Our Founder
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Heather McCain is founder and Executive Director of Live Educate Transform Society (LET’S) – formerly Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods – a non-profit they started in 2005. Heather built LET’S from a small grassroots organization in two communities to an organization delivering workshops and adding their voice to projects and events across Turtle Island (colonially known as North America). Heather works on the stolen land of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), in what is colonially called Vancouver.
Heather McCain (they/them) is Executive Director of Live Educate Transform Society (LET’S) — formerly, Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods. In 2005, Heather founded LET’S and built it from a small grassroots organization to a non-profit that has impact and audiences across Turtle Island (colonially known as North America).
As someone from populations often under and/or misrepresented, Heather utilizes their visibility and experience to mentor others, while proudly, publicly speaking about all of their identities— including being aromantic, asexual, crip, disabled, mad, neurodivergent, non-binary, queer, and trans.
Prioritizing lived expertise, all leadership positions at LET’S, including board, staff, content creators, researchers, and workshop facilitators, are of the identity they are advocating for educating about, and representing. Heather strongly believes that we can transform our communities for the better by applying Disability Justice principles like leadership by those most impacted.
Heather is proudest to be called a Crip Doula, a Disability Justice term for someone who helps disabled people navigate our complex systems, provides resources, supports, and builds community. Members of Chronically Queer, a support group Heather facilitates for 2SLGBTQIA+ folk with chronic health conditions, gave the title to Heather. Heather has said, “Crip Doula means the most to me because it was given to me by 2SLGBTQIA+, disability, neurodivergent community members who appreciate and have felt the effects of my work.”
Utilizing their workshops to model accessibility, Heather educates about a wide range of topics including disability, gender and sexuality, imposter syndrome, neurodivergence, poverty, and transportation. Starting in 2022, the City of Vancouver hired Heather to do disability awareness training for all levels of staff, including mayor and council.
Recognizing that systems work against many populations, Heather actively seeks out paid opportunities for 2SLGBTQIA+, disabled, and neurodivergent folks. Heather uses their position to help set rates for up-and-coming advocates and educators. Likewise, Heather, through LET’S, has helped with funding for many community-led organizations, who would otherwise not be able to do their programming. Of their 2022 revenue 43% was paid to disabled people and 22% was given as grants.
