Shaping Saskatchewan: Ashley Nemeth

Ashley Nemeth has worked at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Regina the last five years.

Advocacy is more than a job for Ashley Nemeth, it’s a way of life.

The Indian Head, Sask., woman was born with albinism, which left her legally blind. She was able to make out colours and outlines without fine details until she lost the remainder of her sight as an adult. Now, she perceives only small amounts of light.

It’s an experience the 37-year-old opened up publicly about on a personal blog starting in 2014, educating others to dispel harmful misconceptions.

“(People think) that you can’t be a parent or you can’t have a successful career or go to school and get a post-secondary education, all of those types of things. Can’t be a mother. Those are the ones that I face the most,” she said.

“I hope that through the work that I do, that youth, or anybody, even an adult who loses their vision, can look at my life and say, ‘It is possible. I can be successful. I can live the life that I want.’”

For the last five years, Nemeth has worked for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). She is the manager of programs and operations for CNIB Saskatchewan, and program manager for CNIB Manitoba.

“We run quality of life programming on the foundation side and also do a lot of work in the advocacy department,” she said.

“We’ve actually been able to start from scratch with advocacy and now we’re seeing some difference being made – those are the things that I’m most proud of.”