Meet HSA President Sarah Kooner

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Newly-elected HSA President Sarah Kooner wasn’t always so deeply involved with her union. Like many members, she started with a job she cared about and a quiet sense that things could be better. An infant and child development consultant at the Fraser Valley Child Development Centre (FVCDC) in Abbotsford, Sarah has been a part of HSA since 2018.

Getting her start in 2015 as a behaviour interventionist in the FVCDC’s Next Step Autism program, Sarah has spent nearly a decade supporting families and helping children grow up happy and healthy. As an Abbotsford local — a region with a significant South Asian population — she’s been especially attuned to the barriers families face when services don’t reflect the languages or cultures of the people they serve, and she tried to help fill that gap in her work.

Sarah’s involvement with HSA began in 2018, when she was hired as an infant development consultant. She attended an orientation with the lead steward at her worksite and learned about HSA’s professional development funding — an eye-opener for someone just finishing school and juggling student loans. A year later, she attended her first convention.

“I realized that HSA does a lot of other work,” Sarah says, “and I was like, ‘we get to do all this advocacy through our union?’”

She became a steward after that convention. A few years later, she became the lead steward at her worksite, and eventually the regional director for Fraser Valley and Surrey. All throughout her time with HSA, Sarah has been proactive in listening to her peers and working towards building a meaningful two-way relationship between members and their union.

“I really wanted to meet with members and hear their perspective and how a decision impacts their work,” she says. “As regional director, we’re not thinking as ourselves: we’re thinking as our region.”

As president, Sarah is focused on meeting people where they are, actively listening to what they need, and how they want to receive it. That means more touchpoints and frequent opportunities for members to help set the agenda. At the core of Sarah’s goals as president is a desire to draw on the big appetite for engagement from members.

“There’s a lot of intricacies to HSA and we represent a lot of different professions and regions. But it’s clear to me that many of our members want to be involved and want more information,” she says.

Sarah also deeply recognizes the importance of equity and representation in leadership. Amongst the almost 300 resolutions submitted to the 2025 convention, members voted to add a new position to the Board of Directors to serve as a representative for equity-seeking members.

As a racialized woman, Sarah brings lived experience that informs how she sees the work ahead. “There have been occasions where I’ve plainly stated that the impact of a decision for somebody that looks like me is actually quite different,” Sarah says.  “And it’s always been welcomed with open arms by the rest of the board and staff. That’s something I want more members to feel too.”

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Outside of work, Sarah plays volleyball, bakes, and has a corgi, Holly. She’s also close with her family, who, she says, were among the first to reach out to her after the election results came in.

As she steps into her term as president, Sarah’s priorities are shaped by her experiences —in the field, on the floor, and around the various committee tables she’s served on — and by a belief that meaningful change starts with listening.

“HSA is at its strongest when we’re building together,” she says.