The Accessible Organizations Project (AOP) team is led by Disability Alliance BC (DABC) and supported by the Government of British Columbia’s Accessibility Directorate. This initiative is also assisted by partners and collaborators, in cooperation with people with disabilities and 750+ Public Sector Organizations.
As we continue the work towards a barrier free BC, we honour the enormous contributions of the founding lead on this project, Dr. Mike Prescott.
The team is continually strategizing how to support Prescribed Organizations throughout British Columbia meet or exceed the mandate of Part 3 of the Accessible BC Act and its regulations.
We encourage Prescribed Organizations to reach out to DABC’s Project Manager, Roberta McDonald and Local Government Consultant Anna-Maria Wijesinghe for support and resources. We also urge organizations to connect with partners and collaborators in their sector, and disability leaders on their accessibility committee.
Team Profiles
Roberta McDonald, Project Manager
Roberta (Robbie) McDonald is the Project Manager for the Accessible Organizations Project. She is an accessibility consultant and project management professional with 15+ years of experience collaborating across teams and operating at the nexus of complex projects and campaigns. Her lived experience of sensory and non-apparent disabilities, along with deep knowledge of the Accessible BC Act informs all her work and she is driven to remove barriers for the benefit of everyone.
Robbie is passionate about building accessible, inclusive, sustainable communities. She is an agile writer, editor, and facilitator schooled in journalism with excellent planning and organizational abilities. She is adept at distilling complex subjects into plain language and accessible content, stakeholder engagement, and facilitating conversations that lead to lasting change.
Whether strategizing communications for United Way, storytelling for impact in the neurodiversity space, or facilitating outreach for documentary filmmakers, she cultivates high trust environments and seeks solutions in every scenario.
Ongoing learning includes the Community Capacity Building program at Simon Fraser University, an immersive ASL program, and an upcoming MFA in writing at University of King’s College.
Anna-Maria Wijesinghe, Local Government Consultant
Anna is Local Government Consultant for the Accessible Organizations Project that is led by Disability Alliance BC (DABC). Alongside DABC’s Project Manager, she is specifically working with local governments to support them to meet the mandate of Part 3 of the Accessible BC Act.
Previously, she was the Manager, Member and Association Services for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities – a position she has held for over 16 years — providing services and consulting to over 130 local government employers on their group benefit plans.
Anna has spent most of her career, over 29 years, in providing consulting and research on sector-wide and employer-specific human resources initiatives and group benefit strategies that focus on maximizing employers’ organizational health initiatives within association group benefits plans in the K-12, post-secondary and municipal sectors.
She has a track record in building strong relationships with multi-union clients at local and provincial levels in the coordinating of benefit ventures and labour relations/human resources research projects. She has also participated and assisted with providing advice and support in the bargaining of various employer and provincial collective agreements.
Anna has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from Lakehead University with an emphasis in Human Resources. She also has a certificate in Immigration Law, Policies and Procedures from UBC and a diploma from BCIT in Computer Systems (Business Administration).