Preconference Speakers
Dr. Yvonne Bohr, C.Psych.
LaMarsh Research Centre, Faculty of Health, York University
Dr. Bohr is a professor of Clinical Developmental Psychology in the Faculty of Health at York University. Her research focuses on attachment, sensitivity and parental cognitions in a multi-cultural context. She heads a community based infant mental health and treatment team at Aisling Discoveries Child and Family Centre in Toronto.
Darlene Kordich Hall, RN, PhD.
Coordinator and Co-Principal Investigator, Reaching IN…Reaching OUT
Darlene Kordich Hall is a researcher, clinician and educator focusing on children and families at risk. For more than 30 years she has developed and evaluated early intervention programs. Darlene is currently the Coordinator and a Co-Principal Investigator for Reaching IN…Reaching OUT (RIRO), an evidence-based resiliency promotion program for young children. She was a member of the provincial evaluation team for Ontario’s Healthy Babies – Healthy Children program and was director of the Parenting Program, a community mental health program for children at risk and their caregivers. She is published in the areas of child abuse, trauma, and resilience and is a recognized trainer in these areas.
Martin Liberio
Facilitator, Martin Liberio Workshops
Martin Liberio is a graduate from McGill University, who has taught both at the primary and college level for eleven years. He is the co-author of Educators in Native Childcare Services from St-Felicien College, and author of The Educational Program: Learning through Play, as well as of the planning guide Planning for Child’s Play. Early childhood education is Martin’s specialty. He will help you achieve your objective of quality services for children and families. Martin’s passion will inspire your entire staff and keep everyone entertained throughout the entire workshop. Martin is a trainer like no other!
Greg Lubimiv
Executive Director, Phoenix Centre for Children and Families
Greg Lubimiv is the Executive Director of the Phoenix Centre for Children and Families, a children’s mental health centre in southeastern Ontario. The Phoenix Centre provides a wide range of services including, day treatment, respite care, intensive services, early years programs, outpatient, and prevention. Greg has over 30 years of experience in children’s mental health and child welfare where he has been involved as a clinician, trainer, and administrator. Greg has specialized in the field of play therapy and family therapy and has authored a number of books and articles on this and other topics including Wings for Our Children: The essentials of becoming a play therapist and My Sister Is An Angeline, a book helping children cope with a siblings death. Greg graduated with his Bachelor of Social work from Laurentian University and later with his Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. He is a certified play therapist and supervisor with the Canadian Association of Child and Play Therapy and was presented with the Monica Hebert Award for contributions to the field of Play Therapy and in 2007 was identified as one of the top 5 Play Therapists in Canada. In 2006 he was recipient of the Liz Manson Award for contributions to the field of children’s mental health. In 2007 he received the Base Commander’s Commendation for services to military families.
Robin McMillan, Senior Consultant
Canadian Child Care Federation
Robin (Kealey) McMillan spent her first 10 years in the field of early learning and child care as a front line practitioner and the second 10 years working at the Canadian Child Care Federation. She has managed more than 16 CCCF projects including an international project in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has presented a paper on children’s rights to the United Nations’ Committee on Children’s Rights in Geneva.
Lori Nichols, RN, MS
Senior Health Services Resource Nurse, Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Lori Nichols has worked in various mental health settings with children and families for more than 20 years in both Canada and the US. She is currently the Senior Health Services Resource Nurse for Children's Aid Society of Toronto. Through Reaching IN…Reaching OUT, Lori also provides training to teachers, nurses, social workers, and foster parents and is part of a team developing parent-child activities that support resilience with parents and children.
Welcome
Ellen Blais, AM, BSc. BHSc. (Midwifery)
High Risk Prenatal and Infant Specialist, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
Ellen Blais is an Aboriginal midwife from the Oneida Nation. She is of the turtle clan and has three grown children. Ellen has worked for over 15 years in the Aboriginal community in Toronto in the pre and post natal sectors and is keenly interested in Aboriginal health. Specifically she likes to combine her understanding of Indigenous knowledge and birth teachings with current research surrounding the issues of pregnancy and birth and the postpartum. In 2005 Ellen obtained the funding to start a midwifery practice in Toronto that serves the Aboriginal community called Seventh Generation Midwives of Toronto. She is currently working at Native Child and Family Services as a Prenatal and High Risk Infant Specialist in child protection and welfare where her clients are women who are parenting their own children while attempting to overcome issues of poverty, racism, isolation, mental health issues, domestic violence, abuse, and post traumatic stress. Ellen is looking forward to sharing her knowledge with you.
Minister Laurel Broten
Minister of Children and Youth Services and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues
Laurel Broten was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. She was appointed Minister of Children and Youth Services in October, 2009. Broten has served as Minister of Environment, and also served as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Premier. Broten has a track record of strong advocacy in the fight for a vibrant and healthy community. She is past chair of the board of the Gatehouse, a community-funded centre for survivors of child abuse. She worked with the LAMP Community Health Centre’s community relations committee and was a spokesperson for GASP (Good Air Safe Power) and she also took a leadership role in the Lakeshore Community Safety Audit, an initiative designed to evaluate quality of life in the Lakeshore area. As Minister of the Environment, Broten took action to toughen Ontario’s air standards and developed policies and aggressive targets to support Ontario’s Climate Change Plan. Broten introduced legislation to safeguard our water from source to tap with the Clean Water Act, and led the ban on bulk diversion of water from the Great Lakes with the passing of the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act. Prior to her election to the Ontario legislature, Broten maintained a successful practice as a trial lawyer in the areas of equity, commercial and human rights law. Broten has a BA and BSc from McMaster University and a law degree from the University of Western Ontario. Broten is fluently bilingual and articled at the Supreme Court of Canada. Broten and her husband, Paul, live in south Etobicoke with their twin sons, Zachary and Ryan, born in October 2005.
Louise Choquette
Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Louise Choquette is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant for the Best Start Resource Centre. Before joining the Best Start team, she was involved in a variety of health promotion initiatives in public health and for not-for-profit organizations. Her work with the Best Start Resource Centre includes initiatives in physical activity, prenatal education, Francophones and newcomer families.
Keynote Speakers
Andrée Jetté
Public Speaker
Andrée Jetté is a thirty-two year career teacher and speaker, in the field of "Stress Management Through Humour". Trained in the global development of the human being, Andrée has evolved mainly in a didactic environment. While being a recognized consultant in the public and private industry fields, Andrée is also a published author, has taught at the University of Sherbrooke, produced DVDs, audio and has appeared on several television and radio shows as a leading authority on "Stress Management".
Simple charm and a dynamic approach allow Andrée to speak of events close to her heart while teaching in a humorous fashion, ways to embellish our lives.
The tools offered by Andrée are simple, but time proven. These tools favour a continued balanced growth within any environment, while facing the multitude of problems so frequently found in our work place and/or in our personal lives.
Dr. Charles E. Pascal
Professor, Human Development and Applied Psychology, OISE/University of Toronto; Special Advisor on Early Learning to the Premier of Ontario; Conseiller Principal/Senior Advisor, Fondation Lucie et Andre Chagnon Foundation
Charles E. Pascal has a strong background in education, training, policy development, leadership, and organizational development. He has published extensively in the fields of education and psychology. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Ph.D. in psychology in 1969 and joined the psychology faculty of McGill University in Montreal.
While at McGill, Pascal was a founder of The Centre for Learning and Development. He also founded the McGill Community Family Centre, a full-service child-care centre that was the first of its kind in Canadian universities. He also served on numerous community advisory boards and committees dealing with the education of disadvantaged and special-needs children. In addition, he headed a team at Montreal Children’s Hospital that provided training to help parents support children with disabilities.
Pascal moved to Toronto in 1977 to accept a joint position with the University of Toronto, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and the Council of Ontario Universities Program for Instructional Development. At OISE, he served as chair of the higher education group and in 1981 became the executive head of graduate studies. During this time, he was a member of the Governing council of the University of Toronto. Pascal also served on Dr. Bette Stephenson’s steering committee for the Secondary Education Review Project.
In 1982, Pascal became the second president of Sir Sandford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology. During the next six years, he was also a member of the board of Trent University and a member of the Committee for the National Forum on Post-secondary Education. In addition, he became the first non-private-sector chair of the Greater Peterborough Economic Council. In 1987, Premier David Peterson appointed Pascal as Chair of the Ontario Council of Regents, the government’s chief policy and planning body for the colleges of applied arts and technology. Pascal also provided leadership for the Vision 2000 process to develop a renewed mandate for the province’s college system.
In January 1991, Pascal was appointed Deputy Minister of the Premier’s Council on Health, Well-being and Social Justice. Chaired by Premier Bob Rae, the council was a policy body designed to provide advice and research to the government and the public on building a just, healthy, and fairer society. The Council produced a major policy framework for the determinants of health and a policy and program plan for early learning and childcare.
In August 1991, Pascal was appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Community and Social Services, where he contributed to the government’s plans for reform in welfare, childcare and long-term care, and assisted in developing plans for restructuring Ontario’s social services. Premier Rae appointed Pascal as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education and Training in February of 1993. He provided leadership during the integration of three former ministries and two major projects into the new Ministry of Education and Training. In addition, he provided support and leadership for the government’s major education reform initiatives through the establishment of the Royal Commission on Learning and responding to its recommendations.
In January 1996, Pascal was selected as the first full-time Executive Director of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation that promotes social and economic justice in the tradition of its founder, Joseph E. Atkinson. He led the Foundation for fifteen years as it emerged as an effective agent for change.
Pascal has received honorary diplomas from Niagara College, Humber College, and George Brown College. He is a recipient of the Yorktown Family Services Humanitarian of the Year award (2003). Pascal is also a Fellow of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, was the 2008 recipient of People for Education’s Egerton Ryerson Award in recognition of his dedication to public education, and the recipient of the 2009 “Excellence in Advocacy” award from the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare. He has also been named an “honorary” elementary school principal by the Ontario Principals Council (2009). He has had extensive experience in the developing world, including China and South Africa, providing capacity building expertise in policy making and organizational change. He was Chair of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) for Ontario from 2005 – 2008.
In late 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed Pascal as his Special Advisor on Early Learning. In June 2009,Pascal released his report With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario.Pascal is a Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology at OISE/University of Toronto, an assistant baseball coach at the University, and a Senior Fellow at the University’s Massey College. He is also the Senior Advisor to the Chagnon Foundation in Montreal, a regular contributor to the Toronto Star, and an associate with an executive search firm.
Jessica Yee
Founder and Executive Director, Native Youth Sexual Health Network
A proud Two Spirit youth, Jessica Yee is as the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, the first and only organization of its kind in North America by and for Indigenous youth working within the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health throughout the continent. Jessica is currently serving as the first Chair of the National Aboriginal Youth Council at the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network as well the International Indigenous HIV/AIDS Working Group, the first North American youth representative at MenEngage International Alliance for Gender Equality, and she is the North American co-chair for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She sits on a number of national and international boards and collectives including SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, Women on Web/Women on Waves, and Maggie's: Sex Workers Organizing. She is a strong believer in the power of the youth voice and agency, and you can see her writing on sites like the Racialicious, or watch her monologues about activism and justice on TV Ontario. She is the editor of "Sex Ed and Youth: Colonization, Communities of Colour, and Sexuality" and look for her upcoming book in Winter 2011 "Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism: Feminist Education Now - Youth, Activism, and Intersectionality". She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work including being the 2009 recipient of the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award, a 2009/2010 National Aboriginal Role Model for the National Aboriginal Health Organization, named one of 20 International Women's Health Heroes by Our Bodies/Our Blog, and was recently awarded the Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneur Award for her founding of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Dr. Stuart Shanker
Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, York University
Director, the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative, York University
Stuart Shanker is Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at York University and Director of the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative at York University. He was educated at Oxford, where he obtained a First in PPE and won the Marian Buck Fellowship at Christ Church, where he obtained a First in a B Phil in Philosophy and a D Phil with Distinction in Philosophy. Among his awards are a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship and Postdoctoral Fellowship; a Calgary Institute for the Humanities Fellowship; a University of Alberta Mactaggart Fellowship; an Iszaak Walton Killam Fellowship; and the Walter L Gordon Fellowship at York University. He has received many grants, among them a $7,000,000 grant from the Harris Steel Foundation to establish MEHRI, a state-of-the-art cognitive and social neuroscience centre.
Among his monographs are Apes, language and the human mind (with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Talbot Taylor, 1998); Wittgenstein’s remarks on the foundations of AI (1998); Toward a Psychology of Global Interdependency (with Stanley Greenspan, 2002), The First Idea (with Stanley Greenspan, 2004), Early Years Study II (with J. Fraser Mustard and Margaret McCain, 2007) and El rizoma de la racionalidad (with Pedro Reygadas, 2008). He is the editor of several collections, among them The Routledge History of Philosophy (with G.H.R. Parkinson, 1994-2000); Language, Culture, Self (with David Bakhurst, 2001), Ludwig Wittgenstein: Critical Assessments (with David Kilfoyle, 2002), Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (a member of the PDM Steering Committee, 2006), and Human Development in the 21st Century (with Alan Fogel and Barbara King, 2008).
Dr. Shanker has served as the Director of the Council of Human Development for the past ten years; Director of the Canada-Cuba Research Alliance for the past six years; and he was the first President of the Council of Early Child Development in Canada. Over the past decade he has served as an advisor on early child development to government organizations across Canada and the US and countries around the world, among them Australia, Colombia, England, Ireland, Macedonia, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Peru, and Romania.
Concurrent Session Speakers
Rene Adams
Public Speaker and Advocate, The Stop Community Food Centre
Toronto’s Rene Adams is a public speaker and an advocate with the Stop Community Food Centre’s Community Engagement department, who draws on her own experience of marginalization and homelessness to challenge inequality, educate others, and break down the myths and stereotypes of the poor.
Saleha Bismilla, RN, BScN, MN
Healthy Babies Healthy Children Manager, Toronto Public Health
Saleha Bismilla, RN, BScN, MN is a Healthy Babies Healthy Children Manager at Toronto Public Health. She worked as a senior community health nurse in Maternal‑Child Health in South Africa. She has extensive experience working in access and equity, cultural competency and community development, particularly in the maternal‑child health context. She role‑models and advocates for the integration of empowerment and community capacity building in health promotion activities.
Becky Blair, RD, MSc
Public Health Nutritionist, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
She currently works as a Public Health Nutritionist, focusing on policy and program planning for the prenatal and early years population. She is a co-chair of the Family Health Nutrition Advisory Group of the Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health and is a member of Dietitians of Canada.
Ellen Blais, AM, BSc. BHSc. (Midwifery)
High Risk Prenatal and Infant Specialist, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
Ellen Blais is an Aboriginal midwife from the Oneida Nation. She is of the turtle clan and has three grown children. Ellen has worked for over 15 years in the Aboriginal community in Toronto in the pre and post natal sectors and is keenly interested in Aboriginal health. Specifically she likes to combine her understanding of Indigenous knowledge and birth teachings with current research surrounding the issues of pregnancy and birth and the postpartum. In 2005 Ellen obtained the funding to start a midwifery practice here in Toronto that serves the Aboriginal community called Seventh Generation Midwives of Toronto. She is currently working at Native Child and Family Services as a Prenatal and High Risk Infant Specialist in child protection and welfare where her clients are women who are parenting their own children while attempting to overcome issues of poverty, racism, isolation, mental health issues, domestic violence, abuse, and post traumatic stress. Ellen is looking forward to sharing her knowledge with you.
Sylvie Boulet, MHSc.
Bilingual Registered Dietitian, Lifestyle with a Passion
Sylvie Boulet (MHSc.) is a bilingual registered dietitian and the owner of Lifestyle With a Passion which offers nutrition counseling services for groups, organizations and individuals. Sylvie has a Masters in Health Sciences - Community Nutrition, Two Bachelor degrees in both food science and social work and a background in adult education. Sylvie started her career as a program coordinator, social worker, researcher, and facilitator. She is now in the nutrition field as a dietitian. Her experience encompasses the fields of non-profit organizations as well as clinical institutions and a community health centre.
Louise Choquette
Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Louise Choquette is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant for the Best Start Resource Centre. Before joining the Best Start team, she was involved in a variety of health promotion initiatives in public health and for not-for-profit organizations. Her work with the Best Start Resource Centre includes initiatives in physical activity, prenatal education, Francophones and newcomer families.
Kirsten Coupland-Tardif R.N. B.Sc.N.
Public Health Nurse, Early Years Health Program, Ottawa Public Health
Kirsten Coupland-Tardif, R.N, B.Sc.N. is a nursing graduate from the University of Ottawa. She started her career as a prenatal teacher and has worked as a public health nurse in the Early Years Health Program at Ottawa Public Health for the past eight years. Kirsten is dedicated to promoting positive parenting and preventing un-intentional injuries of children from birth to age 6. Some of her accomplishments include the creation and implementation of a “booster seat fitting station” as well as the “road side car seat verification” initiative in partnership with Ottawa Police. Kirsten lives in Chelsea, Quebec with her husband and three active children. In her spare time she enjoys cross country skiing and jogging in the Gatineau Hills.
Hiltrud Dawson
Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Hiltrud has extensive experience in the maternal newborn field as a nurse, midwife, and lactation consultant. Before joining the team at the Best Start Resource Centre, Hiltrud worked in the postpartum and neonatal units and the breastfeeding clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare. During that time, she pulled together a multidisciplinary team that implemented the Baby-Friendly Initiative. St Joseph's Healthcare became Ontario's first Baby-Friendly Hospital. Hiltrud has taught workshops on breastfeeding, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and other reproductive health topics to audiences from various health and social service disciplines including physicians and medical students. She is currently expanding her portfolio into child health and development. Her passions include breastfeeding, 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.
Ruth Doherty
Co-ordinator, Early Words, Hamilton Preschool Speech and Language Service, Central South Infant Hearing Program and Central South Blind-Low Vision Intervention Program
Ruth Doherty has 30 years of experience in assessment, treatment, and support services to children and their families accessing early learning and specialized services with proven accomplishments in the area of integrated service delivery focusing on strength based supports within a family centered care approach. She is currently in the role of Co-ordinator Early Words/1ersmots: Hamilton Preschool Speech and Language Service; Central South Infant Hearing Program and Central South Blind-Low Vision Intervention Program.
Rachel Epstein
Coordinator, LGBTQ Parenting Network, Sherbourne Health Centre
Rachel Epstein is an LGBTQ parenting activist, educator and researcher and coordinates the LGBTQ Parenting Network at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto. She is the 2008 winner of the Steinert & Ferreiro Award, recognizing her pivotal contributions towards the support, recognition and inclusion of LGBTQ parents and their children in Canada, and editor of the groundbreaking anthology, Who's Your Daddy? And Other Writings on Queer Parenting (Sumach Press, 2009).
Tekla Hendrickson
Independent Consultant
Tekla Hendrickson, Independent Consultant, has extensive experience facilitating participatory approaches to health promotion in areas such as equity, women’s health, violence against women, early child development, and the broad social determinants of health. Recently Tekla worked on the new Best Start Resource Centre resource titled “I’m Still Hungry” Child and Family Poverty Ontario.
Jennifer Hutcheson, RN, BScN
Public Health Nurse, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
Jennifer has been a public health nurse for 25 years, working primarily in the area of maternal and child health. Currently her work is focused on improving both long and short term outcomes for women and children through the implementation of a multi-faceted strategy aimed at enabling women to achieve healthy weight gain in pregnancy.
Joseph A. Kim
Assistant Professor, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University
Dr. Joe Kim is actively involved in all aspects of the scholarship of teaching and learning. He directs the innovative McMaster IntroPsych program which combines traditional face-to-face instruction with enhanced on-line resources and has been prominently featured in Maclean’s, Globe and Mail, and CHCH News. He also directs the Pedagogy and Applied Cognition Lab which focuses on teaching, learning, and technology.
Martin Liberio
Facilitator, Martin Liberio Workshops
Martin Liberio is a graduate from McGill University, who has taught both at the primary and college level for eleven years. He is the co-author of Educators in Native Childcare Services from St-Felicien College, and author of The Educational Program: Learning through Play, as well as of the planning guide Planning for Child’s Play. Early childhood education is Martin’s specialty. He will help you achieve your objective of quality services for children and families. Martin’s passion will inspire your entire staff and keep everyone entertained throughout the entire workshop. Martin is a trainer like no other!
Greg Lubimiv
Executive Director, Phoenix Centre for Children and Families
Greg Lubimiv is the Executive Director of the Phoenix Centre for Children and Families, a children’s mental health centre in southeastern Ontario. The Phoenix Centre provides a wide range of services including, day treatment, respite care, intensive services, early years programs, outpatient, and prevention. Greg has over 30 years of experience in children’s mental health and child welfare where he has been involved as a clinician, trainer, and administrator. Greg has specialized in the field of play therapy and family therapy and has authored a number of books and articles on this and other topics including Wings for Our Children: The essentials of becoming a play therapist and My Sister Is An Angeline, a book helping children cope with a siblings death. Greg graduated with his Bachelor of Social work from Laurentian University and later with his Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. He is a certified play therapist and supervisor with the Canadian Association of Child and Play Therapy and was presented with the Monica Hebert Award for contributions to the field of Play Therapy and in 2007 was identified as one of the top 5 Play Therapists in Canada. In 2006 he was recipient of the Liz Manson Award for contributions to the field of children’s mental health. In 2007 he received the Base Commander’s Commendation for services to military families.
Kim Meawasige
Consultant
Kim Meawasige was formerly an FASD Policy Analyst at the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres in Toronto. She has also worked with Native Child and Family Services. She provided assistance with FASD resources available to urban Aboriginal people in Ontario, shared approaches – both traditional and contemporary – to dealing with FASD, conducted on-site training and consultations as well as provided intervention, prevention, and programming on FASD.
Melanie Rosen
Creative Roots
Melanie Rosen is passionate about play! She has over twenty years of experience working with children and families in clinical, educational, artistic, and international settings. Play is the the common thread that Melanie uses in all of her work as she offers, develops, and shares an approach that is interdisciplinary. She is a graduate of the Toronto Child Psychoanalytic Program, holds her M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy from the European Graduate School in Switzerland and works part-time in both her own private practice as the director of Creative Roots and at The Hospital for Sick Children as a Therapeutic Clown Practitioner with her clown persona 'Lubee'!
Clayton Shirt (TRP)
Healer, Three Fires Midewin Lodge
Clayton Shirt (TRP) is a counsellor and Traditional native healer, he is a member of the Three Fires Midewin Lodge – 1st degree, he is a pipe carrier, sweat lodge keeper, skilled in the Usui system of Reiki – 2nd degree. Clayton performs healing ceremonies and has been traditional for most of his life.
Paula Stanghetta
Trainer, Facilitator and Project Manager, Paula Stanghetta & Associates Inc.,
Paula Stanghetta, Paula Stanghetta & Associates Inc. is a trainer, facilitator, and project manager with over thirty years’ experience in the public and private sectors. She helps groups and individuals build capacity in health promotion and chronic disease prevention programs and policies across Canada and internationally.
Laurie-Ann Staniforth, M.P.O, Reg CASLPO, OLSA
Speech-Language Pathologist, First Words
Laurie-Ann graduated from the Université de Montreal with her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology. For the last 7 years, she has been working for First Words, Ottawa's preschool language program, and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Laurie-Ann is also a guest lecturer at the University of Ottawa for students in the Master's program for Speech Pathology.
Networking Session Facilitators
Jennifer Antler
Cap-C Trainer, Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres
Jennifer Antler is Pottawatomi/Ojibway and Mohawk from Wasauksing First Nation. Jennifer currently works for the Ontario Federation of Friendship Centres as a Field Support Trainer for the Child and Youth initiative. Jennifer has worked in the Toronto Aboriginal community for 13 years with an extensive background in arts and culture.
Louise Choquette
Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Louise Choquette is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant for the Best Start Resource Centre. Before joining the Best Start team, she was involved in a variety of health promotion initiatives in public health and for not-for-profit organizations. Her work with the Best Start Resource Centre includes initiatives in physical activity, prenatal education, Francophones and newcomer families.
