Holly is an active member of the Truro community, she runs a 2SLGBTQIA+ youth group, and can always be found at different speaking events. Like Ally: How, and educational speaker series teaching organizations in Nova Scotia how to be effective allies to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Holly has been helping organize the Truro Pride Parade for the past years and is a co-founder of the Truro Pride Society, which aims to make a positive impact in Colchester for 2SLGBTQIA+ representation.
With a passion for agriculture, Holly has recently started a new position at Farm Credit Canada and is excited to continue learning about everything agriculture.
Laura Whiteland began her financial services career in 2014. As she pursued further accreditation and became familiar with the industry, she started looking for an opportunity to join a firm whose values matched her own.
Laura joined White LeBlanc Wealth Planners - HollisWealth in 2017 after recognising a shared vision and philosophy toward both wealth planning and client service. Along with her unwavering commitment to assist clients in achieving their financial goals, Laura is a passionate entrepreneur; she is a part owner of Intrinsic Salon and Spa and owns a successful property rental business.
Her belief in supporting community is proven in her role as a Board Member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Colchester East Hants Branch. Laura is a co-founder of the Truro Pride Society, is a mentor with Queercraft, and is a presenter with Ally How.
Holly and Laura gave an informative presentation dealing with the history of Pride in Truro and how it has changed since 2017. While the event continues to grow and now Truro is the 2nd largest Pride event in the province, there is still much more to do. They stated that Pride day is a celebration and well as protest and while it has helped to get support of the community there is need to make the benefits extend to the other 364 days of the year.
The objective is to make the community more welcoming so that people young and old will feel included and be more likely to stay. Ultimately they would like to see a dedicated space for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Holly and Laura encourages us to think about how we could be more inclusive and how simple things such as misgendering, the use of pronouns or titles such as Mr and Ms, might cause discomfort. We need to understand our individual privileges, educate ourselves on the issues and when we make mistakes (and we will), be prepared to own them and correct. They also encouraged us to make places safe and welcoming for everyone.