Episode 7.01 - Friends of Ojibway Prairie

Cathy Burghardt-Jesson has been Mayor of Lucan Biddulph since 2014. She was first elected to local council in 2010. In her role as Mayor, she also sits on Middlesex County Council and has served as Warden of the County for three (3) terms (2020, 2021 & 2023). Cathy sits on a number of municipal committees both in Lucan and Middlesex. She is a Board member for the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service and also sits as a Board Member for the Ontario Good Roads Association. While Cathy is incredibly proud of the what she has been able to achieve and be involved with as a municipal leader, a couple of highlights for her is the successful Kraft Hockeyville campaign she chaired in Lucan in 2018. She is currently involved with Middlesex County and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in a project working with municipalities in Cambodia to champion and encourage women in leadership there. Personally, Cathy and her husband Kirk are retired small business owners.

Mayor Jerry Acchione was elected Mayor in 2022, after serving on Woodstock City Council since 2014.

Neil was first elected to Council in the 2018 Election, and was re-elected in the 2022 Election, representing the Listowel Ward of North Perth. Neil comes from a family with a long history of public service, his Great-Grandfather, Grandfather, and Father all served as Reeve of the Former Township of Greenock, and Neil is proud to follow in their footsteps.

Jennifer Kyle is a municipal councillor in the County of Brant serving in her first term. She believes strongly inter-governmental relationships and advocacy are integral to the economic success of her municipality and the greater South-Central Ontario Region. Jenn has made this a priority for her first term on council, spearheading and chairing the County of Brant Council Government Relations Committee, in addition to sitting on the county’s agriculture advisory committee, library board and community safety and wellbeing working group. Most recently, she was appointed to the South-Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation where she serves as vice-chair of the board of directors. Outside of her council responsibilities, she is the Manager of Public Engagement & Digital Strategy at Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO), which advocates in the areas of sustainability, animal health and care, environment, food safety, and domestic and export market development on behalf of the 19,000 beef farmers across the province. Jenn is a strong advocate for farmer mental health and is a certified Mental Health First Aid provider. Jenn serves as a director on the AgScape Board of Directors, currently sits on the marketing and communications committee of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, and has been an active participant of the Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council’s working group on diversity, equity and inclusion. Outside of her day jobs, Jenn and her husband operate a dairy, lamb and cash crop farm with their family near Paris, Ontario. Jenn is a graduate of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP), and is an active community volunteer.

Chris Parker was born and raised in Tillsonburg, Chris is a second-term councillor for the Town of Tillsonburg. Chris attended Glendale High School in Tillsonburg and then attended Durham College where he got his diploma in Law and Security Administration.