CMNCP 2022 Biographies
Dayna Aaron
Dayna Arron is the Executive Director of Justice Centres at the Criminal Law Division, Ministry of the Attorney General. She has spearheaded the Ministry’s Justice Centres program since its inception in 2017 and has been the driving force behind innovating Ontario’s criminal justice system by implementing a new court model premised on the co-location and integrated service delivery of justice, health and social services. In this role, she has developed considerable experience facilitating cross-ministerial collaboration and is also currently responsible for leading 15 cross-ministry initiatives under MAG’s Provincial Strategy on Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction.
Dayna also brings with her a wealth of criminal and civil litigation experience. On the criminal side, she spent over 10 years prosecuting as an assistant Crown Attorney, also serving as the Crown Lead in Inmate Partner Violence; appeared regularly at the Court of Appeal while at the Crown Law Office – Criminal; and acted as counsel to the Assistant Deputy Attorney General at MAG. On the civil side, she began her career on Bay Street focusing on plaintiffs’ side sexual assault litigationA where she had the opportunity to represent Indigenous communities in historic sexual abuse cases. She received her BA from McGill University and her LLB from UBC. She is also the (almost!) always proud and often tired mother of two teenaged boys.
Reza Ahmadi
Reza Ahmadi is the Director of Research & Evaluation in John Howard Society of Ontario’s Centre of Research & Policy. Reza has extensive experience managing complex and large-scale research and evaluation projects. Reza has a strong understanding of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, performance measurement and effective data collection strategies. He is experienced at collaborating with community stakeholders to design evaluation frameworks that are both evidence-based and tailored to the specific needs of JHS local offices. Reza has managed a number of the Centre’s research and evaluation projects including a SSHRC funded project on reintegration, criminal records, and evaluations of youth gang and housing programs. He excels at translating ideas into action, and is passionate about using visual and digital media to make research and data interesting and interactive.
Tari Ajadi
Tari Ajadi is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Dalhousie University, and a Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Black Studies at Queen’s University. His dissertation research analyses how Black activists in mid-sized cities strategize to prompt change in policing and in health policy. A British-Nigerian immigrant to Canada, Tari aims to produce research that supports and engages with Black communities across the country. He is a Board Member with the East Coast Prison Justice Society, and a co-author of the Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM report released January 2022. In January 2023, Tari will begin as an Assistant Professor in Black Politics at McGill University. He holds a MA in Political Science from Dalhousie University.
Mayor Rebecca Alty
Rebecca Alty became the 15th Mayor of Yellowknife when she was sworn into office on November 5, 2018. Prior to being elected as Mayor, she served as a Yellowknife City Councillor for two terms, from 2012 - 2018, and worked in communications and community relations for the Diavik Diamond Mine, NGO's, and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Outside of work, she enjoys walking, gardening and traveling.
Juma Assiago
Mr. Assiago, an Urbanist and Social Scientist, is the Global Coordinator of the Safer Cities Programme at UN-Habitat. He has a Bachelor of Science degree (United States International University) and a Masters of Science degree in Sustainable Urban Development (Oxford University, United Kingdom). He joined UN-Habitat in October 1999 and has 22 years international working experience providing technical support to both national and local governments on the development and implementation of city crime prevention and urban safety strategies.
Part of his achievements has been the development of the Global Network on Safer Cities (GNSC), the development and adoption of UN systemwide Guidelines on Safer Cities and Human Settlements, and realisation of several municipal crime prevention and safety strategies globally.
Jordan Babando
Dr. Jordan Babando completed his PhD in sociology at Queen’s University, with a specific focus on social psychology, emotions, healthcare systems and medical interactions. His interest in homelessness research stemmed from his undergraduate research experience working with the Poverty, Homelessness and Migration Project at Laurentian University. Jordan’s passion for homelessness research was further developed in his previous postdoctoral role with the Kelowna Homelessness Research Collaborative at the University of British Columbia - Okanagan. During that time, Jordan collaborated with organizations and frontline workers to develop and undertake research that addressed immediate community homelessness needs. Some recent research highlights include: a scoping review at the intersection of homelessness and pandemics that helps inform the Canadian public health responses to COVID-19; a Making the Shift funded project that uncovered and addresses COVID-19 related barriers to sustainable housing, services, and programs for youth homelessness in the Okanagan region; and a study that uncovered the challenges, successes, and innovations experienced by homelessness service organizations during the first wave of COVID-19. Dr. Babando previously served as the Director of Research and Evaluation with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. He is currently an instructor with the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University.
Audrey Barrett
Audrey Barrett joined the Department of Justice as the NSRJP Coordinator in January 2019, and then took on the role of Director, Restorative Initiatives Unit in June of 2020. She holds an LL.B. from Dalhousie Law School and was the first to hold the CURA-NSRJ Fellowship at Dalhousie, through which she completed her LL.M with a specialization in deliberative democracy and restorative justice. Prior to joining the DOJ, she worked as a Senior Advisor with the National Judicial Institute for 5 years, assisting in coordinating education for judges across the country. She specialized in the areas of social context, judicial independence, criminal law and evidence law education. Specifically in relation to Restorative Justice and Justice Reform, Audrey held the position of National Technical Advisor for the Jamaican Ministry of Justice for 3 years, and Program Coordinator for CIDA’s JUST initiative for 1 year, where she advised the government, various legal and community organizations, and aid agencies in Jamaica on a variety of restorative justice and justice reform issues. She was also Legal Advisor on a justice reform initiative in Gambia, West Africa from 2005 – 2006. Audrey has published and presented on topics such as the role of community in sustainable restorative justice programs, defining ADR, and the use of discourse in strengthening community and social cohesion. At the beginning of her career, Audrey clerked with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, and articled with the law firm of Burchell Hayman Parish.
Sarah Blyth
Sarah is Founder and Executive Director of Vancouver Overdose Prevention Society, where she works tirelessly to address the ongoing and worsening epidemic of overdose deaths. Sarah began the society while drug use was heavily stigmatized and, despite heavy opposition, her advocacy and efforts have saved thousands of lives. Her work has also paved the way for governments across Canada and the United States to adopt a similar approach, including a safe drug supply, decriminalization, and better mental health services. The BC government has since established more than 15 overdose prevention sites across the province thanks to Sarah’s work. Sarah also founded the Vancouver Skatepark Coalition, spurred the creation of six new skateparks and an official ‘Skateboard Week’ making Vancouver a world leader and helped changed stereotypes associated with the sport.
Mitch Bourbonniere
Mitch Bourbonniere(he/him/his) is an educator and community activist, has long been inspired to help others find their voices. A founding member of the original Bear Clan Patrol, he also volunteers with Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin (OPK), the Mama Bear Clan, Drag the Red, the Teddy Bears Picnic, the Community Homelessness Assistance Team and many other community-based endeavors.He teaches at the University of Winnipeg and Urban Circle Training, while being employed by Mount Carmel Clinic and Fox Lake First Nation.
Mitch has devoted much of his career and personal time to mentoring, counselling and supporting at-risk youth to help them develop self-esteem, confidence, empathy and social skills. By emphasizing the value of good citizenship, volunteerism and positive activism, he helps young people make positive changes in their lives. Mitch helped establish a men’s healing group out of the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre. He also works extensively with Winnipeg’s most vulnerable people affected by homelessness, post-traumatic stress, addiction, mental health issues, domestic violence, gang involvement and sexual exploitation through the OPK and Action Therapy programs and the Manitoba Youth Justice system. He visits institutions and supports people as they transition from prison and gang life.
Mitch developed a program called Lateral Empathy that involves groups of young volunteers collecting and delivering donations of food, clothing, furniture and household goods to those in need. This group also volunteers at Indigenous ceremonies across southern Manitoba, during Sundance season. He is a pipe carrier and a 25-year Sundancer. He has kept the fire for the Grandmothers Council, Sisters in Spirit, and many national and ceremonial events.
Mitch received the Canadian Humane Association’s Bronze Medal for Bravery for jumping into a Winnipeg river to save a young woman’s life in December 2016. He has also received two Governor General of Canada Awards, the Order of Manitoba as well as many other distinctive honours.
Senator LaBoucane-Benson
Senator Patti LaBoucane-Benson is a Métis from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. Her 30-year career has been dedicated to serving her community in Alberta, across Canada and around the world—as the director of a Boys and Girls Club in St. Paul in 1990, through 23 years of service at Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA), and Conference Director and Lead Facilitator of the Nelson Mandela Dialogues in Canada, an international gathering of freedom fighters that took place on Enoch Cree Nation in 2017. As a recognized catalyst for change, Dr. LaBoucane-Benson was appointed to Alberta Ministerial Panel for Child Intervention (2017-18) that resulted in Bill 18: Child Protection and Accountability Act. The primary focus of the panel was reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care in Alberta.
Dr. LaBoucane-Benson continues to share her knowledge of healing from historic trauma with educators, healthcare professionals, lawyers and policy makers, as well as Indigenous communities. She believes that healing and reconciliation dialogue is the way forward in Canada, with focus on surfacing the common ground between Western and Indigenous people. The best, most useful policy and legislation will reflect this shared space that unites us as a society.
Anna Brassard
Anna Brassard is an independent planning and CPTED consultant located in Calgary, AB. She is a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and is a Registered Professional Planner with the Alberta Professional Planning Institute. She is a member of the International CPTED Association (ICA) and on the Board of the Directors of the new ICA – Canada Chapter (CPTED-PCAM Canada). She specializes in CPTED and SafeGrowth - a program that includes CPTED and takes a more holistic approach in address crime and safety. She was a contributing author of the book “SafeGrowth: Building Neighbourhoods of Safety and Livability”, published in 2018. Her Master’s thesis was the first academic work world-wide on 2nd Generation CPTED. She was an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Sessional Instructor at the School of Architecture, Planning Landscape Architecture (formerly EVDS), University of Calgary. She designed and delivered courses on community development and safety and supervised masters level theses on a variety of topics. She was a Sessional Instructor in the Faculty of Planning and Sustainability at the University of Northern British Columbia teaching Ecological Design to senior level undergraduate and graduate planning students.
Over the past 20-years Anna has practiced as professional planner both as an independent consultant and as an employee in the private and public sectors incorporating CPTED into strategic planning, crime prevention strategies, facility planning and master planning. She has presented her CPTED knowledge and experience at conferences across North America. She also facilitates workshops across North America on SafeGrowth (tools, governance models, and approaches to creating healthy, vibrant, and safe communities) to police, design professionals and community members.
Greg Burnett
Greg retired from the Winnipeg Police Service in June of 2017 holding the rank of Superintendent. Greg served many roles within the Service in both uniform and plainclothes to management and executive management within the Service. He is trained in crisis negotiation and incident command and has training on a number of leadership and supervisory topics. Following his policing career, Greg served in the provincial government within Manitoba Justice including Strategic Innovation and Policing and Public Safety. His work included looking at youth in custody, incarceration rates and intelligence-led public safety. Greg has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba in Criminology including sociology and psychology studies. He also earned a Certificate in Applied Management from the University of Manitoba.
Karen Campbell
Karen Campbell is Director of Community Initiatives & Policy at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, where her work mainly focuses on ending gender-based violence and building capacity in the women’s and gender justice sector. Prior to her role at the Foundation, Karen worked internationally with community organizations and global networks advocating for the human and labour rights of migrant workers. Karen brings a strong gender justice and intersectional analysis to her work. She sees the potential of feminist philanthropy to serve as a powerful tool of allyship and is committed to making space for communities to participate in decision-making processes that affect them.
Kimberly Cato
Kimberly Cato is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of True Roots Counselling Services. Ms. Cato brings with her over 30 years of experience, working from trauma informed and asset-based practices. Ms. Cato is a registered psychotherapist and is grounded in methodologies of anti-racism and anti-oppression. Her analysis also centers intersectionality, as she is a Black woman who navigates the world from a wheelchair.
Kimberly is a sought-after conference presenter, corporate consultant, motivational speaker, and award-winning workshop facilitator.
Her practice is culturally grounded, drawing on frameworks that support and move clients towards empowerment and self-determination. Kimberly utilizes a range of therapeutic practices such as Afrocentric and non-traditional ways of transformative change, that are fostered through music and arts. Kimberly is exceptionally skilled and certified in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Family Group Conferencing (FGC), Somatic Abolitionism, Motivational Interviewing and various narrative therapies.
In 2020, during the wake of George Floyd's public murder and the resulting global unrest, Kimberly launched Check-In and Chat, a weekly support group for racialized women. She also started a parallel group for racialized men, which is a monthly peer decompression space. As a certified facilitator for emotional emancipation circles (EEC), Ms. Cato guides and leads Black community members to rediscover their African ancestral roots.
Ms. Cato’s commitment to healing and mental wellness is long-standing. These experiences motivated her to intentionally engage in dismantling racism by decolonizing therapy and seeking culturally adapted therapeutic practices that build multi-racial communities with anti-racist capacity and a determination to facilitate more racial trauma healing forums.
Kimberly is delighted to be part of Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists’ Board, Executive Committee, and the Interim Chair of the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, assisting with the process of embedding EDI principles into every aspect of the organization, and thereby creating a space that is welcoming, inclusive, and safe for the differing identities of People served in the province.
Lee-Ann Chevrette
Lee-Ann Chevrette was born and raised in Timmins, Ontario, and spent her early years immersed in nature. After graduating from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Environmental Protection, she spent a decade working in the realms of forest ecology, wildlife biology and environmental education for provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations, and not-for-profits in British Columbia, the Yukon and the Western Arctic Region of the Northwest Territories. She has lived and worked in remote Indigenous communities and is deeply committed to anti-racism and reconciliation efforts. She returned to Ontario to complete a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies, with a focus on Northern Environments and Cultures, from Lakehead University. She is employed as the Community Safety & Well-Being Specialist with the City of Thunder Bay. When not working, she can likely be found exploring the rugged beauty of Lake Superior’s north shore with her husband and three teenagers.
Dawne Clark
Dawne is Professor Emerita in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University in Calgary, teaching and researching in the early childhood field for almost 50 years. Over the years, Dawne has researched, educated, and worked to impact policy in areas such as early and adolescent brain development, active play and physical literacy, and children’s mental health and resilience. Dawne continues to provide workshops and develop curriculum about early and adolescent brain development, and research and support inclusion of active play for young children across Canada. Dawne has three grown children and is thrilled when she can spend time with her grandchildren!
Colleen Cornock
As Community Safety Services Manager for the City of Kelowna, Colleen leads a dynamic team of dedicated community safety practitioners striving to enhance community well-being and safety for all through leadership, education, engagement and collaboration. In a career spanning nearly 20 years, Colleen has worked in collaboration with enforcement partners, social agencies, businesses and citizens, striving to ensure Kelowna is an even safer place to live, work and enjoy.
Chris Cowie
Chris has worked as a senior manager in community charities related to justice, anti-poverty, community development and international mission since 1988. He has previously served as the Executive Director of two Kitchener based agencies, the Director of Regional Development for SIM Canada and has been the current Executive Director at Community Justice Initiatives since January of 2010.
Chris teaches Restorative Justice at the University of Waterloo and has a Masters Degree in Leadership from the University of Guelph.
Dave Critchley
Dave Critchley is the General Manager of Community Safety for the City of Burnaby. He was appointed to this role in September of 2016 and in this role, Dave provides oversight of the Burnaby RCMP, Burnaby Fire Department, Risk Management & Emergency Planning and Property Use and Parking Enforcement. Prior to this role, Dave had an extensive career in the RCMP with his last position being a Chief Superintendent (C/Supt.) and the Officer in Charge of the Burnaby RCMP Detachment, the second largest RCMP detachment in Canada.
Dave joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in January of 1982 and his career spanned over 34 years and took him across Canada and abroad in various policing capacities. He has extensive public safety experience at the Municipal, Provincial, Federal and International levels, and has represented the City of Burnaby and the RCMP at the international level on both complex criminal investigations and major events such as the Olympics and G8 Summits. Dave was also deployed to Kabul Afghanistan for one year as the Senior Canadian Police Commander and provided Operational Command over the Canadian Police Contingent as they provided training and mentoring to the Afghan National Police.
He has studied at the University of Lethbridge, Royal Roads University in Victoria where he obtained a MA in Human Security and Peacekeeping, and the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. Dave has been appointed as a Member of Order of Merit of the Police Forces (M.O.M.) and been awarded the Operational Service Medal South-West Asia (OSM-SWA), the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (QGJM) and the Queens’ Diamond Jubilee medal (QDJM).
Amil Davis
Amil Davis is a Policy Development Officer in the Social Development, Finance and Administration Division of the City of Toronto. He is a member of the City’s Policing Perform Unit which oversees the implementation of City Council’s decisions on changes to policing in Toronto adopted in 2020, including the development and implementation of the Toronto Community Crisis Service. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies, and a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Toronto.
Dave Dickson
Dave recently retired from his position as the Manager of Community Safety for the City of Williams Lake, where he was responsible for multiple community safety programs and the management of the RCMP based victim services team. I worked as a regular member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stationed in several communities throughout British Columbia, and as a Road Safety Manager for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Both were lengthy careers which were community-based and all about building positive relationships that forged very strong partnerships around community safety.
Dave continues to be involved in Emergency Support Services for the City of Williams Lake and Cariboo Regional District. He has worked in depth with Indigenous communities in all aspects of his career. Dave is an avid road bike cyclist, kayaker, and hiker. Williams Lake is his permanent home and his wife and him are blessed with 3 children and 9 grandchildren that are all healthy and happy.
John Dixon
John Dixon is currently the director of Integrated Services at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care. He is a member of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation who has been working in various frontline and management roles in the addictions, child welfare and social services field since 1997.
John earned a B.A. in Indigenous Learning and Psychology at Lakehead University and has had extensive experience working with First Nations in urban, rural and remote settings. John is a certified life skills coach, ADR facilitator and has a diploma in Leadership and Management from the Schulich School of Business.
John was a recipient of the National Aboriginal Day 2012 honoring our men award, completed a two year term as the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) representative on the Ontario Regional Addictions Partnership Committee (ORAPC) and was recognized for his work as the change management lead for the agency’s National Anti-Drug Strategy modernization project that re-profiled the Dilico Anishinabek Family Care Treatment Center into a recognized lead in the area of culturally safe opiate addiction and concurrent disorder programming for First Nations populations.
John worked as a supervisor for the Band representative program in his home community, contributed at the PTO level with Ontario on the child wellbeing file in its early stages and completed additional committee work with ANCFSAO during his time with Dilico. John has been working with Child Welfare as an Integrated Director re-profiling practices to address the shift in Indigenous Child Welfare to a more prevention focussed service delivery model.
John lives in Thunder Bay with his wife and three children.
Leigh Elliott
Leigh Elliott (MA) is the Operations Manager at Peers Victoria Resources Society. Her background is in political theory with a focus on biopolitics, agency, and the harmful conflation of human trafficking with sex work. She came to this role after working as a researcher where she engaged in community-based research on sex work, housing, gender-based violence, and violence prevention.
Kate Fenske
Kate Fenske (she/her/hers) has a passion for Winnipeg and is recognized as a team builder and collaborator. She joined the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ as CEO in October 2018 and leads the organization’s activities to promote, care and advocate for a vibrant and inclusive downtown where business thrives and people are drawn to work, live, shop and explore. Kate provides strategic direction and a voice for the 1,100 businesses operating in Downtown Winnipeg and works with her team to create a downtown where everyone feels welcome.
Kate is a broadcast journalist graduate from Mount Royal University in Calgary. She sits on the Board of the International Downtown Association and served four years on the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Board.
Jan Fox
Jan is the Executive Director for REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities, a not-for-profit organization created to make Edmonton a safer place to live and work where she has been privileged to lead a team of professionals dedicated to making Edmonton a safer community. REACH is a coordinating council that works closely with social agencies, businesses, and citizens to invest in our community to make our city an even safer place to live, work and play. Jan takes pride in being a part of this innovative initiative that works collaboratively with many partners to improve the lives of many vulnerable Edmontonians. Jan also is the co-chair for the Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention, which is a is a national community of practice to build capacity and mobilize Canadian municipalities to prevent and reduce crime and foster community safety and well-being.Jan is also a member of the Human Trafficking Task Force in Alberta, a special task force set-up to find ways to protect and empower survivors of human trafficking by providing guidance and recommendations to helping the government implement the nine-point action plan to take coordinated actions. She also co-chairs a province wide initiative group through the Not in My City initiative to bring partners together to collaborate together for this important work.She is also a consultant with the Robcan Group, which provides training and development services to business, industry, government, and communities. She previously served as a district director with the Government of Canada managing labour relations issues and as a warden at the Edmonton Institution for Women. During her time with Corrections, Jan was fortunate to work internationally sharing expertise throughout central Europe. She is particularly proud of her work building relationships with our Aboriginal community and has received significant recognition for this by the Aboriginal community. Jan is also proud of her work to improve the lives of women working in corrections and is the founder of the organization Women in Police and Corrections.Jan was awarded the YWCA Lois E. Hole Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. She was the proud recipient of the first Women of Vision Award in 1999. She has also been honored to win the Association of Professional Executives Partnership Award and the Institute of Public Administrators Teamwork award.Jan is a very active member of the Rotary Club of Edmonton, and leads an exciting new initiative called the Rotary Aboriginal Partnership.
G
Joyal, Conveener of the Lived Experience Circle on Homelessness for the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society. The Circle was formed as a means to inform the Journey Home Task Force in the develpment of its strategic plan and to continue to inform the Society with the voice of people with lived and living experience with the homeless serving systems in the community.
Kimberlea Granholm
Kimberlea Granholm is a Lakehead University graduate, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Public Health with Specialization in Nursing. She has been practicing as a Registered Nurse since 2012. Certified in Critical Care Nursing from George Brown College, she has spent the bulk of her career in the ICU and rapid response at St Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto, and most recently in the ICU at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. She completed her Master’s degree with a final practicum at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit working with Rosemary Scofich in the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program. In collaboration with the TBDHU, Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention, and Community Safety & Well-Being Thunder Bay, she led a national scan of Adverse Childhood Experiences prevention and intervention approaches.
Nadia Grutter
Nadia Grutter (she/her) is the Violence Prevention & Response Team Lead at Peers Victoria Resources Society. Her approach to social service provision is informed by disability justice, harm reduction, and peer-led organizing. She has worked in rights-based community advocacy, legal publishing, and mental health and substance use crisis response.Racquel Hamlet
Racquel obtained her Sociology honors degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and her Masters in Social Work from York University.
She has worked with Taibu Community Health Centre for the last 11 years as a Registered Social Worker and Therapist. More recently, Racquel is now the Manager of Wellness and Community Crisis Response. She hopes to be able to impact the Black community in a larger capacity by exacting change from within in order to deliver an effective and ground breaking service to the Black and Indigenous communities suffering with mental health challenges.
She has always had a passion for working with the Black Community with the hopes of seeing our community flourish in not only physical health but also in mental and emotional well-being. In her time at Taibu, her focus has always been to improve the quality of life for the people we serve through her knowledge and experience.
She has a background in working in the Criminal Justice System with youth for several years through the African Canadian Legal Clinic as a part of the African Canadian Youth Justice Program. And also did some work with Toronto Bail Program with youth as well.
Racquel has a vested interest in post partum depression as well as mental illness in the Black community. She has taught at Durham College as a professor teaching the science behind counselling people from diverse backgrounds with complex issues related to mental health, employment and immigration.
David Howard
David is the founder and CEO of the Homes For Heroes Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to helping Veterans experiencing homelessness. David owns several businesses and has been supporting those that have stood on guard for Canada through various charitable endeavors he has spearheaded for the last 25 years. In 2016 David was shocked to learn about the increasing number of Canadian Veterans experiencing homeless and was determined to do something about it. David hired a researcher and together they met with over 200 Veterans to better understand what a homeless program dedicated to Veterans needed to include to be successful. Through this research, the Homes For Heroes Foundation was created, a charity developed by Veterans for Veterans. Homes For Heroes Foundation provides a structured program within tiny home villages. Homes For Heroes Foundation develops and manages tiny home villages, within a community of peers, provides a support structure designed to meet the individual needs of their Veteran residents, and offers a sense of place and belonging for our Canadian military Veterans experiencing homelessness. To build the tiny home Veteran villages David has brought together all levels of government, private business, social groups, celebrities, and individual donors to support the Homes For Heroes Foundation. David and his team have successfully opened Veterans villages in Calgary and Edmonton, with Kingston and Winnipeg scheduled to open in the fall of 2023. The goal for Homes For Heroes is to build their tiny home Veteran villages across Canada and end the issue of Veteran homelessness across Canada.
Kelly Husack
Kelly Husack has lived and worked in community for most of her life. Following convocation from the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Regina in 2015, she took on the role as executive director for an inner-city community health clinic in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood known as SEARCH. It was her experiences that she gained here that continue to drive her work and passion for community well-being. In addition, Kelly has held numerous roles throughout community, including working as a qualitative HIV research assistant, youth employment business mentor, and community organizer.
In the fall of 2018, Kelly then moved to Toronto to further her education by pursuing a Master’s in Public Policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Here, with a specialization in public health policy at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. In addition to her studies, she spent her free time exploring as many events and sites throughout the City of Toronto. She remained active on campus, leading student groups including the Public Good Initiative (a student-led, pro-bono non-profit consulting initiative) as a student director and was elected director of finance for the Master of Public Policy Student Association. She also worked as a communications coordinator with the Urban Policy Lab at the University of Toronto. She also completed a co-op internship with the Ontario Public Service in 2019 in the Ministry of Education, working on files related to student safety and health. Following graduation from the MPP program, Kelly returned home to Regina and immediately began working for the City of Regina in her current position as Policy Analyst in April of 2020, the role the continues to work in to this day.
Lisa Kardosh
Lisa Kardosh is a project manager with REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities. Her current work focuses on supporting organizations that offer services to newcomer children and youth by facilitating collaborative discussions, researching and reporting on challenges and barriers, and providing information to the public about child and youth programs across Edmonton. She also spends her time on Safer Way Out, a project that aims to create more effective and coordinated responses for victims who have been trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Lisa is passionate about finding solutions to the many challenges associated with preventing crime and promoting wellbeing. In her downtime, Lisa enjoys spending time with her husband and their two dogs, Wallace and Yona.
Jamie Livingston
Dr. Jamie Livingston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dr. Livingston spent more than ten years as a civil servant conducting applied social research in British Columbia’s forensic mental health system. He now critically examines a range of issues at the intersection of the mental health, substance use, and criminal legal systems, with a specific focus on people’s experiences with stigma, criminalization, and recovery/ desistance processes.
Elene Lam
Elene Lam (LLM, MSW) is an activist, community organizer, educator, and human rights defender. She is the founder of Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network). She has involved in the the migrant, sex workers’, labour, gender and racial justice movement for over 20 years. She is the PhD candidate at McMaster University (School of Social Work) and studying the harm of anti-trafficking movement.
Jennifer Llewellyn
Jennifer Llewellyn is a Professor of Law at Dalhousie University and the Chair in Restorative Justice and Director of the Restorative Research, Innovation and Education Lab ( Restorative Lab). Her teaching and research focus in the areas of relational theory, restorative justice, truth commissions, peacebuilding, international and domestic human rights law, public law, and Canadian constitutional law.
Professor Llewellyn has advised governments and NGO’s and supported many governments, projects and programs including the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Jamaican government, the government of New Zealand and the United Nations. Her world-renowned expertise resulted in her appointment as an expert on the UN mechanism to review the UN Basic Principles for the Use of Restorative Justice in Criminal Matters. Additionally, Professor Llewellyn facilitated the design process for the first ever restorative public inquiry and served as a commissioner for The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children Restorative Inquiry. She previously advised the Assembly of First Nations and Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the response to residential school abuse.
Recognized for her contribution in the field of restorative justice, Professor Llewellyn was awarded the National Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award from Correctional Services Canada in 2015 and was the 2018 recipient of the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council National Impact Award, the highest award for research achievement and impact in Canada. In 2019, she received the Dalhousie University President's Research Excellence Award for Research Impact.
Travis Lupick
Travis Lupick is an author and award-winning journalist who has written for the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and Vice Magazine, among others. His most-recent books are Light Up the Night: America’s Overdose Crisis and the Drug Users Fighting for Survival (the New Press, 2022), and Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018). Lupick previously spent 10 years as a staff reporter for the Georgia Straight newspaper in Vancouver, during which time he reported extensively on Canada’s overdose crisis and related issues such as addiction and mental health.
Claire MacDonald
Having worked and volunteered front-line in the non-profit homeless serving sector for over 15 years, I hold a deep appreciation for system collaboration when supporting our most vulnerable citizens. Without a strong, coordinated effort we miss opportunities to assist our community members with growth and healing. I hold a background in public relations and addictions counselling and have spent many years in facilitation and training roles. I am passionate about developing the skills of others so they are confident in supporting our vulnerable community through any challenges they may face.
I proudly work with REACH Edmonton Council in its efforts to collaborate with community partners to make our city a safer place for all its citizens. Since coming on board with the 24/7 Crisis Diversion program two and a half years ago, I have been working on strengthening the program collaboration, enhancing protocols, developing and managing a new data collection system, and navigating the pressures that COVID-19 and the opioid overdose crisis have put on our program.
Mayor Sandra Masters
Sandra Masters made city history by becoming the first woman elected Mayor when sworn in as the 35th Mayor of Regina. Proudly Saskatchewan, Mayor Masters grew up in the prairies and has called Regina home for more than 23 years. She is focused on efficient and effective city operations, fostering an environment for economic growth, supporting a safe community, and creating fair opportunities. Mayor Masters is passionately and energetically optimistic about Regina’s future and the outstanding people who choose to call Regina home.
Hillary Di Menna
Hillary Di Menna (she/her) is a gender justice advocate, writer, and public educator. In addition to her work with the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, she has worked for various sexual assault centres, York University's 'The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education,' and in grassroots feminist organizing. Hillary has her MA in Gender, Feminist & Women's Studies from York University.
Elisabeth Miller
Elisabeth Miller, is an urban planner with the City of Saskatoon with a specialty in urban safety. Under her leadership the City of Saskatoon has embedded the philosophy of Safe Growth and the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) as a way to achieve a safer Saskatoon in the city’s Official Community Plan. Currently Elisabeth is the Neighbourhood Safety Coordinator in Saskatoon and responsible for working with communities to identify issues, carry out risk assessments and safety audits, public engagement, and the implementation of safety recommendations.
Elisabeth chairs the City of Saskatoon's CPTED Review Committee which is a partnership of various civic departments that reviews all civic structures, facilities, and developments for conformance with Safe Growth and the principles of CPTED. As of 2008, CPTED reviews are mandatory for civic and civic sponsored projects, structures, facilities and developments. To date almost 300 CPTED reviews have been completed.
Elisabeth is also responsible for organizing and co-teaching SafeGrowth/CPTED courses to ensure that civic staff, and other interested parties outside of the organization, are appropriately trained. To date, 22 courses have been conducted in Saskatoon and over 400 people trained.
Elisabeth is an active member of the International CPTED Association (ICA) and has been a board member for a number of years. She is a fully certified ICCP-Professional as an individual and helps facilitate Class A certified SafeGrowth and CPTED courses. Elisabeth is also the Saskatoon representative on the CMNCP.
Elisabeth is also an active member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and was instrumental in the publication of CIP's "A Kid's Guide to Building Great Communities: A Manual for Planners and Educators". Elisabeth views Safe Growth/CPTED process as an important crossover with urban planning and an excellent vehicle for engaging children and youth in their community.
Christopher Mushquash
Dr. Mushquash is a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction, and Professor in the Department of Psychology at Lakehead University and the Division of Human Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University. He is also Vice President Research at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Chief Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.
He is the Director of the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research at Lakehead University. In addition to his academic appointments, Dr. Mushquash is a registered clinical psychologist providing assessment, intervention, and consultation services for First Nations children, adolescents, and adults at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care.
In 2017, Dr. Mushquash was inducted in the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. He is currently the vice-chair of the Institute Advisory Board for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health. Dr. Mushquash also serves as a board member for the Ontario Psychological Association, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre.
Dr. Mushquash is Ojibway and a member of Pays Plat First Nation.
Chad Nilson
Dr. Chad Nilson is a community-based researcher, strategist and evaluator with the Living Skies Centre for Social Inquiry located in Prince Albert, SK. For the past decade, Chad has led the development, measurement and refinement of collaborative social innovations at the local, regional and national level. On a daily basis, Chad works with community leaders and human service practitioners to explore opportunities for measuring shared outcomes generated through community safety and well-being initiatives.
Ronni A. Nordal
Ronni has been a practicing lawyer in Regina, SK for over twenty years and has recently transitioned her practice from union side labour law to acting only as a neutral arbitrator, mediator and workplace investigator as well as continuing to practice in the area of professional discipline.
None of Ronni’s professional experience qualifies her to participate in the CMNCP panel on substance use (safe supply, harm reduction, stigma reduction , services) – it is her lived and living experience that gives her the words to share.
Like so many people in Canada, Ronni is a person who has been affected by substance use in her family (as a spouse and as a mother) and that experience led to Ronni to become involved in a variety of organizations and to advocate in relation to addiction/substance use disorder.
Somewhat uniquely, Ronni has one foot in the area of abstinence-based recovery and the other firmly planted in overdose prevention and harm reduction. Ronni believes that Recovery is a spectrum and harm reduction fits within that spectrum. Her beliefs include: “dead people don’t recover”; “recovery has a different meaning for different people” and we need to “meet people where they are at, not where we think they should be” and she continues to work toward helping others wherever they are at.
Ose Omoregie
Ose Omoregie (she/her/elle) is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She has been working in the field of social work since 2018 and currently works for Upstream Ottawa Mental Health Community Support, as a Youth Mental Health and Addictions Social Worker. Ose works in the SAPACCY Program which provides mental health and substance use support to African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) youth aged 12 -29. Within this program, Ose and her team use Africentric approaches to provide culturally affirming and responsive care to youth and their families. Ose has a background in addiction counselling, Trauma, harm reduction, concurrent disorders, housing, and homelessness. Ose has also worked as an addiction counsellor in abstinence-based and harm reduction residential treatment programs. Ose brings a multidisciplinary and intersectional approach to social work practice. While exploring the unique challenges racialized communities face, Ose draws from cultural competency, cultural literacy, anti-racism, anti-oppressive practice, structural social work, racial trauma, and Africentrism. Ose is also active in the community and is the co-founder and co-chair of Black Student Alliance Carleton University Est 2018. She is also a member of the School of Social Work Black History Committee at Carleton University.
Rachal Pattison
Rachal Pattison (they/them) is the service innovation and implementation lead & research manager at Kickstand, in Edmonton, AB. As a registered occupational therapist (OT), they have worked with individuals living with chronic pain and as a mental health therapist supporting federally incarcerated persons. Rachal also has a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia, doing research in gender identity and mental health in young people. When they are not working on establishing integrated youth services in Alberta, they can be found reading fantasy novels, eating nachos and catering to the whims of their co-dependent cat.
Christianne Paras
Christianne Paras is Ilokana and Kapampangan, originally from the Ilocos Norte region of the Philippines. She currently resides as an uninvited guest, an immigrant settler, on the unceded, ancestral and traditional lands of the Kwikwetlem peoples in BC, Canada. With over 20 years’ experience in the restorative justice field, she is an accomplished facilitator with expertise in a variety of practice models including victim offender dialogue, family group conferencing, and peacemaking circles. Over the years, she has helped establish a variety of restorative justice and social justice related community initiatives including the Building Vibrant Communities Workshops, Community Dialogue Series, Speak Out Series, and the Widening the Lens Symposium. She is currently the Executive Director of Restorative Justice Association of British Columbia (RJABC). She is one of the founding directors of the Association and prior to her current role, she served as Chair of the Board of Directors for RJABC. She is also the co-founder for Reclaiming Our Own Truths & Stories (ROOTS), a consulting and training organization on anti-racism/anti-oppression and decolonization practices in restorative justice. Lastly, she is an instructor at Simon Fraser University, and a long time anti-oppression/anti-racism facilitator. She is a published researcher and author, and has been involved in a wide variety of research projects on topics such as safety in seniors’ living spaces, online gambling, race and the criminal justice system, and restorative justice. Most recently, she is one of the authors of the book ‘Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities’.
Benjamin Roebuck
Dr. Benjamin Roebuck (he/him) is the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime. He holds a Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Ottawa and is an internationally recognized expert in the field of victimology, with over 15 years of experience as a researcher and educator on victim rights. Prior to his current role, he was Research Chair and Professor of Victimology and Public Safety at Algonquin College, where he was a founding member of the Victimology Research Centre. He has been the principal investigator for studies exploring resilience and posttraumatic change with survivors of violence, victim service providers, and people with lived experiences of homelessness. Benjamin previously served on the Board of Directors for Crime Prevention Ottawa and committees focused on restorative justice, mental health, and youth justice. He serves as a member of the External Advisory Committee for the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre, which provides support for currently serving and former Canadian Armed Forces members and National Defence public service employees affected by sexual misconduct.Christiane Sadeler
Christiane Sadeler (she/her) will be joining us from the unceded territory of the Lekwungen speaking peoples, also known as the Esquimalt and Songhees nations or Victoria, British Columbia. Christiane was the Executive Director of a regional crime prevention collaborative in Ontario for 26 years and the founding co-chair of the Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention. She brought to those roles a steadfast dedication to social justice and inclusive communities. These values had become strengthened over many years of working with marginalized populations including those who have come in conflict with the law in Germany, England, New Zealand, and Canada. Christiane taught community interventions for close to two decades in post-secondary institutions. She was actively involved and often provided leadership in social development efforts from poverty reduction, to homelessness, domestic violence and intimate partner violence, the role of media in shaping public policy, and many more. More recently, she established her own consulting business www.morebettersolutions.ca. Restless by nature, it was Canada’s deep forests, lakes, and oceans that captured Christiane’s heart and led to the decision to make Canada her home. When not engaged in community safety work Christiane enjoys hiking and camping with her partner Holt and their golden doodle Zoe, who teaches her every day the power of compassionate presence.
Matthew Sanscartier
Dr. Matthew Sanscartier (he/him/his) holds a PhD in Sociology (Carleton) and specializes in the areas of research methods and design, criminology, and organizational sociology. Dr. Sanscartier is also a credentialed evaluator and sits on the provincial board of the Canadian Evaluation Society (Manitoba Chapter), developing curricula for new and emerging evaluators and co-chairing the 2022 national conference. At DCSP, he is responsible for developing and monitoring organizational metrics, data quality, and research.
Aseefa Sarang
Aseefa is the executive director of Across Boundaries, an ethnoracial mental health centre that, for the past 28 years, has been a leader in providing mental health and addiction services to Toronto’s racialized and Black communities. These services, to support people facing multiple barriers to care are centred in equitable, holistic approaches, rooted in anti-racist, anti-oppression, and resisting anti-Black racism frameworks. Her interests are in programming for adults, youth, and families and the intersection of these lives with the criminal justice system, homelessness, immigration, and other social determinants of health. Aseefa is committed to systemic change through advocacy, allyship, and “accompliceship.” She has served on various boards and committees at local, provincial, and national levels, including with the City of Toronto, Connex Ontario, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and Ontario Health’s Health System Advisory Council, to name a few.
Gregory Saville
Gregory Saville runs Denver-based AlterNation Consulting, a firm specializing in 1st and 2nd Generation CPTED and SafeGrowth. He is a former Canadian Police officer and an Urban Planner with the Canadian Institute of Planners. He holds a degree in urban geography and a master’s degree in planning and environmental criminology. He is a co-founder, and inaugural chairperson, of the International CPTED Association. He was the first Canadian police officer with an urban planning degree to practice CPTED as part of the formal planning process. He is author SafeGrowth: Building Neighbourhoods of Safety and Livability and recently co-authored a multi-year statistical study in the British Journal of Criminology on crime displacement following CPTED strategies.
Frances Shaver
Dr. Frances M. Shaver, a retired sociologist from Concordia University (Montreal), has been conducting research on the sex industry for 35 years. Most recently she was involved in a CIHR Team Grant on the Contexts of vulnerabilities, resiliencies and care among people in the sex industry. The team—including researchers, knowledge users, and community partners from across Canada and internationally—worked collaboratively to identify key factors linked to violence and vulnerabilities. The project included interviews with sex workers, clients, romantic partners, supervisors, police, and other regulatory agencies in six Canadian municipalities. The findings were used to inform policies and practices aimed at improving the safety and health of sex workers and those they relate to at work and in their personal lives.
Dr. Shaver also acts as a knowledge mobilizer to the general public. In addition to initiating events bringing together community partners, interested scholars, and policy makers she responds positively to invitations to speak with the media and meet with policy makers and community groups. She was a witness in Bedford, Scott & Lebovitch v. AG Canada (2007) and has appeared before House of Commons Subcommittees, Departments of Justice (Ontario, Québec, Canada), and a variety of NGOs.
Laura Shaver
Laura Shaver has been a board member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) for 14 years, holding various positions over that time including president, secretary, and treasurer. As a peer-support and harm reduction group, VANDU has played an instrumental role in the Downtown Eastside’s response to the fentanyl crisis, and Laura has been on the front lines, responding to overdoses on the street and teaching others how to use the overdose-reversal drug naloxone. Her comments on the opioid epidemic have appeared via interviews in newspapers across the continent, from the Vancouver Sun to the New York Times. She has also won several journalism awards herself for her work on the Crackdown podcast.
Laura shares her experience because she believes it is important for people who use drugs to have a voice.
Peter Tewfik
Chief Superintendent Peter Tewfik is the Officer in Charge of Community Safety and Well-being for the Alberta RCMP. He is passionate about collaborating with community leaders and police professionals across the province to identify issues contributing to community harm and developing strategies designed to reduce the multiple contributors to crime and victimization over the long term.
Before starting in this role, Peter was the Officer in the Charge of Crime Reduction Strategy for the Alberta RCMP. He worked with the district offices and detachments over 4 years building and refining initiatives and programs in a multi-year effort to reduce the impact of crime in rural Alberta between 2018-2021.
Peter has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Police Forces for leadership and exceptional service over an extended period. He was the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal from British Columbia as well as the Commissioners Commendation for his contribution in developing a new investigative technique which has since been adopted by the RCMP and shared internationally.
He lives in St. Albert, Alberta with his wife.
Jessica Turowski
Jessica Turowski is the Project Manager for the Rural Mental Health Project with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta Division. She endeavors to enable better mental health for all through continual engagement and dialogue with local and provincial stakeholders. Her work focuses on embedding health promotion and community development principles that strength local and provincial assets. Jessica continues to explore a range of shared leadership and collaboration processes, creating strategic opportunities to tackle the complexity of mental wellness. She is a champion of systems-thinking and social innovation. Jessica has a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion, a BA (Honours) in Psychology, and 10 years of provincial mental health project management.
Santiago Uribe Rocha
Santiago Uribe Rocha was for six years the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) for the City of Medellín. Prior to becoming CRO, Mr. Uribe Rocha worked for three years as Executive Director of Social Innovation at Pigmalion. There he coordinated a number of research programs on topics ranging from disaster risk management, violence prevention to local youth’s reproductive and mental health. From 2007-2010, he served as Administrative Assistant of Cultural and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Colombia in South Africa, where he coordinated official visits to exchange experiences and expertise for the implementation of the peace process in Colombia, including officials visits of Bishop Desmond Tutu, Former President and Nobel Peace Fredrik De Klerk, Chief Negotiator Roelf Meyer and Magistrate Albie Sachs among others. He also coordinated several knowledge exchange visit of South African officials to Colombia focused in issues of mobility, focused in the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit Systems in South Africa. He also has extensive experience in designing and evaluating public urban policies on social inclusion and human development, safety and violence prevention and children’s affairs.
Jaap de Waard
Jaap de Waard is a Senior Policy Advisor at the Netherlands Ministry of Security and Justice. He is the former secretary of the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN). He has published widely on crime prevention models, international trends in the private security industry, and international benchmark studies in the field of crime control. He is a regular presenter at national and international conferences and expert meetings in the field of law enforcement and crime prevention. He is research fellow at the International Victimology Institute (INTERVICT), Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Jaap studied Information Science with special emphasis on the application and usage of knowledge in organisations, along with the interaction between people, organisations and any existing information and knowledge systems.Sandra Wesley
Sandra Wesley is the executive director of Stella, l’amie de Maimie, an organisation by and for sex workers based in Montreal since 1995. Stella aims to improve the living and working conditions of sex workers through direct services, education and advocacy. Sandra is also the chair of TOMS, Montreal’s network of HIV organizations.
Steve Woolrich
Steve Woolrich is an award-winning Crime Prevention and Community Safety Practitioner. He is passionate about creating safe and healthy built environments and has always considered himself a ‘boots on the ground’ consultant. Steve’s background is diverse and after graduating from Justice Administration and majoring in Police Science he went on to work closely with many different police services throughout Alberta. Trained in both CPTED and SafeGrowth ™ he has utilized these practices in many roles throughout his career, including corporate security and asset protection.
Steve is proud to have worked closely with the Alberta Government and was part of their provincial Gang Reduction Network, working as the Central Alberta lead. It was during this time that he became a trained Circle Facilitator and continues to use this process in all community engagement work, including his previous work with high-risk youth.
Steve leads the largest Community Safety and Well-Being collaborative in Canada – Rethink Urban (RU). He is instrumental in the co-creation of RU’s signature approach – full SPECTRUM Community Safety and Well-Being fusing best practices, including CPTED, Placemaking and Healthy Built Environments to address complex community safety issues.
Steve’s dream is that Community Safety and Well-Being is embraced by both urban and rural communities across Canada. He was recently elected as the Vice President of CPTED Canada.
