Bev Peel is presently on an interchange with First Nations and Inuit Health Branch - Saskatchewan Region where she has assumed the role of Team Leader, Children’s Programs.   Prior to her eight years with FSIN Bev worked with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council on the development of their First Nations Child Care Program both as an instructor and as a policy writer. She was board member of the Saskatchewan Early Child Care Association through the 1990's and is presently a member of the Canadian Childcare Federation.  In 2002 she was awarded the National Childcare Award of Excellence for her contributions to childcare in Canada. 

Sheila Kay-Machiskinic is from the Kawakatoose First Nation and is the daughter of Warren and Rose Kay. Sheila is the Child Care Coordinator for the Touchwood Agency Tribal Council where she is responsible for the Daycare and Headstart programs. She has successfully coordinated/pioneered the development of the Touchwood Agency Tribal Council Child Care Policies and Regulations which led to the licensing of 5 daycares in the TATC communities. Sheila has been working at TATC in Health programming, is a certified Community Health Representative, a licensed First Aid Instructor and is a member of the Saskatchewan First Nations Early Childhood Circle.

Elder Alma Kytwayhat is from the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in Treaty 6 near Loon Lake, Saskatchewan. Kytwayhat is phonetically pronounced Kite/way/hat.  Elder Alma Kytwayhat has done extensive work with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and is currently the in-house Elder at the Office of the Treaty Commissioner. She has spoken nationally and internationally. She has extensive knowledge about the women’s role in the Cree culture and traditional healing remedies. Elder Alma Kytwayhat’s goal is to foster personal development according to the medicine wheel and use the drum and song as a way of healing and to bring all people together. Through her position of leadership (elected to council on her reserv, she feels that this experience has taught her about the sharing that is necessary in communities. She has always been taught to respect and honour the treaties and to believe in the sacred nature.

Panel- The First Nations Early Childhood Circle-representing every Tribal Council and every Independent First Nation in

Saskatchewan.

Jane Beach was principal researcher for the Child Care Human Resources Sector Council Labour Market Update and worked on childcare in several governments.

Martha Friendly developed and is Coordinator of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, University of Toronto. In 2003, they were authors of the Canada Background Report for the OECD Thematic Review of ECEC.

Dr. Lyn Shulha is a Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group, Queen’s University, Faculty of Education. She teaches and does research in program evaluation and teachers’ classroom assessment practices. Lyn has been a high school teacher in Ontario and a stay- at-home Mom.

Dr. Don Klinger is a Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group, Queen’s University, Faculty of Education. He teaches and does research in large-scale and classroom assessment. Don has been a high-school science teacher and District Coordinator of Assessment and Evaluation in Langley, British Columbia.

Cheryl Poth is a doctoral student with the Assessment and Evaluation Group, Queen’s University, Faculty of Education. She has been an international school science teacher in Ecuador and with Class Afloat. She has also taught in the Ontario public school system and worked voluntarily with young children in Uganda and Guyana.

Anne Maxwell is a Senior Director of Projects, Programs and services at the Canadian Child Care Federation and was a

coordinator in the development of the Alberta Child Care Accreditation Program – the first province-wide accreditation system in

Canada.

Sandra Beckman is Executive Director of the newly incorporated Alberta Association for the Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services. Formerly a college ECD instructor, Beckman has responsibility for the implementation of the Alberta Child Care Accreditation Program

Carol Gott is an ECE from Feversham, Ontario having worked more than 20 years in the profession. Carol built the first rural

integrated hub model of child care called Southeast Grey Community Outreach (SEGCO). Some of her national work has

included Lessons Learned…..Roads Traveled, Rural Voices and now the Integrated Hub Model. Carol strongly advocated for

public policy development that responds to the service needs of rural communities.

The licensing of child care facilities has been an interest of E. Elaine Ferguson, M.Ed. over her career in child care that spans 34 years. Her work with the Provincial/Territorial Directors of ELCC includes development of Licensing professionals’ job descriptions, training, and consultation with licensees.

Lois Saunders, ECE,C is a 1975 graduate of the ECE program at Sheridan College, currently employed by Affiliated Services for Children and Youth as Healthy Child Care Environment Coordinator. Lois is a member of the team of authors that developed and introduced “Raising the Bar on Quality”, a community standards program for licensed, centre-based ECE programs in Hamilton.

Debbie Jones, ECE,C has over twenty-five years as an Early Childhood Educator in various settings, working with children 0 – 12 years. Currently Debbie holds two positions with kids LINK-Preschool Support Services in Waterloo Region; Resource Consultant and Coordination of the community quality accreditation initiative, “Raising the Bar On Quality”.

Dr. Ingrid Crowther has earned her Doctor of Education in Early Childhood and the Middle years. Her background includes teaching in early childhood, elementary school, university and college programs. She has published articles in a variety of journals and has completed four textbooks – the first Canadian edition of Infants and Toddlers, Creating Effective Learning Environments (released in the USA and translated into German), safe and healthy children’s environments and Introduction to Early Childhood Education: a Canadian Perspective. Dr. Crowther is currently adjunct professor at Athabasca University.

Madalena Coutinho has been working in the field of early childhood education since 1983. She was the Executive Director to Child Care Services for the YMCA for 10 years and has been the Executive Director of CPE Le Jardin des Rêves for the last 20 years. Mrs. Coutinho is a certified trainer in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the 4 Roles of Leadership from the Franklin Covey Institute.

Dr. Gordon Cleveland, Associate Chair (Economics), Division of Management, University of Toronto at Scarborough. Gordon

Cleveland has dedicated his research career as an economist to analyzing the economics of early childhood education. With co

authors, he has written about the costs and benefits of child care services, the financing of child care systems in OECD countries,and the determinants of wages of child care workers.

Linda Hart, B.E.C.E. - Teacher-Preceptor RELC. Linda has worked at Ryerson for over 16 years and is presently working with infants and toddlers in the program.

Sally Kotsopoulos B.E.C.E. - Manager-Ryerson Early Learning Centre. Sally has 25 years of experience in the early childhood profession in the greater Toronto area.

Anthony Randall ECE & AOCAD-Teacher Preceptor-RELC. Anthony joined the Ryerson staff in January 2004.  He is presently teaching in the kindergarten program.

Nathalie Bigras has worked in early childhood education for 19 years. She has been an educator and manager in a child care centre and an ECE instructor in early childhood in a college.  She received a doctoral degree in psychology specializing in the study of infants in child care at the University of Quebec. Her current research is focused on the impact of the child care environment on the development of children. She is one of the co-authors of Grandir en Qualité 2003.

Louise Bourgon is an ECE teacher at College Edouard-Montpetit since 1986 and has been working in the field since 1978.  She represented the labour unions in Quebec during the sector study and later on the Round Table.  She has translated French books of reference on Quebec’s program for infants and toddlers and preschoolers.  During the Grandir en Qualite Project, She was co-author of the 3 scales of observation of quality created for the survey.  She has trained and coached the observers for this survey and participated in the final report.

Gina Gasparini has been in the Early Childhood Education field for 19 years, 7 years as a teacher and 12 as a director.  She

has been running the St. Mary’s Child Care Centre, a hospital workplace daycare in Montreal with two centres, for six years.  Gina is President of the Regroupment des Centres de la Petite Enfance de I’lle de Montreal as well as the Board and Member

Council for the Canadian Child Care Federation.  Gina has been involved in numerous working committees at various levels in the field.

TBA

Sandra Beckman is the first Executive Director of the Alberta Association for the Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services. Previously, she worked as an instructor and coordinator of the Early Childhood Development Program at Yukon College and the owner/operator of a day care centre in Whitehorse. Sandra served as President of the Canadian Child Care Federation has been a member of Child Care Human Resources Round Table (now Sector Council). Sandra has a diploma in Early Childhood Services, a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Science in Early Childhood Administration.

Wendy Yewman is the Senior Manager of Early Childhood Resources in the Service Quality Division of Alberta Children’s Services. Wendy has been the Ministry lead on the accreditation initiative since February 2004. Prior to that, she was the manager of child care services in Edmonton. Wendy began her career in child care as the director of a family child care agency in Edmonton, where she participated actively in a number of voluntary provincial organizations supporting the child care sector in Alberta. Wendy has a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Waterloo.

Sue Delanoy: Coordinator Saskatoon Communities for children and Project Coordinator for the Saskatoon Site of the National

Understanding the Early Years Project and Saskatchewan representative of the CCAAC.

Jon Ellis: Coordinator of SuccessBy6® Saskatoon and Assistant to the Saskatoon Site of the National Understanding the Early Years Project.

Gyda Chud is vice-chair of the sector council and director of the Centre for Professional and Continuing Studies at Vancouver Community College (VC. She has more than 30 years experience in child care, both professionally and as a member of several provincial and national early childhood education and care organizations. Gyda was the founding chair of the Child Care Human Resources Steering Committee to the sector study, as well as of the Child Care Human Resources Round Table, the predecessor to the sector council.

Raymonde Leblanc is a research officer with the CSN. She is a member of the confederation’s child care working group and national women’s committee. She is also responsible for the union’s private sector pay equity file. Raymonde was previously the CSN’s representative on the Round Table.

Jane Beach is a child care research and policy consultant in Victoria, British Columbia and was the principal researcher for the

Child Care Human Resources Sector Council Labour Market Update. She is involved in pan-Canadian child care studies, including Quality by Design, with the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) at the University of Toronto and The Integrated Hub Model with the Childcare Family Access Network (C- FAN). She was part of the research team that prepared the Canada Background Report for the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care.

Monica Lysack has worked in the field of early childhood education as a front-line ECE, child care centre director, ECE instructor, inclusion coordinator, consultant, policy maker and researcher.

Judy Varga-Toth, MA holds a Masters from Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, France. She has worked in the not  

for profit area for the past 10 years. At Family Service Canada, she is responsible for national development work on the F&ST   Programme including promotions and sersource development to sustain this innovative program across Canada.

Betty Lepps, E.C.E., R.S.W. has been involved with the F&ST Program since it began in Canada in 1996. She is a certified trainer and has both lead and trained numerous teams across Canada. Her background in early childhood education and years of delivering the F&ST program gives her an in-depth knowledge of the needs and challenges of early childhood development.

Serge Saulnier has worked as a physical educator with preschoolers in a daycare setting for over 10 years. He adapts his   

program to accommodate the themes used by the school system. He offers the three and four year-olds the opportunity to be physically active and encourages them to carry on this interest into the future.

Darcy Dachyshyn is a PhD student in Early Childhood Education at the University of Alberta. Her interest is in exploring the 

strategies refugee parents use to mediate their preschool children’s learning. She is also involved in refugee and immigrant     settlement work through Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.

Maureen Girvan has instructed in Early Childhood Development at Red Deer College (Albert, and before that at Keyano

College (Albert for a total of 21 years. She teaches courses in early childhood curriculum and instruction and her special area of expertise is art education. Her early experience includes teaching in the public school system, and serving as director at two different child care centers

Dr. Bengt-Erik Andersson (see keynote addresses)

Susanne Burhardt is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnic University’s School of Environmental Study and has a Masters

degree in Health Promotion and Disease Protection from Colombia University.  Susanne has worked with the Environmental Health Promotion of the South Riverdale Community Health Centre and currently works as a Children’s Environmental Health Policy Analyst jointly with the Canadian Partnership on Child Health and the Environment (CPCH and the OPHA.  She is co-author of the CPCHE Primer on Children’s Health and the Environment.

Jill McDowell:  Jill joined Toronto Public Health in August 2000 as a Health Promotion Consultant in the Environmental Protection Office (EPO).  She is currently managing the department’s social marketing campaign entitled 20/20 The Way to Clean

Air, which aims to encourage residents to reduce energy and vehicle use to help improve air quality in the Greater Toronto Area.  She is also involved in the EPO’s sub-program on children’s environmental health with respect to education and community outreach. Prior to joining Toronto Public Health, Jill worked for Pollution Probe for five years. She started at Probe as the Co-ordinator of its annual Clean Air Campaign and then moved into co-ordinating its Child Health Programme.  Jill was instrumental in developing and launching Pollution Probe’s Healthy Schools Project on indoor air quality and children’s health.  Jill has degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Karen Blysak Macklon, a mother of five children has been a family day home provider for almost 20 years. Karen is the Canadian Child Care Federation member council representative for The Society of Yukon Family Day Homes. Karen is actively involved in the childcare field in the Yukon and enjoys the practical side of providing child care in a fun and creative environment.

Dixie Lee Mitchell’s involvement with inclusion and quality grew from her years as Director of the Preschool Centre in 

Fredericton and later with the professional relationship built with the New Brunswick Association for Community Living (NBACL). In   2002, Dixie coordinated the “Keeping the Door Open” Project for NBACL which researched the capacity of centre staff to include all children in their programs through effecting quality changes in their environments. Currently, Dixie is coordinating the NB provincial project “Opening the Door to Quality Childcare and Development – Phase Two”.

Dr. Sharon Hope Irwin is director of SpeciaLink. She left the fully inclusive child care centre that she pioneered in order to 

promote high quality, fully inclusive, accessible child care across Canada. Her passion for fully inclusive child care grew as she watched families struggle to maintain their own employment while parenting children with special needs.

Jennifer Sinclair is the Policy Research Coordinator for the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS). In this

capacity she is also the Co-Coordinator of the Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Network and Clearinghouse. Jennifer brings with her a diversity of experience with Aboriginal child development. From her early days as a home day-care provider to her role at the Assembly of First Nations as a policy officer in Social Development Jennifer’s goal is to strengthen Aboriginal families.

E. Elaine Ferguson, M.Ed., Child Care Connection Nova Scotia, Halifax, and Tammy McCormick Ferguson, B.A., Early

Childhood Community Development Centre, Niagara Region are executive directors of community based development   organizations dedicated to improving the quality of child care. They share an interest and expertise in governance and its effect on the quality of programs.

Margie Mayfield teaches graduate level courses in early childhood education and research in the Faculty of Education at the

University of Victoria. She has long been interested in quality programs for children and families that foster play. This research

was done with four doctoral students and funding from HELP.

Lois Saunders, ECE,C. is a 1975 graduate of the ECE program at Sheridan College, certified by the Association for Early

Childhood Educators of Ontario (A.E.C.E.O.). She is currently the Healthy Child Care Environment Coordinator at ASCY, Affiliated Services for Children and Youth. Lois is a member of the team of authors that developed and introduced “Raising the Bar on Quality”, a community standards program for licensed, centre-based ECE programs in Hamilton. Other aspects of her role include consulting to child care programs and delivering professional development training to those who work in the field of Early Childhood Education.

Dr. Jean Clinton Assistant Clinical Professor Dept. Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience McMaster, Associate Department Family Medicine, McMaster, Associate Dept. Child Psychiatry, U of Toronto; Chairs Voices for Children, Hamilton; Chair-Child Care Advisory; Chair-Hamilton Early Learning Partnership-Best Practice Evaluation Committee; Board Member- Fraser Mustard Council for Early Childhood Development; Greatest Accomplishment-Mother of 5 GREAT Kids!

Dr. Maria Ciampini has worked with many levels of adult learners including students enrolled in Ryerson University’s Early  

Childhood Education (EC program in both day and evening classes; in the York/Seneca joint program; and in Seneca’s ECE, ECA (assistant) and Apprenticeship program, and in the ECE program at George Brown College. Maria spent ten years in the role of the Director of the ECE Lab School at Seneca College and played an instrumental role in the development of the Lab’s School permanent site and program at the Newnham Campus of the college. Prior to teaching adult students she acquired a background of extensive experience in a variety of children’s programs in the role of supervisor and early childhood educator.

Nathalie Bigras

Louise Bougon (see session B1)

Beverlie Dietze has a passion for the power and importance of outdoor play and how it relates to quality programming. She has    conducted many teaching and learning workshops on the importance of outdoor play for young children. She has been a co- researcher and author of several articles related to outdoor play. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of Toronto.

Sylvie Charron Il n’est pas facile et d’animer des activité éducatives pour un groupe d’enfants d’âges varies. Cet atelier permettra aux participants de se ressourcer sur les différentes methods et approaches pour travailler svec un groupe hétérogènes.  Les participantes et les participants recevront une banque d’activitès

Adèle David is the coordinator of special projects for Early Childhood with the Commission nationale des parents francophones.  She holds a degree in Education (preschool and primary school) and has received training in violence prevention.  She has more than 15 years of community experience in Early Childhood, teaching and project management.

Mrs. Rose-Marie Duguay received a Bachelors Degree in Arts and a Bachelors Degree in Education from Université de Moncton, as well as a Masters Degree in Education (honors in re-education) from Maine University in the United States and a Ph. D. in Education from l’Université de Montréal.

During her career, she has by turn been a teacher, an Elementary School Principal, a Provincial Councillor and a Supervisor of the New Brunswick Department of Education Preschool program.  In 1974, she co-chaired a New Brunswick Review Commission on public grade primary.  She also worked in early intervention and re-education with children in French immersion at the elementary level.

Associate Professor at Université de Moncton since 1993, Mrs. Duguay has instructed in preschool education, in the didactics of reading and writing within the Department of Elementary Teaching and in educational psychology.  She has published numerous articles in the area  of  children’s literature, family literacy, language development among young francophone children and teaching staff members who choose to work among young children.  She has also produced activity booklets on children’s literature for children aged four to seven.  Mrs. Duguay spearheaded a series of studies titled Comprendre la petite enfance within Francophone communities of New Brunswick and, in addition, is currently involved with an international study on exemplary practices in children’s literature, with collaborators from France, Québec, Brazil and Haïti.  Mrs. Duguay is a founding member of the Université de Moncton’s Research Group on early childhood, located within the Faculty of Education Sciences.

Dr. Thelma Harms (see keynote addresses)

Linda Skinner is a Child Care Consultant specializing in the facilitation of management groups through planning and goal setting processes. Linda has worked in the home child care field for over twenty years. Linda managed a large municipal home child care program in the province of Ontario for fifteen years.

Eveline Garand, Debbie Parrish and Gerri Thompson are instructors in Manitoba colleges, College universitaire de St. Boniface, Red River College and Assiniboine Community College, respectively. All have come from the field of ECE and have taught, collectively, for over 30 years.

Peter Ashmore Coordinator, Creston Valley First Steps Infant Toddler Centre, Creston, BC

Dr. Carol Crill Russell BA, MS, MSW, PhD provides leadership to all major research and evaluation initiatives and ensures that all Invest in Kids’ initiatives are based on a sound scientific or evidence-based foundation.  Dr. Crill Russell is a member of

the Core Research Team for Ontario’s Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project, and the National Centre of Excellence on Early Child Development Directing Council, the Expert Advisory Group for Evaluation Ontario’s Healthy Babies, Healthy Children   program and the expert Advisory Group for The Lawson Foundation’s TLC3 Project.

Dr. Chaya Kulkarni BAA, M.Ed, Ed.D. leads the development and implementation of curricula and materials to support professionals working with families of young children. She began her career as Executive director of the Downsview Child Care Center, a licensed centre serving fifty families. Dr. Kulkarni has lectured with Ryerson University and the Canadian Mothercraft Society. Dr. Kulkarni is a member of the Board of Directors for Nobody’s Perfect Ontario Branch and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Canadian Child Care Federation Review of Literature on Brain Development.

Bernice Puritch BSW/RSW. Bernice has worked in the human service field, primarily in community development for more than 25 years. Bernice provides leadership in the implementation of key human service department strategies (includes Early Childhood Development, SchoolPLUS, Population Health Promotion) and the ongoing development and support of working relationships, collaboration and partnerships across human service sectors and the community. Bernice has been a leader in the building of capacity in the Southeast Region of Saskatchewan

Joanne Renas has been a licensed day home provider in Saskatoon for 19 years, the last four operating a group home with her husband, Les. She is credited with spearheading and facilitating the Early Learning Canada Project. She has two children  

who grew up in day care.

Olie Lee has been a day home provider in Saskatoon for 26 years, currently specializing in special needs children. She is   

facilitating the Family Child Care Training Project. She is the Saskatchewan Member Council Representative. She is married to

Ralph and has two children who grew up in day care.

Carol Olson, B.S.W., M.Ad.Ed., has been involved in early learning and care for over 25 years, starting as an early childhood

educator, then continuing as a coordinator, consultant, and manager throughout many areas of Saskatchewan. She is actively involved with Saskatchewan’s Early Learning and Care Working Group.

Barbara Young During her 34 years of experience Dr. Young has been a teacher, principal, superintendent and director. Barbara was the Director of Policy, Planning and Research for Saskatchewan Education during the development and consultation phases of Directions, the blueprint for educational change in Saskatchewan. She was co-chair of the Regina Public Schools longitudinal study examining pre-kindergarten programs, received the Saskatchewan Council on Educational Administration Excellence Award and has been awarded the Mayor’s Volunteer Award in the Arts.

Brian Malley Mr. Malley has 35 years of experience in schools in Regina and the Department of National Defence in Europe. Brian has taught students from grade 3 to grade 13, and been a high school guidance counselor, in-school administrator, assistant superintendent and superintendent. He was chair of several studies initiated by Regina Public Schools, and was co-chair of the Regina Public Schools longitudinal study examining pre-kindergarten programs. He has served as a lecturer at the University of Regina for the past three years, and works as a consultant and mediator.

Sharon Yuzdepski is a former classroom teacher, special education teacher and in school administrator.  Prior to her present position with Saskatchewan Learning as Assistant Director, Special Education Unit, she worked for Saskatchewan Learning as a Regional Superintendent of Children’s Services as well as Acting Regional Director for Southwest Saskatchewan.  Sharon is the mother of four children.

Beverlie Dietz has designed and delivered a variety of college early childhood education courses nationally and internationally. She has co-authored several articles on program books for outdoor play, aesthetics and experience centres.  She is currently

finishing her PhD at the University of Toronto.

The founder of Expression, Angela Roy designed the rhythmic art program based on her years of experience as a performing

artist and early childhood educator. She is a percussionist-drummer, dancer and choreographer. Angela has studied West African Drum and Dance for over seven years. She’s performed with the Okanogan based drum & percussion ensemble “Gamalie” for seven years and also performs with her Dance Co Images throughout BC. Angela has worked in the child development field for over 12 years, as a French preschool teacher, college instructor, Center Supervisor and ECE research consultant.

E. Elaine Ferguson M.Ed., Child Care Connection Nova Scotia, Halifax, and Tammy McCormick Ferguson, BA, Early

Childhood Development Centre, Niagara Region are executive directors of community based development organizations dedicated to improving the quality of child care.

Provincial and Territorial Directors of Early Learning and Child Care-panel

Kim Hanna is an Early Educator III with a BA majoring in Developmental studies from the University of Winnipeg. She has been an instructor at Red River College in the Early Childhood Program for 15 years teaching in the Day Program, Prior Learning

Assessment and Recognition Program, and is currently instructing in the ECE Workplace Diploma Program.

Kevin MacKenzie has been a professional Canadian storyteller for over six years. He has appeared at such events as the Vancouver Children’s Festival and at storytelling festivals. He graduated from Langara College with a certificate in Early

Childhood Education and has taught early childhood educators the art of storytelling. Kevin has created and produced a videocassette and CD-ROM of original fingerplays, called “Fingersplay” (which won the “Our Choice Award’ from the Canadian Children’s Book Centr. This material is intended for professionals and families to use with young children. He also founded

“Books for Kids”, the BC charity which is devoted to gathering donations of used children’s books and giving them to children who would otherwise not have exposure to print materials.

Linda Skinner, Child Care Consultant, Member Council CCCF. Linda is an active member of the Elora Partnership, the Steering 

Committee for the Accreditation project. Linda has worked in the home childcare field for over twenty years. Linda managed a large municipal home childcare program in the Province of Ontario for fifteen years. Linda is an active member of the Home Child Care Association of Ontario, the Community Advisory Committee of CAPC in Waterloo Region. Linda represents the HCCAO on the Member Council of the Canadian Child Care Federation.

April Kalyniuk is the Director at Carter Day Care Centre Inc and a current member of the CCCF Board of Directors. April has been active in the ECE field locally-most recently, Past-President of the MCCA completed May 2004. April is an Ethics guide and

has been in the field for 26 years.

Marc Battle is an Early Childhood Education Instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg. He is a board member of the Manitoba Child Care Association and Community Living Winnipeg. He likes to balance his class teaching with field work in child care centres.

Twyla Mensch, Instructor in the Early Childhood Department, Faculty of Education, University of Regina and an experienced early childhood teacher.

Beth Warkentin, Instructor in the Early Childhood Department, Faculty of Education, University of Regina and an experienced

early childhood teacher. 

Nicole Kaduhr, Early Childhood teacher in Melville, Saskatchewan. She is a graduate from the Early Childhood Program,

Faculty of Education, University of Regina.

Lisa Boucher, recent graduate from the Early Childhood Program, Faculty of Education, University of Regina.

Angela Flottorp, recent graduate from the Early Childhood Program, Faculty of Education, University of Regina.

Tammy Martin is a Project Coordinator for the CCCF. Tammy has worked as an Early Childhood Educator in Winnipeg,  Saskatoon, Ottawa and Philadelphia.

Anne Maxwell, Senior Director of Projects, Programs and Services for the CCCF, managed the project that included the   

development of the occupational standards for child care practitioner.

Carol Beaulieu is an Anishinaabe woman, wife, mother and grandmother. Ms. Beaulieu’s area of experience is in Aboriginal culture and language. She is the Executive Director for Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba Inc in Winnipeg.

Jamie Koshyk is a faculty member of the Early Childhood Education program at Red River College. Jamie is the executive

producer of several early childhood education video series including Let Babies Be Babies; Our Children, Our Ways; Early Childhood Education in First Nations & Inuit Communities; as well as the Family Resource Program series.

Dr. Lilian Corra (see keynote addresses)

Doris Wesaquate, AHS Program Consultant, Marilyn Turnley, CPNP Program Consultant, Lorie Brennand, CAPC Program 

Consultant, Liz Dorion, FASD Program Consultant. Collectively the four Program Consultants have given 35 years of support to the Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada Children’s Programs. They serve as advisors for the numerous project sites spread throughout Saskatchewan and have honed their skills in working with vulnerable populations. The primary focus in all areas is on empowering the children, parents, and caregivers involved with the programs.

Alan Mirabelli joined the Vanier Institute in 1975 and is now Executive Director of Administration, Communications and Information.  He is former president of the Alliance for Children and Television and former co-chair of the Media Awareness

Network.  Mr. Mirabelli studied communications at Loyola College and Fairfield University, receiving his MA in 1970.  Before joining the Institute, he worked as a radio and film producer and as an assistant professor at Concordia University in Montreal.

Kim Hanna-see Seminar E #1

Kevin McKenzie-see Seminar E #2

Gillian Doherty has worked as a clinical psychologist, government policy analyst and university instructor in child development.  

She was Project Director for the You Bet I care! Studies which identified predictors of quality in centre- and family-based child care and the Principal Investigator for both the CCCF Partners in Quality and its Training for Quality ECEC projects.

Peter Ashmore is an educator at the Creston Valley First Steps Infant Toddler Centre. He has a special interest in the design of

play equipment and child care environments. He enjoys using his very modest carpentry skills to make simple things that children use in complex ways.

Michelle Escarnot has 11 years experience and manages Primary Day Care, Saskatchewan’s only municipal child care program in Vibank.

Deb Fletcher is manager of Alleykatz Early Learning Centre in Eastend, a 17 space multi-age program that combines child care pottery and a cappuccino bar.

Patty Brotzell-Close has 25 years experience in working with children and families. She manages the Playcare Children’s

Services, a 30 space program in Kindersley.

Adeline Reihl is a family day care provider on acreage near Grandora. Her program involves children of all ages and she has been licensed for 2 years.

Jane Wilson (moderator) has more than 25 years experience in the provision of child care. She advocates for farm safety and  the inclusion of rural children and families in all improvements to early learning and child care.

MaryAnn Farebrother has been involved in the Early Childhood Field for over 25 years and has had extensive experience with child care program staff. Currently MaryAnn is a consultant for the Supported Child Care Program with Calgary and Area Child and Family Services.

Liz Simmons is an independent Early Childhood Consultant who has been involved in the early childhood field for thirty years.

She currently contracts with Calgary and Area Child and Family Services as a consultant to the Support Child Care Program.

Olie Lee & Joanne Renas (see D7)

Janice Greenberg, BSc, DSP, is Program Manager for the Learning Language and Loving It Program at the Hanen Centre.  A co-author of the guidebook, Learning Language and Loving It (Weitzman and Greenberg, 2002), Janice is an experienced leader of Hanen Programs, who lectures widely on the Hanen approach.  Janice has over 25 years of clinical experience working with preschoolers with language disorders and their families and educators.  She has also been actively involved in evaluating the impact of Hanen Programs and is the co-author of several research studies

Mavis L. Olesen, PhD. In Early Childhood Education/Curriculum and Instruction. Author, Educator, Parent of an Adult with FASD   and Lifetime Member of STF/Early Childhood Education Council.  Current Publications in Journal of Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education (2004), in the North American Council on Adoptable Children (2004) publication and see review of Living in Limbo: Families Journeying Toward Understanding (2003) on Motherisk website (2004).

Christa Japel is a professor in Education at the Université du Québec à Montréal. As a member of the research team leading the

Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Québec, she has been in charge of the evaluation of child care settings attended by the study’s cohort from age 2 ½ to 5.