Danielle Alphonse
(B.A. Cand.)

Danielle Alphonse describes herself as a Cowichan woman who is a positive role model and advocate for First Nations children. Danielle is on the project team that is conducting a scan of screening and assessment practice experiences in First Nations early childhood programs in B.C. She is currently working towards her B.A. in Child and Youth Care and the University of Victoria, with the goal of enhancing and broadening her ability to be of service to First Nations children and communities. Over the past four years, she has been working for First Nations Education in School District # 61, where she has been teaching First Nations cultural awareness through art, legends, and crafts with kindergarten and high school students. Finding this work experience fulfilling, she has been inspired to pursue (concurrently!) an Early Childhood Education diploma through Malaspina University College. She will soon be completing the requirements for her Post-Basic Certifications in Caring for Infants and Toddlers and Caring for Children with Special Needs.

Enid Elliot
(Ph.D. Early Childhood Education)

Enid is a post-doctoral research scholar on a HELP funded project to develop a usable tools for measuring changes in social support for parents when their children attend early childhood programs. She completed her doctorate in ECE at UVic in 2001. Her particular interest is in babies, their families, other caregivers, and attachments.

Enid has written about the work of infant/toddler caregivers and the continuum from theory to practice. She has also written curriculum for the First Nations Partnership Programs (www.fnpp.org).

Ron George
(M.A. Cand., Ed. Leadership, UVic)

Ron is an Aboriginal Advisor on the Indigenous Fathers project. He was born in Smithers, B.C. and is a Hereditary Chief of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. After working in the logging industry, where he became a shop steward in his union, and in the building trades, where he was a glazier, Ron became involved in Native politics. In 1970, he was a Board member of the B.C. Association of Non-Status Indians, and then he was founding Vice-President of its successor, the United Native Nations, from 1976 to 1978. He was President of UNN from 1985 to 1991. In 1991, he was elected National President of the Native Council of Canada, which represents the majority of Aboriginal peoples in Canada – those who do not live on reserves. Ron has been involved in every aspect of the struggle for justice by Aboriginal peoples in Canada. He has been instrumental in the development of Aboriginal-run community services in B.C. in areas of housing, child welfare, youth employment, economic development, and justice. A central theme of Ron’s work has been the need for healing at both the individual and political level in Canadian society. Ron is currently pursuing his B.S.W. at the University of Victoria.

Pauline Janyst
(M.A. Leadership)

Pauline recently completed her Master of Arts in Leadership & training at Royal Roads University. She lives in Victoria and comes from the Da'naxda'xw First Nation. Pauline comes from a business background having owned and operated a retail clothing store. Pauline has been involved locally, provincially and nationally with healing & funding initiatives since 1991. She held contracts with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation. She co-developed a non-profit society which addressed healing initiatives for First Nations in Campbell River. Pauline is an adult child of Indian Residential Schools and is very aware of the issues faced in our communities.

Marlene Lewis
(B.A. Psychology, M.A. Communication Disorders)

Marlene is Co-Investigator on the project: Supporting Language Development of First Nations children. Marlene is of German Mennonite ancestry. She is a registered and certified speech-language therapist. She has worked in schools, hospitals, and public health settings. She has experience in a provincial leadership role developing policies and other tools for provincial program support in the areas of speech and language, early intervention, and children and youth with special needs. Her interest is in supporting Indigenous communities, through collaborative research, policy, and practice, in their development of models of comprehensive community-based early childhood development systems.

John Price
(M.Sc. Psychology)

John is a doctoral student on the Indigenous CHILD project, where he is providing a context for the work on assessment with reference to the long history of developmental assessment and outstanding challenges for addressing the cultural nature of development. John is of Scottish-Irish heritage. He was born in Burnaby, B.C. and raised in Surrey, B.C. He completed his B.A. (Hons) at Simon Fraser University in 1999 and a M.Sc. at the University of Victoria in 2002. He is working on his doctorate in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Victoria. He works primarily doing assessment and therapy with children and adolescents.

Candice Roberge
(M.A. Cand., Health Sciences, UNBC)

Candice is a Research Assistant with the Indigenous Fathers project. Candice is Metis from Prince George, B.C. She has a special interest in Aboriginal parenting, and she worked in her community in a variety of parenting programs. She holds a B.Sc. in psychology from the University of Northern British Columbia, and she hopes to continue in graduate school in child and youth care.

Miranda Rosso
(B.A. Cand.)

“Randi” is in her third year at the University of Victoria, studying towards a B.A. degree in Child and Youth Care. Randi is a member of the project team that is conducting a scan of screening and assessment practices in First Nations early childhood programs in B.C. She is a single mother of a beautiful bi-racial daughter. They are registered with the Lake Babine/Carrier Nation in Burns, Lake, B.C. from her paternal side. On her maternal side, Randi comes from the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation of Alert Bay. Randi was born and raised in Vancouver. After completing her B.A. (CYC), Randi hopes to pursue training as an addictions counselor so that she can work with Indigenous youth towards building awareness, prevention, and intervention for drug and alcohol dependencies.

Maureen Simpkins
(Ph.D. Adult Education & Indigenous Knowledge)

Maureen is a Research Associate for the project: “The Incorporation of Indigenous or community-specific knowledge into Early Childhood Programs’. Maureen completed her Ph.D. in Adult Education (2000) at O.I.S.E., University of Toronto, with a thesis title of After Delgamuukw: Oral Tradition as Evidence in Aboriginal Rights and Title Litigation. Her interest is in how Aboriginal oral tradition is shared, validated, and interpreted, particularly in intercultural and community settings. Maureen has also been a course instructor and resource person for Penelakut Tribes, one of the current communities in the First Nations Partnerships Program in Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria.

Rose Sones
(B.A. Psychology)

Rose is an Aboriginal Programs Advisor to the Indigenous CHILD project on Indigenous child development environments and cultural perspectives on developmental goals for children. Rose is Tlingit from Northern British Columbia. Rose works in the Health Canada National office for Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities Program. Her major interests are in the areas of community and leadership development and participant empowerment. Rose is the author of "Parent Involvement in Aboriginal Head Start: Building Community" (2002). She has given workshops on this topic at regional and international conferences. Rose’s other interests include comparative government in Pacific Rim Indigenous communities and culture in education.

Lori Speck

Lori is a transcriber on the project exploring implications of First Nations English Dialects for supporting young First Nations children’s language development and school readiness. Lori is a member of the ‘Namgis First Nation, one of the many bands of the Kwakwaka’wakw. She previously worked as Cultural Coordinator for the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation in Victoria. Lori strongly believes in the revitalization of Aboriginal languages and cultures.