Accessibility
Support is only useful if people can find and understand it. We make information clear, practical, and easier to navigate.
About
BC Kids Funding Navigator is a non-profit society helping families across British Columbia find and navigate funding, services, and supports for children and youth.
We are fully built and run by volunteers who care about making support easier to find. No one on our team is paid, and the Navigator is completely free to use. We do not generate income from people visiting or using the website.
Our values
Accuracy
Families deserve information they can trust. We regularly review our resources and work with families, organizations, and funding providers to keep information current.
Collaboration
Better solutions are built together. We bring families, healthcare providers, educators, community organizations, funding providers, and volunteers together to identify barriers and improve access.
Community
We create opportunities for people to connect, share knowledge, and learn from one another, helping build a stronger network of support for children and families across BC.
What we do
BC Kids Funding Navigator brings funding and support programs together in one searchable resource.
We organize key information such as eligibility, covered expenses, required documents, and how to apply, then give families tools to explore programs based on their child’s needs.
The goal is simple: make it easier to find relevant supports and understand what to do next.
Our mission
Our mission is to improve access to funding, services, and supports for children, youth, and families across British Columbia.
Beyond our online resource, we work with families, healthcare providers, educators, community organizations, and funding providers to increase awareness, strengthen connections, and identify barriers that make accessing support more difficult.
Our story
BC Kids Funding Navigator began with a simple observation: families often struggle to find supports that already exist.
While working as a Behaviour Interventionist with a family of a child with autism, our co-founder, Colette, saw firsthand how difficult it could be to navigate British Columbia’s funding and support systems. Valuable programs existed, but discovering them, understanding their requirements, and navigating applications often required significant time and system knowledge.
Around the same time, a conversation with the leader of a funding organization revealed another side of the challenge. Some programs had funding available but were not reaching all the families they were created to support because many simply did not know they existed.
The gap became clear: families were searching for support, while organizations were trying to reach them.
Colette Newby and Mehrshad Aalipour founded BC Kids Funding Navigator in February 2026 to help bridge that gap. The resource launched in May 2026, and on August 19, 2026, BC Kids Funding Navigator incorporated as a non-profit society in British Columbia.
Our vision
We envision a British Columbia where every family can more easily connect with the supports their child needs.
We believe better access requires more than organizing information. It also requires stronger connections between the families who use these systems, the organizations that provide support, and the decision-makers who can help improve them.
Through our online resource, community events, partnerships, and outreach, we aim to increase awareness, strengthen connections, and identify gaps in existing systems. As we learn from families and community partners, we hope to bring those experiences into broader conversations about improving access to funding and supports for children and youth across BC.
We are committed to listening, learning, and building BC Kids Funding Navigator alongside the communities it is designed to serve.
Who we are
Meet the people behind BC Kids Funding Navigator.
Colette Newby
co-founder · president & director
I completed my BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience and currently work in pediatric research. I also have experience supporting a child with autism through behavioural intervention.
Through my work with children and families, I saw how often therapies, equipment, and assessments were recommended while families were left to navigate how to afford them. Funding programs existed, but information could be difficult to find, scattered across different sources, or shared primarily through word of mouth.
I started BC Kids Funding Navigator to make it easier for families across BC to discover the supports available to their children and understand how to access them.
Mehrshad Aalipour
co-founder · vice-president, treasurer & director
I work in pediatric research, where my academic and clinical research experiences have given me insight into the challenges families can face navigating healthcare and support systems.
Through developing BC Kids Funding Navigator, I became increasingly aware that even when valuable programs exist, information is often spread across different organizations and websites. This can make it difficult for families to know what support is available or where to begin.
Through this work, I hope to make funding and support information clearer and easier for families across BC to navigate.
Our society
BC Kids Funding Navigator Society is incorporated as a non-profit society in British Columbia.
Legal name: BC Kids Funding Navigator Society
Incorporated: August 19, 2026
BC Society Number: S0085982
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