About Paul Tubbe - expert in universal design and accessibility. PhoenixRising Solutions

• Creating and co-facilitating workshops on Spinal Cord Injury research and accessible community environments for ICORD, an internationally-based research organization in the area of spinal cord injury;
• Providing education and assisting the City of Vancouver with integration of Universal Design principles in the development of two large housing projects comprising 12,000 units, in a climate of complex, sensitive and political issues;
• Facilitating the inclusion of Vancouver's Curb Cut Program into the Federation of Canadian Municipalities "Best Practices for Sidewalk Design, Construction, and Maintenance" and the Master Municipal Construction Planning Document;
• Providing education on accessibility, inclusion and Universal Design to the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada;
• Researching and delivering Best Practices of Para-transit report to Directors of Vancouver HandyDart and it's funder/regulator Translink;
• Consulting, implementing and reporting the results of an Access and Inclusion Assessment project to the City of Vancouver;
• Providing development and implementation advice for an Access and Inclusion Assessment project to the City of Edmonton;
• Providing education on Universal Design to management, staff, City Council members, and community members of the City of Mississauga and Region of Peel;
• Participating on the Sidewalk Task Force, and successfully presenting to City Council and resulting in Council's adoption of Task Force recommendations;
• Providing expertise as a Universal Design, Accessibility and Inclusion Consultant to the City of Vancouver, working with developers, City staff and others on a number of "model" accessible community projects, including the Woodward's re-development, South East False Creek, One Kingsway, and East Fraserlands, among others;
• Extensively integrating intellectual property gained through membership with Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments (GAATES), an international consortium of experts in accessibility of electronic and communication technologies and accessibility of the built environment.

Before developing his passion for Universal Design, accessibility and inclusion, Paul worked in a number of Human Resource-related roles, including a stint at Atomic Energy of Canada Research Ltd., where he received an award for creating and implementing an attendance Management Program which reduced absenteeism costs by $2 Million in one year. He also initiated a program that reduced workplace WCB-related lost time by 75% for the Leeds & Grenville Board of Education.

Paul has served his community in numerous roles, including as a Director with the New Westminster Community Development Society, the Community Advisory Panel for ICORD, the Chair of the Diversity Committee for the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada, and the Director of the Cooperative Housing Federation of BC. For many years, Paul was the Chair of the Advisory Committee to Vancouver City Council on Disability Issues, and provided strong leadership in a number of challenging situations. He received an Accessibility Award from the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation for his leadership in municipal accessibility and inclusion.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Acadia University, a Business Administration Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, and Internet Technology designations (Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Trainer).