Why
There is a need in Ottawa for advocacy services for families with exceptional individuals. We support families by advocating for exceptional individuals within many spheres. Our unparalleled support will result in a custom roadmap of learning strategies by linking resources to the individual in a personal plan of action.
Our Mission
To provide positive and timely advocacy services and support for parents and guardians of exceptional individuals in Ottawa. We fulfill the need in advocacy services for families. Families and guardians will learn to have a clear understanding of advocacy and how to best execute strategies for future success. We strive to provide direct and personalized support to families with exceptional individuals and teach skills and empowerment through successful advocacy
Our team: Kristen, Melissa and Martina
About kristen
Kristen Robertson-Grewal has an M.A. in Education with a specialization in Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation from the University of Ottawa. She has been an educational consultant and advocate for parents of children with special needs for the last 10 years.
Kristen works with families of children ranging from preschool to university to ensure that their children have the support they need from the education system. She can assist with IEP (Individual Education Plans), IPRC (Identification, Placement, and Review Committees), and guiding parents through the documentation required for their children to receive accommodations within the education system.
One of her greatest passions is providing advocacy support to children and their families who struggle within the education system. Some of the greatest potential is hindered by standardization and routine. She aims to support individuals to flourish and succeed in all facets of education via collaboration. Her passion for advocacy stems from her own personal experience of being ADHD, dyslexic, and gifted. As a result, she is acutely aware of what it feels like to be misunderstood in a system designed for a demographic that the student doesn’t fit within. She has experienced many unique educational environments and have witnessed the difficulties in building and maintaining effective learning plans and administrative relationships. These gifts and struggles led her to strive to make a difference. She is grateful every day to work with children and their families to establish and maintain a positive educational experience for all.
About Melissa
Melissa is a Franco-Ontario who was born and raised in Kapuskasing. Her passion for pedagogy started with a high school summer job. She was an instructor for Canada’s lifesaving society and the Canadian Red Cross. Melissa particularly enjoyed teaching lifesaving skills and accommodating her swimming lessons for exceptional children.
After graduating from high school, she moved to Ottawa and obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa in 2010. Her primary focus was psychology, followed by literature. In 2013, she obtained a second Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa. For the next 10 years, she taught and tutored elementary students of various ages. Her time in the classroom has given her a profound understanding of the importance of personalized education and of the barriers standardized education can present to an exceptional pupil if accommodations are not present.
When Melissa met Kristen, they immediately discovered they shared a passion for advocating equal access to quality education for all children. As Melissa’s values, skills, and drive matched Advantage Advocacy’s mission, Kristen invited her to join the team in 2022. She is passionate about advocating and supporting families with exceptional individuals, and ensuring every child has their rights and their needs met so they can flourish and reach their goals and dreams.
About Martina
Martina Pietracupa (She/Her) is the Administrative Assistant, assisting with scheduling, filing and billing. Prior to joining Advantage Advocacy, Martina worked as a Registered Nurse, for 10 years. Martina is a mother of three beautiful children, with one child on the Autism Spectrum.
What WE AchieVE
We address the need for educational support and provide advocacy service. One of the many objectives of Advantage Advocacy Inc. is to support the collaboration process for families with exceptional individuals. We work with families in three separate settings; School, Home, and Other.
With Schools, we collaborate to understand the educational process and existing supports. We strategize to create an inclusive and personalized learning environment. Roadmap and prepare families for the bureaucratic elements of IEP and IPRC processes. We can provide support to school meeting and interviews. We close the divide between the School and Home learning environments.
At Home, we understand the synergy of successful advocacy. We can recognize and identify stressors in the structure of the home and provide solutions to possible triggers. As such, we will develop systems and routines to empower and excite the exceptional individual by promoting independence and self advocacy. Development of tools at home will support academic life and promote success in all ventures.
In other activities, we recognize that advocacy support is not limited to school and home, and is also required in other environments. Education happens everywhere, outside the home and school we are prepared to provide mentorship and collaboration in extracurricular activities such as music lessons, camps, and sports. We will offer ideas to best support learning, by playing to strengths and creating realistic goals. We assist parents and guardians in obtaining instrumental supports via: educational programming; recreational programming, and/or support systems to facilitate movement to further address needs. We have partnered with experts in a number of fields to explore other unique avenues for success.
Team members
Kristen Robertson-Grewal (M.Ed): Owner, Founder, Educational consultant and advocate
Melissa Wedge (B. Ed): Bilingual Educational consultant and advocate
Martina Pietracupa: Administration