Caroline Thornton

Caroline was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021 when she and her husband were living out their dream of owning an equine facility dedicated to breeding and raising racehorses in rural Ontario.

Before her time as a horse breeder, she spent 20 years leading a company specializing in facilitation. She has experience working with people from all walks of life and all levels of business, organization, and levels of government.

Caroline is most interested in assisting with communications and advocacy through her role as a PAC member. She feels passionate about helping the Parkinson’s community discover ways to replenish, rejuvenate, and heal the soul. For Caroline, a sense of recovery comes when she explores the outdoors with her horse. She hopes to help others discover their own sources of spiritual replenishment through their own individual means.

Through her work with the Syrian Women’s Network, and the Newcomers Network, Caroline has learned that barriers often impact how people can adjust and settle into new life circumstances. In this, she finds countless similarities and learnings between people coming into a new culture and people learning to manage a chronic disease. Caroline’s perspective will help Parkinson Canada’s EDIJ initiative as it will help to identify barriers and lead to strategizing to alleviate them through our advocacy efforts.