Our Team

Image Description: A picture of Aerilyn who has white pale skin and blue eyes and is slightly smiling. She is wearing black squareish framed glasses. Her hair is purple with lighter purple highlights and is wearing a necklace with a pentagram and the tree of life. She is wearing a white shirt with purple flowers and green leaves. The background is beige. 
Image Description: A picture of Aerilyn who has white pale skin and blue eyes and is slightly smiling. She is wearing black squareish framed glasses. Her hair is purple with lighter purple highlights and is wearing a necklace with a pentagram and the tree of life. She is wearing a white shirt with purple flowers and green leaves. The background is beige. 

Aerilyn Medina

Aerilyn Medina uses She/Her pronouns and is a Disability Advocate/Activist, Child and Youth Care Practitioner- CYW.Dip (Hons), Psychology B.A. (Hons) and is pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work.

She has been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder in her teens, then Fibromyalgia in her early 20’s, and within in the last 7 years she was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, severe Sleep Apnea that impacts her cognition, PTSD, and Bipolar 2 Disorder. She also manages ADHD and a learning disability where her motor and visual centres don’t communicate with each other, and uses assistive technology to meet her access needs.

Aerilyn has volunteered and worked in a Disability support office, was on safety, diversity and inclusion, and policy committees. She mentored and facilitated leadership groups with various youth groups, was a Mentor with the Ascend Network, and a guest blogger for the UK’s National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS) One. She is very passionate about disability rights and awareness, and believes that lived experiences matter regardless of diagnosis. She wants to  create more inclusive spaces that recognize intersectionality and prioritize autonomy.

Image Description: A picture of Juan who has tanned skin with a mustache and dark short hair. He is sitting on a black leather couch facing away from the camera with his hands clasping each other, and the wall behind him is beige. He is wearing black and silver glasses, a light purple dress shirt with a darker purple tie, on his left hand ring finger he is wearing a silver wedding band.
Image Description: A picture of Juan who has tanned skin with a mustache and dark short hair. He is sitting on a black leather couch facing away from the camera with his hands clasping each other, and the wall behind him is beige. He is wearing black and silver glasses, a light purple dress shirt with a darker purple tie, on his left hand ring finger he is wearing a silver wedding band.

Juan Medina

Juan is Aerilyn’s husband and partner at O.A.R.C.I.D Services. His pronouns are He/Him. He has an Associates in Computer Network Systems and a B.A. in Project Management Administration. He focuses on ensuring all of the technology and finances are in order for O.A.R.C.I.D Services and helps facilitate some of the accessibility training sessions.  

When Juan was a child he had a severe accident that caused a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that resulted in a learning disability and stuttering. Juan’s passion is to break barriers regarding disability and education, but also the intersectional barrier of being Mexican in an ever oppressive world. 

Image Description: A picture of Kenesia, a black female in a half body shot centered in the photo with a blurred background. She is smiling, wearing a red lipstick and in a standing position. She is wearing a black blazer with a red turtle neck top inside of it. She has dark brown eyes and long wavy curls.
Image Description: A picture of Kenesia, a black female in a half body shot centered in the photo with a blurred background. She is smiling, wearing a red lipstick and in a standing position. She is wearing a black blazer with a red turtle neck top inside of it. She has dark brown eyes and long wavy curls.

Kenesia Christian-Lawrence uses She/Her pronouns and is a Disability Advocate. She was a primary school teacher in the Caribbean and has a B.A. in Psychology. She will be pursuing a future career in Clinical Psychology.

She is very instrumental in developing and researching the various programs in O.A.R.C.I.D and focuses on creating accessible documents for these programs.

Kenesia has been diagnosed with a disability a few years ago which can led to debilitating health conditions if not properly managed. She is very passionate about the intersectionality of disability, human rights, racism, and mental health. Her prior teaching experience has fueled the importance for promoting awareness in learning disabilities and the amount of care it takes to provide equitable and accessible education for disabled students.

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