Stephen Abrams, DDS
General Dentist
Chair, the Ontario Dental Association’s Dental Benefits Task Force dealing with access to oral care, dental program design and outcomes evaluation
Dr. Stephen Abrams is a General Dentist with over 29 years of clinical experience. He has published over 90 papers in various international journals on caries detection, prevention and restorative dentistry. He currently chairs the Ontario Dental Association’s Dental Benefits Task Force dealing with access to oral care, dental program design and outcomes evaluation.
Sylvie Boulet, RD, MHSc
Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Sylvie has a Master in Health Sciences - Community Nutrition, two bachelor degrees in food science and social work, and a background in adult education. Sylvie started her career as a program coordinator, social worker, adult educator, researcher, and facilitator and then in the nutrition field as a dietitian and professor of nutrition at two post secondary organizations. Her experience encompasses the fields of non-profit organizations as well as clinical institutions and a community health centre.
Lesley Brown
Executive Director, Ontario Literacy Coalition
Lesley is the Executive Director of the Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC). The Coalition is a provincial literacy umbrella organization. The OLC has been involved in family literacy for many years and is currently working on a provincial family literacy partnership planning strategy. Lesley has worked in the adult literacy field for over 20 years in a range of programs and settings including school boards, community based programs, in correctional facilities with youth, with aboriginal literacy programs, and ESL and ESL-literacy programs. Lesley holds a B.A., a TESL certificate, and is currently in the Masters of Adult Education Program at St. Francis Xavier University.
Hiltrud Dawson, RN, BTech (neonatal nursing), IBCLC
Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Hiltrud has over 25 years of experience in the maternal newborn field as a nurse, midwife, and lactation consultant. As a lactation consultant she became interested in child health and child health promotion. Currently she is a health promotion consultant for Best Start, Ontario’s Maternal, Newborn, and Early Child Development Resource Centre working on maternal, newborn, and child health topics. Prior to this she worked as coordinator of the Breastfeeding and Newborn Assessment clinic at St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton. During that time Hiltrud pulled together a multidisciplinary team that implemented the Baby-Friendly Initiative. St Joseph's Healthcare became Ontario's first Baby-Friendly Hospital in March 2003. Her passions include breastfeeding, mother’s mental health, the adjustment of mothers and families after the birth of their baby, and the impact of mother's physical, social, and mental issues on infants and children.
Melanie Ferris
Aboriginal Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Melanie (Horse Clan) is an Anishnawbe woman originally from Manitoba. She is a published author and enjoys gathering information from Elders for her work. Melanie works closely with Aboriginal people in Ontario and has a training program for service providers to help them include culture in their approaches to preventing obesity in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children. She has worked with the National Aboriginal Health Organization, Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, and the federal government. In 2008, Melanie worked with Health Canada (Alberta Region) to develop Walking the Sacred Path, the first set of culturally appropriate pre/postnatal classes for First Nations people. Melanie is a proud mother who often brings her 4-year-old son Tarig (Bear Clan) to help deliver her workshops.
Karon Foster, R.N., BScN, M.Ed.
Director, the Parenting Partnership, Invest in Kids
Karon Foster is the Director of The Parenting Partnership Program, a prenatal and parenting education program. She has over 30 years of combined nursing and teaching experience. She is intimately familiar with the needs of expectant and new parents through her work conducting prenatal and parenting classes, supervising prenatal classes, and her past experience as a public health nurse.
Kim Gall, MSc, CGC
Educator and Genetic Counsellor, Ontario Newborn Screening Program (ONSP)
Kim Gall joined the ONSP in April of 2009. Kim is responsible for coordinating the referral of screen positive infants to Regional Treatment Centres throughout the province, creates educational materials about newborn screening and provides education about newborn screening, to parents and health care providers. Her clinical responsibilities also include seeing patients referred for varied genetic indications and providing clinical supervision and teaching.
Heather Gardner
Health and Physical Education Curriculum Consultant, Ontario Physical Health Education Association (Ophea)
Heather Gardner is an Elementary Curriculum Consultant with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, currently on leave supporting Ophea with the development of The Elementary Curriculum Support resources. Heather has been involved in the Elementary Health and Physical Education Curriculum Revision process in various capacities over the past two years, including the technical analysis and summer writing of the curriculum resources. Heather has been involved in supporting elementary teachers in various capacities through the writing of numerous resources including those for Ophea, gymnastics Ontario, and The Dairy Farmers of Ontario.
Kelly Gordon
Registered Dietitian, Aboriginal Nutrition Consultant
Kelly is a community dietitian in Toronto, with expertise in pre/postnatal clients in Toronto’s Aboriginal community. She has worked with the Aboriginal community across Canada. As a Mohawk woman, Kelly is 1 of only 20 Aboriginal dietitians in Canada. Kelly enjoys cooking, exercise, and being outdoors either in or outside the city. She is also a new mother.
Jodi Hall
Founder, Program Coordinator, Counsellor, Workshop Facilitator, A Safe Passage
Jodi worked as a DONA certified doula for 10 years, with a focus on the intersections between trauma histories and the experiences of women during the childbearing years. Jodi is a doctoral candidate in Health Professional Education and the Research Coordinator of a Canadian Institute of Health Research funded study, entitled "Embodied Trauma: The impacts of abuse on the transition to mothering".
John Hoffman
Writer
Communications Coordinator, Father Involvement Research Alliance
John Hoffman is Canada's leading fatherhood writer, having written eight booklets for fathers including “Involved Fathers, Daddy.” “Come Play With Me”, and “Hands-On Dad” along with over 50 articles for and about fathers in Today's Parent and other publications. John is also Communications Coordinator for the Father Involvement Research Alliance.
Palmina Ioannone, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Evaluation, Invest in Kids
Dr. Palmina Ioannone is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Invest in Kids. She has spent more than 15 years working with young children, families, and early childhood professionals in various settings including schools, childcare centres, and family support programs.
Jillian Mallory
Public Health Nurse, Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit
Jillian Mallory, RN, BSc, BScN, graduated from The University of Western Ontario. She began her nursing career in the labour and delivery unit at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. She has since been working as a Public Health Nurse at the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit with a focus on prenatal and parenting education.
Caroline Maltepe
Coordinator, Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy (NVP) Helpline, Motherisk, The Hospital for Sick Children
Caroline Maltepe is the coordinator of the Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy (NVP) Helpline at the Motherisk Program. For over 14 years, she has been counseling women, their partners, and health-care providers regarding dietary strategies, pharmacological, and non-pharmacological treatments to effectively manage NVP. Additionally, she continually conducts and publishes several studies to improve management of NVP.
Ian McConnachie, BSc, DDS, MS, FRCD(C)
Paediatric Dentist, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Past-President, the Ontario Dental Association
Dr. Ian McConnachie is a Paediatric Dentist on staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and a Past-President of the Ontario Dental Association. He has a long-standing involvement in improving access to oral health care for high-risk children.
Alex McKay, Ph.D
Research Coordinator, Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN)
Associate Editor, The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality
Instructor, Ryerson University
Alex McKay, Ph.D. is Research Coordinator for the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN), Associate Editor of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality and an instructor at Ryerson University
Suzanne Nickel
National Safe Sleep Coordinator, The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and the Ontario Safe Sleep Team
Suzanne Nickel, National Safe Sleep Coordinator for The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and the Ontario Safe Sleep Team are dedicated to reducing infant deaths across Canada. As certified safe sleep childcare providers this team delivers workshops and presentations across the province addressing SIDS, SIDS reducing factors and safe sleep practices for infants. The team includes mothers that have lost a child due to SIDS or unsafe sleep practices and their personal stories are shared in their desire for others to learn and not live with the grief they do. Their message is powerful and passionate. This is a lifesaving experience for all childcare providers and educators.
Joy Noel-Weiss RN IBCLC MScN PhD(c)
Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa
Joy Noel-Weiss is a registered nurse, a lactation consultant, and retired La Leche League Canada Leader who has worked with women and their families in hospital and community. Currently, Joy teaches at the School of Nursing, University of Ottawa, and she is completing a doctorate in nursing.
Aldona Ollen, RN, BScN
Public Health Nurse, York Region Public Health Services
Aldona has over 15 years of her nursing experience in many different fields. Presently, she is working at the Regional Municipality of York as a Public Health Nurse in the Early Identification Program, where she promotes and disseminates the York Region Red Flags Guide to Early Years Professionals working with children up to six years of age. As part of her role in Public Health, she chairs the Early Identification Network Committee, which is comprised of various community members who are working collaboratively towards early identification and early intervention. She has also recently chaired meetings for the Red Flags Task Group in which members were responsible for revisions of the Red Flags Guide. As a result, the revised York Region Red Flags Guide was released in September 2009. The goals of the Early Identification Program are that all children from birth to six years of age are screened for developmental delays, and those children identified as at-risk, are linked to appropriate programs, supports, and services in the community as early as possible in order for them to achieve their healthiest outcome.
Erica Phipps, M.A.
Partnership Director, Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment
Erica Phipps serves as Partnership Director for the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment, a multi-sectoral collaboration of 12 organizations. She has worked on environmental health and toxics issues for the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the United Nations and the US Environmental Protection Agency, and as an environmental health consultant. Erica has a masters’ degree in public health from the University of Michigan.
Melanie Rosen, M.A., Expressive Arts Therapist
Therapeutic Clown Practitioner, Hospital for Sick Children
Child Psychotherapist
Melanie Rosen is a creative spirit who is passionate about play! She has been working with children for more than twenty years in educational and therapeutic contexts. Melanie has focused on enriching early childcare education through her own movement based expressive arts programs. She works at The Hospital for Sick Children as a therapeutic clown practitioner and has a private practice as a child psychotherapist.
Brian Russell
Chair of the Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network
Parent Educator, Early Years Services, LAMP Community Health Centre
Brian Russell is Chair of the Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network and a parent educator with the LAMP Early Years Services in Toronto, where his main focus is working with fathers, encouraging them to be responsibly involved with their children. Brian also conducts training workshops for professionals about how to work with fathers.
Lorri Sauve
Outreach and Program Coordinator, Project READ Literacy Network
Member, Action for Family Literacy (AFLO)
Lorri has been involved in the adult literacy field for 20 years. She has been an instructor, program manager, researcher/developer, workshop facilitator, and assessor. Lorri is one of the Ontario trainers who attended the National Family Literacy Foundational training in Pictou, Nova Scotia in 2001 and in July 2003, and coordinated and delivered the face-to-face training in Ontario. For the past ten years she has been a literacy consultant (researcher/writer) for various literacy projects including most recently, “Family Literacy and Health A Module in Foundations in Family Literacy” and she delivered the training to practitioners from all over Canada in 2008.
Presently, Lorri is the Outreach and Program Coordinator for Project READ Literacy Network, Kitchener Ontario. Since 2000, Lorri has been an online facilitator for the Adult Literacy Educator Program (Conestoga, Sault and Algonquin Colleges). As a member of AFLO (Action for Family Literacy Ontario) she has continued to advocate for increasing the knowledge about the benefits of family literacy programs.
Dr. Richard Volpe
Professor and Projects Director, Life Span Adaptation Projects, Institute of Child Study, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto
Dr. Richard Volpe received his PhD from the University of Alberta. He was a Laidlaw Foundation Post Doctoral Fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children and at the Clarke Institute. He was also a program evaluation expert for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Previously he has been Chair of the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and Director of the Dr. R. G. N. Laidlaw Research Centre. Currently he is a Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology and Projects Director of the Life Span Adaptation Projects at the University of Toronto. His research has led to numerous publications, projects and papers on primary prevention, integrated services and social development.
Tara Vyn
Public Health Nurse, Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit
Tara Vyn, RN, BScN, is a Public Health Nurse at the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit. A graduate from The University of Western Ontario, Tara visits new mothers and babies as an aspect of the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program. She also enjoys teaching prenatal and parenting classes.
Brenda Whitteker
Director of Programs, Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (Ophea)
Brenda Whitteker has contributed to the physical health and well-being of children and youth as a coach, teacher, and principal at both the elementary and secondary levels for over 32 years. After retiring, Brenda worked for the Ministry of Education and presently is the Director of Programs at Ophea. She is responsible for the development of supports and lesson plans for teachers, based on the revised Health and Physical Education curriculum. Brenda works to ensure children lead healthy active lives by promoting the development of resources, workshops, and programs at the school, board, and provincial level.
Dr. Eileen Wood
Developmental Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Eileen Wood is a professor in the area of Developmental Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has authored 9 books and over 55 research papers that examine cognitive and social development issues. Her most recent books and research address the impact of new technologies for learning, relationships, and privacy/safety.
Sari Zelenietz, MSc, CGC, CCGC
Educator and Genetic Counsellor, Ontario Newborn Screening Program
Sari Zelenietz has been a genetic counsellor with the ONSP since 2006. Sari is responsible for coordinating the referral of screen positive infants, as well as leading many communication and education strategies for the ONSP, including bulletins, telehealth sessions, and the ONSP website. Sari also works with families who have children identified with diseases through newborn screening.