Chelmsford teacher named finalist in CBC's 'We are the Change' project
'I've had several women that have said 'Thank you, this is the push that we needed,' says Kingsley Malo
Amanda Kingsley Malo, a 29-year-old schoolteacher from Chelmsford, is a finalist in the CBC's We Are The Change project.
She is being recognized for organizing Politics Now, a northern Ontario group aiming to get more women involved in municipal politics.
The project, in honour of Canada's 150th birthday, seeks out Canadians who are making a difference in their community.
KIngsley Malo said the nomination is already making a difference.
"I've had several women that have said 'Thank you, this is the push that needed,'" Kingsley Malo said.
"[They have said] I've been thinking about municipal politics, I've been thinking about running, I was thinking about the difference that I can make and that I want to make in my community," she said.
"Now that I know there is somebody out there who is rooting for me, I'm in, let's do it, let's run in 2018."
Kingsley Malo said she hopes the nomination will also help spread the word that women have support.
"This will at least give us the ability to connect with people that live in Thunder Bay, that live in Kenora, that live in Timmins, that live in all of these small rural towns that are looking for support so that they know that we exist and they can come find us and we can start building this movement together," she said.
Kingsley Malo says her group will have its first meeting next month.
She's also raised enough money to attend the annual Northern Ontario Municipalities conference, where she hopes to talk further with female councillors and present them with a questionnaire about their experiences.
To vote for your favourite Canadian change maker, click here.