BWSS Staff Directory & Contact Information
CRISIS + INTAKE LINE: 604.687.1867 Toll-free:
Business Phone: 604.687.1868
Counselling Phone: 604.687.1867
Toll-Free Phone: 1.855.687.1868
My Sister’s Closet Phone: 604.687.0770
Staff Directory:
| Elza | Crisis Line & Intake Coordinator | ext.315 | ||
| Ileah | Women’s Support Worker | ext.303 | emai | |
| Beata | Women’s Support Worker | ext.304 | ||
| Stephanie | Women’s Employment Counsellor | ext.302 | ||
| Brooklyn | Thrive, Service Coordinator | 604-808-4378 | ext.308 | |
| Daniela | Women’s Counsellor | ext.316 | ||
| Michelle | Indigenous Women’s Counsellor | ext.305 | ||
| Amanda | Women’s Counsellor | ext. 304 | ||
| Theresa | Women’s Counsellor | ext.313 | ||
| Marie | Children’s Counsellor | ext.317 | ||
| Mayra | Legal Advocate | ext. 307 | ||
| Rona | Violence Prevention Coordinator | 778-558-7179 | ||
| Sherri | Trauma-Informed Yoga teacher | Ext.322 | ||
| Edwina | Volunteer Co-ordinator, My Sister’s Closet | 778-239-3025 | ||
| Angela | Executive Director | 604-808-0507 | ||
| Rosa | Manager, Direct Services and Programs | ext.314 | ||
| Janet | Manager, Administration, Finance and Human Resources | ext.320 | ||
| Claudia | Manager, Advancing Women’s Awareness Regarding Employment Program | ext.312 | ||
| Summer-Rain | Manager, Indigenous Women’s Program | ext.302 | ||
| Samantha | Manager, Development and Social Enterprise | 778-996-5451 |
BWSS Board of Directors:
Cecilia Point
A member of the Musqueam Nation, Cecilia Point is a political activist who stood for 200 plus days protecting her nation’s ancestral burial site from development in 2012. Since then she has taken part in countless political actions advocating for human rights and the environment. Cecilia has also dedicated many years to cultural preservation in the field of Aboriginal cultural and eco tourism. She currently holds the position of Director of Finance and Administration for the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. She is a facilitator for reconciliation workshops with the Bright New Day organization, and has been designated a public speaker for her nation. She holds a Certificate in Business from UBC, supplemented with courses in First Nations studies, including hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (the Musqueam language).
Jennifer Johnstone
Jennifer Johnstone, President & CEO with Central City Foundation since 2006, has an extensive background in non-profit management and community resource development, including experience as a fundraiser, marketing and communications manager and non-profit executive for more than 19 years.
Jennifer has held key leadership positions with organizations such as the Vancity Community Foundation, Battered Women’s Support Services, the Vancouver Status of Women, and Ballet British Columbia, Canada’s pre-eminent contemporary ballet company, where she focused her efforts on building a sustainable non-profit dance company grounded in artistic excellence and community relevance. Jennifer began her career in the non-profit sector as the founding program coordinator with the Whistler Centre for Business and the Arts in the late 1980’s. Jennifer has also maintained a successful private consulting practice in fundraising, organizational and strategic planning, and workshop facilitation and is an instructor in the Fundraising Certificate Program in the Faculty of Business at BCIT. Jennifer holds a BA Hons. in political science from Queen’s University and pursued graduate studies at the Institute of Soviet and East European Studies and in Women’s Studies at Carleton University.
Jennifer remains passionately committed to social justice and community investment and, throughout her life, has served as a volunteer in many capacities with various organizations at the local, provincial and national level. She is a founding member of the Vancouver Women’s fund and most recently has served on the Boards of the Alliance for Arts & Culture, Battered Women’s Support Services, Yaletown House Foundation, Westcoast LEAF and the Aurora Institute. She also volunteers as a trainer with the Leadership Development Program of Volunteer Vancouver.
Dawn Johnson
Dawn Johnson comes from the Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew First Nations on her mothers’ side and is of European decent on her fathers’ side. She holds an Undergraduate Degree in Child and Youth Care Counselling from the University of Victoria and a Juris Doctor from the Peter A. Allard School of Law, with a specialization in Aboriginal Law. Dawn’s background includes years of experience working with and on behalf of Indigenous women and young people, particularly those involved with the child welfare and criminal justice systems. She has been actively involved in advocacy efforts to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous children, youth, and adults within these systems with a specific focus on supporting individuals to have power within their own lives. Dawn currently works with the First Nations Leadership Council as their Policy Analyst for Children and Families.
Jennifer Mackie
Is of Carrier Nation on her mother’s side (Tl’azt’en and Nak’azdli) and Scot on her father’s side. Jennifer completed graduate studies in the Community Health Science program (MSc) at the University of Northern British Columbia in 2012. After working for the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health at UBC for a few years, she returned to school and was accepted to the Peter A. Allard School of Law’s JD Program in September 2017 where she will specialize in Indigenous Legal Studies Program. She continues to live, work and play as an uninvited guest on the the beautiful and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples.
Niki Sharma
Niki Sharma is a lawyer, former chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and life-long advocate for social justice and sustainability. She is deeply committed to reconciliation, gender equity, supporting arts and culture and strengthening local communities. Niki is a proud member of Vancity and believes strongly in co-operative values.
Niki’s legal practice focuses on aboriginal law and her work has taken her across British Columbia and northern Canada. She represents residential school survivors and works closely with First Nation governments. She has advocated for her clients on many levels of the legal system, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
In 2011, Niki was elected as a Vancouver Park Board commissioner, where she served as chair of the board and oversaw a $100 million dollar budget on behalf of taxpayers. As a commissioner, she was co-chair of the environmental stewardship and education task force, the local food task force and led the Park Board’s opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion plan. She spearheaded the Pollinator Project to use the park system to protect bees and other pollinators. She also acted as liaison to the urban aboriginal advisory committee, the women’s advisory committee and the arts and culture policy council.
Earlier in her career, Niki worked internationally with a women’s co-operative in Ecuador to promote financial independence and forest preservation. She also served as a parliamentary intern with the Parliamentary Monitoring Group in Cape Town, South Africa, where she reported on meetings of the South African parliament.
In Canada, she received the Premier’s Award for Collaboration from the government of Northwest Territories for her work in a committee to develop new wildlife legislation. Currently, Niki serves as a board member for Battered Women’s Support Services and the PuSH Festival. She is a member of the City of Vancouver’s women’s advisory committee and chaired the pay-equity sub-committee.
Niki was born and raised in a small town in the Rocky Mountains of B.C. and now resides in East Vancouver with her husband and their young daughter.
