Community INC'S current Board members are:
Chair: Heather Tracey, People First Canada
Heather is a member of the Coldbrook Lions Club and a self-advocate for People First. She can be reached via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Treasurer: Ron Mullins
Prior to working with Transit Consulting Network, Ron was formerly the General Manager of Kings Transit and Director of Finance for ten years with the Municipality of West Hants. Ron is a graduate of Acadia University with a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Certified General Accountant, holds a National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration from the Universities of Dalhousie and Alberta and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Victoria. Ron has been married to his wife Brenda for 23 years and has a 12 year old son Shane and a 10 year old daughter Curran.
Gerard Tremere, Community Member
Gerard has been employed by the Federal Government in various computer-related technical and programming positions. He served two years on Nova Scotia's Occupational Health and Safety Ministerial Advisory Council. He was seriously injured in an industrial accident and has been involved in organizations that assist injured workers and other disabled Nova Scotians since 1990.
Gail Boutilier, Commercial Account Manager
Gail started working for the Bank of Montreal in April 1984 (Halifax Branch) in a teller position. She continually promoted through a variety of positions at different bank branches via internal training programs and external courses offered through both the Institute of Canadian Bankers and the Canadian Securities Institute. Through this time, she has enjoyed working with clients and helping them meet their financial goals. Key facets of every job she's had include attention to customer service and compliance with both internal and external regulatory requirements for her industry. Gail has been accredited in both personal and commercial lending and was licensed as a Mutual fund sales person. She earned the Personal Financial Counseling and the Personal Financial Planning designation via the Institute of Canadian Bankers as well as completed the business program via the ICB leading to the AICB designation (Associate of the Institute of Canadian Bankers). On a volunteer basis, Gail has participated in many fundraisers for both the Canadian Cancer Society and the MS Society. She spent many years as an auxiliary member of volunteer fire departments.
Cynthia Bruce, Researcher and Independent Consultant
Cynthia Bruce is a doctoral candidate in the Inter-University Ph.D. in Educational Studies co-facilitated by Acadia, Mount Saint Vincent, and St. Francis Xavier Universities. She is a blind activist who has worked in inclusive post-secondary education research at Acadia University and in systemic disability advocacy and government relations in the non-profit sector in Nova Scotia. Cynthia’s research is rooted in the activist academic discipline of Disability Studies and focuses on exploring the accommodation-related experiences of university students with disabilities and their professors in Nova Scotia. Her aim is to understand more fully the role that negotiation and self-advocacy play in shaping student/faculty relationships. Cynthia is particularly interested in activist research, teaching, and action that will enable Nova Scotia post-secondary institutions to become more equitable places to learn and to work. Currently, while completing her doctoral research, Cynthia teaches part-time in Acadia’s School of Education. Our Board is a community-based policy board, and represents a broad cross-section of our community. We welcome community members who wish to participate; please contact us for more information.
Michelle Morgan-Coole, Legal Analyst
Michelle Morgan-Coole lives in New Minas and is the parent of two young adults with varying degrees of disability. Besides being a mother, she is also a lawyer and this combination has given her a keen passion to use the law to assist persons with disabilities. Michelle’s first formal involvement with regard to advocating for persons with disabilities was as one of the co-founders of a cross-disability parent support group in Annapolis Valley in 2000. In 2007, she started a legal blawg, entitled “A Primer on Special Needs and the Law”, dedicated to providing timely and practical information to individuals with disabilities and their families on various legal issues. Recognizing the barriers faced by families in Nova Scotia who feel that legal guardianship is in their family member’s best interests, in 2010, Michelle created the Nova Scotia Legal Guardianship Kit, which allows families who so desire to proceed on their own to obtain guardianship of a family member in the appropriate circumstances without incurring the significant costs involved in retaining a lawyer.Since 2010, Michelle has also been traveling throughout the Province offering presentations on a variety of topics relevant to families in the disability community. In July, 2014, Michelle opened MMC Legal Services, a law practice dedicated to serving the disability community.
