Michelle Jay, Summer 2025.
We are asking each current staffperson with the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women to choose a milestone year to reflect on among these “50 Ways to Achieve Equality” posts. Today’s significant year is selected by MIchelle Jay, the Council’s full-time Program Coordinator who chose 2012, the year she started working with the Advisory Council, as her milestone year.
Thirteen years ago this week, in September 2012, I started my employment as Program Coordinator at the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women. In many ways, it felt like coming back to myself. I felt that I had landed in the place I had always wanted to be — reconnecting to feminism and equality work, working among women I admired and respected, fully committed to the mandate and structure of the organization.
We were coming through an extended era of feminism being considered a dirty word. Feminists were disparaged and excluded as man-hating lesbians (many of us were!), and for years, I had boldly (foolishly?) stated my commitment to feminist principles on my resume. No wonder I was grinding through poorly paid, short-term jobs!
The many years spent piecing together contracts with various social justice organizations, while amazing and transformative in so many ways, was exhausting. I was thrilled to have work I fully believed in and a secure base for my daughter and myself to breathe.
I also felt fully welcome. Until I started at the ACSW, my queer orientation and sexual identity, as well as my role as a single mother, meant that I held back from sharing much of my life. My being was “tolerated” in workplaces (and the community at large). The Status of Women was the first full-time employment I secured where I felt confident that my whole, authentic self was welcome. Not merely tolerated or accepted, but valued and seen as an added benefit to the role and the organization.
As a mother, having a workplace that offered flexibility without reservation was ideal. And unusual. I could attend doctor’s appointments, kid activities, and take care of my parents and other family members without penalty. There was a trust in my ability to manage work and life commitment and know that I would work evenings, weekends, and overtime when required or requested. Women can be trusted to work the hours they are paid for.
Michelle’s hand was in the image created for the first multilingual poster for the Purple Ribbon Campaign in 2012.
So what was happening at the ACSW and in the general milieu of 2012? At the Council, I was thrust into the Purple Ribbon Campaign Against Violence Against Women. The theme of that year was “Violence is a Choice – Choose Better,” and we created our first multilingual poster using my androgynous hand for the image! Jane was the new Executive Director, Becky worked in the office part time, and Diane Kays was Chairperson. In the months and then years that followed, I have led programs like the Montreal Massacre Memorial Service, International Women’s Day celebrations, and Feminist Pride.
One of the main issues the ACSW was engaged in was repatriating abortion. An effort that ebbed and flowed over the years, but that was reasserting itself in this decade and culminated in the 2018 decision by government NOT to fight the Abortion Access Now women in court. There were many violence against women prevention initiatives and women’s leadership in the political sphere was gaining traction. A homeless shelter for women opened in downtown Charlottetown in 2012. There was renewed focus on diversity and inclusion as the province geared up for the 150th sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference. The ACSW worked to ensure that the voices of women and diverse Islanders were part of the festivities.
At Michelle Jay’s first meeting as the new Program Coordinator for the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women, September 2012. Left to right: Becky Tramley, Michelle Jay, then-Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Valerie Docherty, Jane Ledwell, and then-Chairperson Diane Kays.
And we are also thinking about the future, and rolling with the changes that are on the horizon. Looking back, I wish some of the issues felt further advanced. Resolved even. Sometimes the slowness of progress is frustrating. The ways that violence against women never ends but rather morphs in new horrific ways. The suffering of women as partners, as mothers, and as caregivers can be overwhelming. The ways our justice, policing, education and legal systems continue to harm women has not lessened. So yes, many days the work here can be disheartening.
But I have never regretted saying yes to the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. I have been proud of the work we’ve accomplished with creativity and limited resources. And fun! And I have been able to contribute alongside some amazing allies in the community. PEI has a strong community of social activism, that inspires and propels me to face the challenges in my life and in the world every day. And being part of the ACSW team of co-workers and Council members has been wonderful. What we achieve together, how we support and challenge one another, and work to advance equality in PEI is remarkable.
Michelle’s daughter, Bella, and Michelle on the water, 2025.
