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 Vanessa Bradley, the Council’s incoming Executive Director, who chose 2025 as her milestone year.
Vanessa Bradley
In the fall of 2025, I heard that the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women was looking for a new Executive Director.
I had been at PEERS Alliance for four and a half years, an organization whose mission I strongly believe in, and it was a difficult choice to decide to leave—but the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women is an organization whose mission I also strongly believe in, and a place where I know I can help to further that mission. In my role as People & Culture Manager at PEERS Alliance, I worked with 2SLGBTQ+ youth, I created and implemented policy, I worked internally to support staff in frontline work, and I kept all of the small details of the organization in order.
The position of Executive Director at the PEI ACSW is a big step, a big challenge, and also full of big excitement. I applied with medium hopes of getting offered the position, and was thrilled when it was offered to me!
While I officially begin in January 2026, it’s been a joy to get to attend events, meet new faces, and learn even more about how integral and important the ACSW is to our Island communities.
My wife, Evelyn, and I moved to the Island in March of 2020 from South Carolina. We arrived on PEI the day the liquor stores closed (Evelyn wrote a CBC article about the “why PEI?” we get asked so often, you can read it here!), and it has been a roller coaster ever since. The Island welcomed us with open arms in ways that we couldn’t have ever dreamed. The folks here are warm, welcoming, funny, inquisitive, and it is a beautiful place to call home.
Living in the southern United States, being a feminist felt radical. Now, it feels inevitable, important, and essential. For me, feminism is a logical choice, and it must be intersectional. I am both nervous and thrilled to step into this new role in 2026, and determined to do it justice. I am looking forward to discovering how the incredible women at the ACSW support each other, challenge each other, and what change we can make together. The strides that the ACSW has made to advance equality in PEI is incredible, and yet there is still a long way to go.
Vanessa and Evelyn Bradley
