AccessAbility Symposium at NAIT

Benveet “Bean” Gill’s story serves up a dose of reality like you’ve never heard before.

In her 20s, Gill was working as an X-ray technologist in a cardiac catheterization lab. But, in 2012, when she turned 30, everything changed. She left an abusive relationship, her dad left her family and, during a trip to Las Vegas, a virus paralyzed her from the waist down.

While relaxing in a hotel room with close friends, she felt a sudden, stabbing pain in her spine.

"The pain lasted only a few minutes, and then I couldn't move my right leg. I was paralyzed within 10 minutes."

Multiple neurologists told Gill a virus was likely to blame, and she would regain full use of her legs within weeks. After several months of no progress, Bean was forced to come to grips with her new reality. A once athletic young woman who enjoyed modeling, kickboxing, and weightlifting, she struggled with betrayal by her own body. She couldn't roll over, sit up, or get out of bed without help. She was forced to find her way through an inaccessible society, all the while living with paralysis and learning how to love herself - disability and all.

"My life was flipped upside down. I hated everything about me. I hated my life."

Bean took her health into her own hands, seeking out the answers and help she needed to confront her challenges head-on. Eventually, Gill found her confidence again. She worked to regain movement in her legs and pushed herself to try sports she never would have attempted before being paralyzed.

If it wasn’t for the worst year of her life, Gill wouldn’t be who she is today.

Bean’s sudden onset paralysis opened her eyes to the many injustices, inequalities, and challenges that are a part of life for those with disabilities. She went from dealing with a new identity of life in a wheelchair to using her situation as a platform to help others.

In 2017 she co-founded ReYu Paralysis Recovery Center - a non-profit she started with her Neuro-Exercise Specialist and zero capital. The wellness center exists to inspire, motivate, and promote recovery with increased function for individuals with spinal cord injuries and associated neurological disorders.

"We show them that they can do the things that they were told they were never going to do."

Being a woman of color who also has a visible disability, Gill is an example of unwavering strength and resilience. By confronting adversity and sharing her story, Bean Gill breaks down barriers and changes stigmas surrounding people with disabilities.

Gill’s work has earned her local and national recognition, including the Top 40 Under 40, RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award, and Global’s Woman of Vision Award. Bean is the reigning Miss Wheelchair Canada and was recognized by Mattel as one of Canada's top 60 inspiring women as part of Barbie's 60th Anniversary.

Logan Arcilla is from Alexis First Nation and works with FIRST ® Robotics at all levels of their programing including the FIRST ® Global Challenge (FGC). He has been a Power to Choose camp staff member since 2017 and done many of our robotics workshops around Alberta.  Logan was one of our founding board members, but stepped down in order to work for IndigeSTEAM.  He is now our Programs Manager for Tech and Robotics.

Gerald Bourlon is a mosaic artist who joined the Nina Collective in 2017. He works diligently to cut and arrange ceramic tiles, creating intricate designs. His subject matter ranges from geometric patterns to landscapes and animals. Occasionally, he accents his composition with glass pieces or decorative vintage tiles. Bourlon develops and refines his 
skill with each mosaic, creating increasingly complex images and experimenting with scale, colour, and shape. 

Bourlon’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions throughout Edmonton and is in many private collections. In 2023 he had his first solo exhibition in the Nina’s Stollery Gallery, titled Deaf Creation.

Julianna Yee is a visual artist working in printmaking, ceramics, and painting. She finds inspiration in the natural world, using animals and flowers as her subject matter. 
She has a unique method of making monoprints, adding thick layers of ink to the plate building dense layers of colour. With this technique, she is often able to pull multiple prints from a single plate. In every medium she works with, she incorporates subtle text, adding names for the figures or other messages.

Amynah Pirani is a visual artist working predominantly with textiles, clay, and mixed media assemblage. Recently she has also been exploring watercolour painting. Amynah’s process relies heavily on experimentation and she allows her compositions to come together organically and often unfold to create open narratives. Her work is frequently figurative and at times includes text that she hopes will connect with viewers and leave them with uplifting messages. 

Amynah lived in Kenya for most of her life and came to Canada in 2006. She aims to create bold and captivating work that gives viewers insight into who she is as an artist and as a person. Her cultural background influences her formal decisions and Amynah mixes Swahili & English text to further establish both cultural and personal links in her pieces. She enjoys collaging textile pieces to create larger integrated work and has been experimenting making three dimensional sculptures out of clay, fabric and found materials to make dimensional and meaningful works.

Megan Bulford is the Membership Officer for PADRA and the Lead Accessibility Advisor at Northwestern Polytechnic. For over a decade, she has been assisting students, faculty, and staff in navigating the accommodation process in post-secondary accessibility services. Megan completed her Bachelor of Education through the University of Alberta's Elementary Teacher Education North Program and worked primarily in elementary special education before transitioning to post-secondary education.

Maike Schmieding is the Vice Chair for PADRA and Research Chair for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Keyano College. In her role, she supports staff in applied research around teaching and learning. She comes from a background working with vulnerable communities and is a supporter of UDL and social justice in education. She received her MEd at the University of Muenster in Germany before moving to Canada, and is excited to start her PhD soon. In her free time, she volunteers with her therapy dog Finn.