SACKVILLE, NB — Luke Anderson, engineer, social innovator, and founder of the StopGap Foundation, will visit Mount Allison University as part of the President’s Speakers Series. His talk, Real Change, Right Now: The StopGap Story will take place Tuesday, Feb.5, 2019 at 7 p.m. in Crabtree Auditorium (49A York Street, Sackville). All are welcome.

“The StopGap Foundation focuses on inclusion and accessibility and is a stunning example of social innovation and social entrepreneurship,” says Mount Allison University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jean-Paul Boudreau. “We look forward to welcoming Luke Anderson to campus to share the StopGap story with our campus and wider community.”

After sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2002, Luke Anderson was suddenly introduced to a world that is not well suited to a wheelchair user. His frustration encountering access barriers led him to found the StopGap Foundation, which raises awareness about the importance of a barrier free and inclusive society.

StopGap is helping different community leaders across Canada adopt their own Community Ramp Project and they recently developed a school program to engage students in StopGap’s awareness-raising initiative.

Anderson is a licensed professional engineer, enjoys speaking as a volunteer ambassador on behalf of the Rick Hansen Foundation, and was awarded the 2016 Jane Jacobs Prize.

Anderson’s talk is co-sponsored by the Josiah Wood Lecture Fund. The annual Mount Allison University President's Speakers Series brings noted speakers from across Canada and around the globe to campus to address issues of current interest or importance. The 2018-19 series concludes on Tuesday, March 5 with a presentation by Dr. Stephen Lewis, professor of distinction at Ryerson University, board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World. (mta.ca/pss)