to develop practical, community-led approaches that improve digital access, affordability, skills and confidence. His work focuses on building partnerships, strengthening local capability and ensuring that people and communities can participate fully in an increasingly digital society.

In this interview, Elliot shares lessons from Western Australia's digital inclusion journey, including the importance of cross-sector collaboration, community leadership and place-based solutions in creating meaningful and lasting impact.

Kyla Williams Tate is the inaugural Digital Equity Director for Cook County Government in the
Office of the President and an Advisory Fellow at Loyola University Chicago's Center for Digital
Ethics and Policy. Her work sits at the intersection of public policy, AI governance, digital equity,
community power, and art. She is a Rising Civic AI Leader through Aspen Digital and the Aspen
Policy Academy and holds certificates of distinction from the Center for AI and Digital Policy's
Basic and Advanced AI Policy Clinics. In 2025, she was named the National Digital Inclusion
Alliance Digital Equity Champion and a ScaleLIT Literacy Leader.