Students Advocating

In the news

April 3rd, 2025 – Surrey students plan march to push for B.C. school funding Surrey school district grappling with $16M shortfall in 2025-26 budget

January 16th, 2025 – Students rally against closure of White Rock learning centre

In Human Rights

The Next Generation of Advocates

Welcome to Speaking UP BC (Canada)

What does it take to be an advocate?

To put it quite simply…

You need to look at the pile of horse shit in front of you, view it as fertilizer, and then get to work. Oh…and be willing to fall ass backwards into it.

To all of the other parents who also make the decision to step into the advocacy role, however big or small, I cherish you. No one can ever make a difference, truly alone. We walk this together, even when we are fighting our own battles. And, it certainly can feel like a battle sometimes in these strategically designed systems.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.” African proverb quoted by the Dalai Lama

Disclaimer: On this website are some general tips that I have learnt along the way that I wish I knew before I started down the advocacy path. I offer these as suggestions for you to consider for your own advocacy efforts. As a disclaimer: please see this list as a Sunday brunch buffet of options and not a prescription of exact steps that you need to follow. I hope this information empowers parents when moving forward to reflect on their own values and make their own advocacy decisions. I know for myself, that when I move down a path that aligns with my values, I feel that much stronger.

“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” ― Alan Turing