Board of Directors

Cat Baron

President

Cat is a graduate of Carleton University and of Algonquin College.  Cat has worked with youth and women, in group homes and shelters, and has been a foster parent through the Children’s Aid Society.  She has also worked as coordinator of Canada’s largest HIV/AIDS information service, and is now a full-time professor at Algonquin College. Cat maintains her connection to the community through volunteering (in past as a campaign coordinator for United Way, as an actor with the educational theatre troupe at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, as the chair of an inter-provincial committee for World AIDS Day, as a board member of a provincial organization called Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network, by facilitating the 24 Hours of Homelessness initiative), and is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa and the founding chair of the Community Adult Justice Network of Ottawa.

Diana Majury

Vice President

Diana is a professor in the Law Department at Carleton University. Her areas of research, teaching and activism include human rights, equality theory and practice, criminal law, violence against women and women’s health. She has worked extensively with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)and with the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) since they began. She is formerly a member of the Women’s Court of Canada and a member of the Content Advisory Committee for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Angela Peterson

Treasurer

Angela is a graduate of the Correctional Worker Program at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario.  She has worked as a front-line worker in many capacities, including as a counselor in a youth open custody facility, as a street outreach worker, and is currently a program coordinator for the Salvation Army Community Service Order Program.  Angela has taken part in many training opportunities such as gang behaviour, police and community partnership building, pre-charge diversion strategies, case management and risk/needs analysis. 

Maryse Lepage

Secretary

Maryse is Leadership Integration Partner at MD Physician Services where she is responsible for the effective operation of the executive team through facilitation, coaching and change management. She comes to the Board with over 10 years of management experience in information technology and financial services. Maryse supports women's rights and social justice causes and she is honoured to be able to deepen her commitment by joining the Board of Directors.

Bryonie Baxter

Executive Director

Bryonie graduated from The University of Toronto in 1988 with a B.A. Specialist in English and Minor in Political Science. The following year she obtained her B.Ed. in Intermediate/Senior English and History. For twenty years she worked as an educator in five different schools with the Peel District School Board, including positions as Vice-Principal, Secondary for two schools and I.B. Coordinator in one high school. During this time she completed Honours Specialists in English and Contemporary Studies as well as Primary Division certification and Ontario Principals’ Council Principals’ Qualifications parts 1 and 2. She co-authored The Future We Want: Building Inclusive Schools and is also the author of a number of teaching articles, including Shakespearean Gender Bending for the OSSTF Curriculum pullout in The Forum magazine. Bryonie moved to the Ottawa area in March 2008 and began working for The Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa in July 2008. As well as being Executive Director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa, she is also a Federal Advocate for the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and Vice-President of the Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario. In April 2010 Bryonie was the proud recipient of a Province of Ontario Leading Women, Building Communities Award recognizing her “exceptional community leadership to improve the lives of women and girls in Ontario”. Bryonie also sits on the East Region Director's Resource Committee of the Office of the Independent Police Review Directorate.

 

Tracy Engelking

Tracy graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Bar in 1992. She entered into private practice in Family Law, and predominately represented parents in Child and Family Services Act matters for a period of six years. In 1998, Tracy joined the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa as in-house counsel, and in October of 2000 became its Senior Legal Counsel. In addition to being active on several local committees, including the Family Law Bench and Bar Committee, the CFSA Subcommittee of the Bench and Bar, the Community Resource and Liaison Committee and the FLIC Committee, Tracy is a member of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies’ Child Welfare Policy and Legislation Committee, the Federal Committee Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth, and the past Chair of the Provincial Senior Counsel Networking Group. She is one of the leads for the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa in the development of ADR options in child protection, and is the current Chair of the Society’s Inuit, Métis and First Nations Liaison Group.

Harmony MacLellan

 

Yolande Modeira

 

 

Carmen GervaisCarmen is the Senior Advisor for the Canada Research Chairs secretariat, which delivers three premier programs in the support of research excellence. She is a graduate of Carleton University (B. Sc.) and Queen’s University (Ph.D.) and has held various positions in academia and government. Carmen has been with the Canada Research Chairs program since 2006 as a manager of operations and in policy development. In this capacity she has overseen the development a systematic series of interventions that has resulted in significant growth in the representation of women supported by the program. As the Equity Officer for the program, she has led the review and modification of the program design to prevent barriers to the participation of designated groups. Carmen has significant experience in project management, program design and performance measurement. Carmen volunteers with the Lutheran Urban Mission in Vancouver, the St. Joe’s Supper Table in Ottawa, the Food Bank in Ottawa and is an event organizer with the United Way.

 

Martha Troian

Martha is completing her Master of Journalism degree at Carleton University. A graduate teaching assistant at Carleton, she is also a freelance journalist withmediaindigena.com, an online magazine for indigenous peoples issues, featuring contributions by journalists, academics and writers. She also writes for Indian Country Today, an American-based media outlet. She has worked at CBC News (Whitehorse) and APTN National News (Winnipeg). Before entering journalism, she worked at an urban Aboriginal high school with an all-girls program that dealt specifically with at-risk students. Her areas of interest include; missing and murdered Aboriginal women, education, health, maternal health, human rights, profile or success stories and investigative pieces. She is also interested in mainstream media representation of Aboriginal peoples.

Currently, she is working on a documentary for her Masters. Martha looks forward to contributing to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa. She is honoured to be on the Board of Directors for an agency dedicated to helping women during challenging times.

Samantha Burton Samantha is Acting Supervisory Duty Counsel at the Criminal Duty Counsel Office in the Ottawa Courthouse. In 2004, Samantha graduated from Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island, USA. She was called to the Massachusetts Bar in 2004 and to the Ontario Bar in 2009. Ms. Burton has worked for Legal Aid Ontario for nearly six years, providing legal advice and representation to low-income accused who appear in the criminal courts without a lawyer. In addition to her work as Duty Counsel, Samantha sits on the local Criminal Bench and Bar Committee, the Bail Court Committee and the Drug Treatment Court Team.