FICE Canada Board of Directors

Jim joined FICE-International in 1986 and is now honoured to serve as the interim President of FICE-Canada. He began his career in Child and Youth Care and in 1979 joined the Faculty of the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria where he is an Emeritus Professor and former Director. His major research interests have focused on re-appreciation of residential care for children and youth.

Jim acknowledges with respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory I live and work in Victoria, BC and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Pennie has over 30 years experience in Child and Youth Care, she is a proud Certified Child and Youth Care Counsellor for over 25 years. She is a long time Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta Board Member and acts as Chair for the CYCAA Advanced Practice Committee. Pennie is the President of the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations. Pennie passionate about the field of Child and Youth Care, the need for professionalization of the Child and Youth Care role and highlighting the exceptional Child and Youth Care work being done across Canada.

Pennie resides in Calgary, Alberta, where she lives, learns, works and plays on the traditional territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy - the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani; 

the Tsuut’ina; the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations of Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley; the Métis Nation of Alberta (Region 3); and all people who make their home in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

Heather has worked in the field of Child and Youth Care for 35 years. She currently works as the CEO of Amal Youth and Family Centre in Newfoundland and Labrador. Heather has served on numerous national and international boards, published several journal articles and book chapters, and co-edited the book relational Child and Youth Care in Action. Heather has a PhD in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria, where she is also a sessional instructor.

Heather acknowledges the island of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) as the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq. And she acknowledges Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut. She wishes to recognize all First Peoples who were here before us, those who live with us now, and the seven generations to come. As First Peoples have done since time immemorial, we strive to be responsible stewards of the land and to respect the cultures, ceremonies, and traditions of all who call it home. As we open our hearts and minds to the past, we commit ourselves to working in a spirit of truth and reconciliation to make a better future for all.

Dr. Kiaras Gharabaghi is the dean of the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. Previous  to this, he was the John C. Eaton Chair of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Director of the School of Child and Youth Care, both at Toronto Metropolitan as well. Dr. Gharabaghi started his career in the human services in the 1980s, working directly with young people facing adversity, managing not for profit youth service programs in child welfare, child and youth mental health, and youth homelessness, and providing family support services to newcomer families. His own background is marked by both forced and voluntary migrations spanning three continents, multiple languages, and engagement with  multiple faith groups.

Kiaras acknowledges that Toronto is in the 'Dish With One Spoon Territory’.  The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.

Chelsea is part of FICE-Canada’s interim board and helps on the communications committee. She has served on the Child and Youth Care Workers’ Association of Manitoba for 4 years; currently serving as the Vice-President. Chelsea is a graduate of the Youth Recreation Activity Worker Program and the Child and Youth Care Program at Red River College Polytechnic. She has been practicing Child and Youth Care for 12 years with front line and management experience in child and youth recreation services, live-in addiction treatment services, intensive mental health treatment services as well as intensive community re-integration services.  Chelsea lives in Manitoba.

Chelsea lives and works on Treaty 1 Territory on the traditional lands of the Dakota, Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dene, Inuit and home of the Metis Nation. 

 Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein is a Muslim scholar working, playing, and occupying the lands of the WSÁNEĆ peoples. She has a deep-seated commitment to creative, innovative, and interdisciplinary understandings, dismantling of, and re-creating accessible, culturally grounded, and transformative research. Her research centers on migrant subjectivities, diasporic self-making, theorizing in-between spaces, creating meaning in freely chosen activities (recreation), and grappling with beautifully complex somatic experiences. 

Shemine started her career in therapeutic recreation, followed by paediatric palliative care, counselling in domestic violence settings, and international youth programming in the majority world. She now combines her practice skills int he classroom as an instructor, counsellor, and across borders. She is passionate about working with children, youth and their families in a meaningful and supportive manner. Shemine lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Shemine lives and works with gratitude on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish, Lewungen, Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. 

Maribeth obtained a Degree in Psychology from UPEI and a Diploma in CYCW from Holland College before working for 13 years in Ottawa, as Child and Youth Care Worker.  Throughout her career in Ottawa, she worked in a variety of settings including residential, justice, mental health crisis support, as well as inpatient and day treatment hospital settings. Maribeth currently resides in PEI and teaches in the Child and Youth Care Worker, Diploma program at Holland College. 

Maribeth acknowledges that the land on which she lives, and works, is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abegweit Mi’kmaq First Nation.

Chloe has been passionate about Children’s Mental Health and Families involved in out-of-home care for over 20 years. With this passion in mind, she has been fortunate to work for large not-for-profit organizations and taught as a sessional instructor wih the University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work for over 13 years. Chloe is a Registered Art Therapist with a Master of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies from Concordia University in Montreal and recently graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work from the University of Calgary. She has worked as a clinician, manager, educator, and researcher within various roles supporting children and families in the important work of Mental Health. She is currently becoming a Registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers and lives in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia.

Chloe lives and works with gratitude on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish, Lewungen, Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. Chloe would like to acknowledge and recognize the importance of these homelands and the stewardship of the Indigenous peoples; whose footsteps have marked this land for centuries.

Teri has worked for over twenty years in the field of child and youth care (CYC), primarily with adolescents, as a front-line worker, program administrator and community development worker in the non-profit sector and in municipal government. For the past ten years Teri has been a faculty member with the Child and Youth Care program at Vancouver Island University.  Teri is a member of the Child and Youth Care Education Consortium of British Columbia and honoured to be involved in the development of FICE Canada.  

Teri acknowledges the Snuneymuxw First Nation, whose unceded land she is grateful to live, learn and teach on.  It is an honour to live on this land and her intention is to do so with humility and respect. 

Larisa is currently a faculty member in the Child and Youth Care program at Douglas College. Her areas of instruction include relationship-building skills, group facilitation/leadership, global perspectives in CYC practice, and adolescent development. She has over 25 years experience working with and advocating for young people and their families. Larisa has worked in a variety of settings in Canada and Australia, including community outreach, child protection, youth justice, youth mental health, and program development/evaluation.

Larisa respectfully acknowledges that she works, lives, and plays on the unceded traditional and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and qiqéyt (Qayqayt) First Nations.

Kelly is a faculty member in the School of Health and Human Services at the Nova Scotia Community College facilitating in the Child and Youth Care diploma.  She is a teacher, a learner, and a scholar. 

Kelly would like to acknowledge that she is grateful to work, live and learn in Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) people first signed with the British Crown in 1725.  And in Nunatsiavut part of Inuit Nunangat.  Inuit Nunangat is a Canadian Inuktitut Term that includes the land, water, and ice.  She identifies as a Kallunât descendant from colonial invaders to Mi'kma'ki.