Newton Candidate Profile: Bridget Ray-Canada, School Committee

NEWTON, MA — There will be several contested races in this fall's election, including for school committee, for at-large council seats and for ward councilors. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

There are eight seats, one from each ward, up for election to the school committee. There are only three contested seats - in Wards 4, 5, 6. Bridget Ray-Canada, 52, was elected to the school committee from Ward 1 in 2017 and is running again this year. No one is running against her.

She is active on the Newton North PTSO and participates in GBIO's criminal justice reform advocacy. She has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain management, project management and engages in youth mentoring. She's also a Global Product Manager at Cabot Corporation.

She is a graduate of Spelman College and Georgia Tech where she holds a dual degree in Industrial Engineering and Physics and an MBA from Georgia State University. Ray-Canada and her husband, a Boston Native, moved to Newton in 2013 years ago and has two children, one that graduated last year from Newton North and an adult daughter.

She took a minute to answer a list of question we sent her. Here's what she said. Her answers have not been edited.

Previously: Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election

Are you running for office in Newton? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing Newton is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Contract negotiation is at the forefront of most peoples' mine. I am working hard with the negotiation team and NTA to provide a fair, comprehensive, competitive and sustainable contract for our teachers and our schools.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As a current School Committee member, I understand the challenges of serving our community and ensuring we do our due diligence. I make myself available to listen to parents and students to understand how we can improve and do my best to advocate and ask my peers to listen as well. I understand the budget challenges that Newton is facing and the trade-offs we must make to continue to support the needs of our general and special education students.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)? If you're an incumbent, what's still on your to-do list?

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Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

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What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

In my first term, I was pleased to be on the negotiation committee which successfully settled a contract with our custodians. SC was able to negotiation with NTA and implemented full day Kindergarten this fall. I worked on the health and wellness committee who sponsored a forum with Maura Healey to educate parents about vaping and how it is affecting our students. In my professional role, I work with a diverse team as I am responsible for the Global Supply Chain strategy and understand what it means to listen and hear different points of views to have the best information to make decisions or define plan of action.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

I love quotes. I change my email quote each year to reflect the temperature at my job. This is the quote for 2019. "We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; we often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never make a mistake never made a discovery."--Samuel Smiles I do believe we have to learn from our mistakes and correct course.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

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Your social media info (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)

Tw - @BridgetRCanada, FB - @BridgetRayCanadaSC

My favorite aspect of this city is...

I love the different, unique villages and all the city offers when it comes to history, restaurants, proximity to Boston, and diversity in our schools.

What's your take on all the development in the city?

I believe in affordable housing and hope that our city council will ensure that they are thoughtful about zoning and do not create pockets of single demographics. Each village should provide diverse housing, such as affordable single family, condos, townhomes, two families and rentals. I do not believe all affordable housing means condos/rentals only. We want to attract young families, individuals of all races, and individuals who work in Newton that want to live in Newton.

More on Newton Elections:

• Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election
• Ward 5 Residents To Head To The Polls Sept. 10
• Humphrey, Winters Win Preliminary Election In Newton's Ward 5
• Rick Lipof Is Running Unopposed
• Marc Laredo Has No Challenger

More candidate profiles:

• Kathryn Winters - Ward 5
• Bill Humphrey - Ward 5
• Rena Getz - Ward 5 (write in)
• Andreae Downs - At Large Ward 5
• Deb Crossly - At Large Ward 5
• Brenda Noel, Ward 6 City Councilor
• Vicki Danberg - At Large Ward 6
• Emily Norton (Incumbent)- Ward 2
• Bryan Barash - Ward 2
• Jake Auchincloss(Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2
• Susan Albright (Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2
• Tarik Lucas -At Large Ward 2
• Ruth Goldman - School Committee

Are you running for office in Newton? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.