The Idea of an Internal External Board for SASS
Honestly, gathering partners for the Self-Advocacy and Student Success project was really fun. Almost everyone we talked to was really really enthusiastic about the idea, and it was a good reminder of the strength of our relationships and community. One of the things I did when I was supposed to be writing the 50 page application was to make this amazing diagram of all the partners and collaborators and their relationships. About 3 hours of work and WELL worth it.
You might be wondering why certain people get a fancy dotted circle. When you apply for a partnership development grant through SSHRC, you identify certain people who will be partners. These are people who will make significant financial or in-kind contributions to the project as well as being deeply involved. You can also involve collaborators – these are people who won’t make a big financial in-kind contribution, but who you really want to have involved because they have important knowledge and skills to share.
In the case of the SASS project, our collaborators are the cream of the crop. We have the amazing Gillian Parekh who does groundbreaking disability justice work; Nora Green, who is part of a very badass advocacy organization called Inclusion Action Ontario, which is known for their strong advocacy for children with complex medical needs; and we have the indomitable Lynn Ziraldo who has about 50 years of incredible engagement in the Ontario education system on behalf of children with special education needs.
Visualizing the structure of our organization was another wonderful distraction. See below, where I positioned Lynn at the top, like the Queen that she is, as a high level advisor. I began to imagine her role as a visionary, who would help us to see not only into the future but also into the past, reminding us of where the system has been, what has worked, and what flopped but was interesting. Having been on the receiving end of Lynn’s mentoring and *audience participation* a few times, I knew that she wouldn’t hold back in her role as an impartial, focused, second-guessing check and balance. This structure is similar to how we vet work in the university. No doctoral candidate can pass their final oral exam without the approval of an external examiner from both within their university and from without.
This is how the idea of an entire board of internal-external reviewers came to be. It will be the perfect role for Parekh, Green, and Ziraldo to fulfill together, as a team. Here’s how we put it in our proposal:
As high level advisors, they will will serve as an intellectual compass for the project. Their lived, professional, and scholarly knowledge frames the ethical, structural, and social dimensions of classroom transformation. Ziraldo’s leadership ensures historical continuity and practical wisdom in policy and implementation. Parekh provides a rigorous critical lens, pushing the team to confront systemic bias and to articulate a progressive framework for inclusion. Green’s advocacy experience injects the realities of health, safety, and dignity into design decisions. Together, they embody the project’s commitment to integrating external intellectual leadership that is both independent and catalytic.
Pretty cool stuff.