Trustee Focus – Janet Dixon
Janet Dixon
Mel Bogard, another parent and I decided that although our children had been mostly included in school they were about to leave and all that seemed to waiting for them was segregated ‘day bases’. We decided that ‘real jobs, with real people and real money’ was our dream. So we founded Emerge.
The last eleven years on the Board have been amazing – interesting to be an employer and exciting to see the loyal, integrity and hard work of the staff and the glowing successes of people doing that ‘real, work with real people for real money!’ I am very proud of Emerge especially of the Transition programme and the new initiatives that staff are developing.
Some of the other hats that I wear are early childhood facilitator and mentor, Incredible Years facilitator, mother of four, advocate for children and people with disabilities and gardener/ chief cook. I am a member of a choir and The Wailing Hags and a lively book club. This year (2011) I am doing my last paper which is a thesis towards my Masters Degree in Education. The topic for my thesis is “An examination of experiences of siblings of people with disabilities in New Zealand: Siblings Voices.”
