Conference

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Louise Thivant-Johannsen
Louise is the founder and Executive Director of the Child and Youth Friendly Governance Project (CYFGP), an international organization dedicated to empowering children and young people in decision-making processes. Under her leadership, CYFGP strives to create a world where children and young people have a powerful voice in decisions that impact their lives, enabling them to realize their rights, develop critical life skills, and become active citizens.

With a mission to foster collaboration between children and adult decision-makers, Louise and the CYFGP work to co-create solutions that benefit both children and their communities. This is achieved through strengthening child-friendly decision-making at all levels of society, focusing on awareness-raising, policy development, systems strengthening, and capacity building. The CYFGP also provides guidance and support to partners, ensuring that collaborations with children are meaningful, ethical, safe, and effective for all parties involved.

Louise is a lawyer and international development specialist with extensive experience in international law and human rights. Before founding CYFGP, she held key roles at prominent organizations, including UNICEF, where she led the Child Friendly Cities Initiative, as well as UNOCHA, DIGNITY, the Red Cross, and the Danish and British governments. Her diverse background and commitment to child and youth empowerment have made her a leading advocate for child-friendly governance worldwide.

Marc Battle
Marc is an ECE instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg, who also works with Aboriginal Head Start programs. Marc first worked at Toronto’s Children Services, then at the child care centre at Durham College. For 6 years, he taught ECE at Northwest Community College in BC. Inspired by fellow ECE instructor Joan Turecki, he became interested in emergent curriculum, which builds on the children’s interests, and in incorporating a more artistic approach to child care programs. He has been at Red River College since 2002. Marc is a passionate speaker on a variety of topics including risky play, rich learning environments, quality interactions, inclusion, and guiding children toward discovery of their full potential.

Karyn Callaghan
After working with young children for several years as an early childhood educator, Karyn Callaghan became a professor in college and university ECE programs and has had the privilege of learning with children, educators, families and artists for over four decades.  She founded and coordinated the Artists at the Centre project in Hamilton Ontario that brought artists into early learning programs, and contributed to the development of the Ministry of Education’s pedagogy for early years document ‘How Does Learning Happen?’.  She was a key contributor to the development of Hamilton’s Charter of Rights of Children and Youth.  She is president of the Ontario Reggio Association and a board member of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance.  Karyn enjoys being a public learner.  She has been a keynote speaker at conferences across four continents and with Carol Anne Wien and artist Jason Avery is co-author of a book entitled “Documenting Children’s Meaning”, published by Davis Publications.

Breakout Session Speakers

Adrienne Argent
Adrienne is a faculty member of the Early Childhood Care and Education faculty at Capilano University and is also the Pedagogist for the Children’s Centre at Capilano University.  She is keenly interested in working alongside educators to co-create pedagogies that respond the challenges of the 21st century.Adiene

Angel Tuttle
Angel is a proud Métis woman honoured to be a citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. She has deep ancestral roots predominantly connected to the communities of Lac Ste Anne and St. Albert. Currently residing in Stony Plain, Alberta, Angel is a devoted wife, mother, and educator. She graduated from the U of A and has been a certified teacher for 30 years, working with students ranging from preschoolers to adults. While teaching Kindergarten, Angel received the Teacher’s Award of Excellence, recognizing her exceptional educational contributions. With extensive experience in early learning and special education, Angel served as an Indigenous Lead Teacher in her former school district. Committed to lifelong learning, she has pursued numerous courses and earned diverse certifications. Angel began her journey with Rupertsland Institute after being selected to contribute to an expert focus group for Early Learning Education and Childcare Training (ELECT), where she also took on the role of lead Educator. Deeply committed to reclaiming her culture, Angel is passionate about sharing her journey with others. She now serves as a Métis Education Consultant for Rupertsland Institute, with a key focus on early learning.

Anthony Bourqe
Anthony is a social innovation and service design consultant with an education background in kinesiology & play studies. He led the Vivo Play Project, a four-year public health social innovation initiative using unstructured play as a community health intervention. Anthony completed his graduate studies on the Vivo Play Project, focusing on parent perceptions of risk in outdoor play. He has supported the education and development of students locally and abroad with the Play Around the World (PAW). For more on his work visit www.anthonybourquedesign.com.

Christina Pickles
Christina is the founder of Get Outside and Play, an organization that advocates for more outdoor play for children in early learning and care settings, schools and communities. She delivers professional learning to educators, building their knowledge and confidence to support  more outdoor play with children. Christina also explores the challenges to outdoor play facing early learning and care programs from a systems perspective. She led the creation of the Outdoor Play in the Child Care Settings: Recommendations for Child Care Licensing in Alberta.

Dr. Christine McLean
Christine is Associate Professor and Department Chair of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to her position at the Mount, Christine was active in the ECE field in Newfoundland and Labrador for 28 years and has presented at many provincial and national conferences across
Canada. She has been involved with various child care provincial and national organizations and is currently on the National Advisory Council for Early Learning and Child Care; the Nova Scotia ELCC Minister’s Engagement Table, the Newfoundland and Labrador Education Accord Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of Canadian
Association for Young Children (CAYC). Christine has a Bachelor of Child Study from MSVU, a Bachelor of Education from Acadia University, a Master of Education from University of Cincinnati, and a PhD in Early Learning from OISE, University of Toronto.

Jackie Carson
Jackie is a proud citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, with roots connecting her to the historical St. Albert Métis Settlement. Along with her husband and three very active teenage children, she resides in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Jackie graduated from the University of Alberta, specializing in Elementary Education with a focus on Native Studies.  She has taught a wide range of ages and subjects in the K-12 system and has extended her experience by serving a term as an Elected School Trustee. Her contributions in this area earned her an Esquao Award in Education with the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women. Jackie is committed to infusing Métis- centric knowledge and ways of being into all learning spaces and continues to expand her understanding and expertise as the current Program Coordinator for the Early Learning Education and Childcare Training (ELECT) program through Rupertsland Institute.

Jacqueline Ewonus
Jacqueline is currently the Program Director at SFU Childcare Society in Burnaby, BC, where she oversees 20 programs that accommodate 414 children aged 0–12 years, alongside more than 100 educators. She has a long-standing career in the childcare field, with over 34 years of experience in various roles, including work within the K-12 system, supporting children and families with diverse abilities, and serving as a Licensing Officer. For the past 17 years, she has been an instructor with the Burnaby School District in the Early Care and Education Post Basic Program, teaching Inclusive Practice and Administration. Jacqueline is also a provincial mentor for educators through the BC ECE Professional Development Bursary Program, where she supports the creation of Communities of Practice. Additionally, she has served on the board of the Vancouver Reggio Association for the past six years. Jacqueline is also a pedagogical consultant who presents at national and international conferences on pedagogical leadership and organizational change.

Joanne Baxter
Joanne PhD has been engaged with the Curriculum Framework Supports Project through ARCQE for over ten years.  Through this time, educators and program leaders have been provided an array of supports to explore and engage with Flight in practice.  These supports were built on our collective experience in teaching and leadership roles at Mount Royal University in the Early Learning and Child Care program and the development of the Child Studies degree.

Karyn Callaghan
(See Keynote Speakers)

Louise Thivant-Johannsen
(See Keynote Speakers)

Marilyn Boisvert
Marilyn has a strong background in early learning and child care and has been an integral member of the Curriculum Framework Supports project as a Pedagogical Partner and Leader for 5 years. She enjoys working alongside leaders and educators by providing support as they explore Flight practices into their programs for children, families and educators.

Dr. Noah Kennealy
Noah is an Assistant Professor in the Bachelor of Early Childhood Curriculum Studies (BECCS) at MacEwan University. His research interests include exploring the enormous potential of early childhood communities as sites of social change; the practical applications of a relational framework for children’s rights in early learning contexts; children’s understandings of social life; and creative research methodologies. Although he is fairly new to Alberta, Dr. Kenneally worked as an advocate for children and families for over two decades in Ontario, where he completed his doctoral studies in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

Pat Furman
Pat has been Executive Director of Inspired by Wonder, two innovative and inclusive childcare programs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for 20 years. She was a recipient of the 2016-2017 Prime Ministers Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education, as well the 2020 recipient of the Manitoba Child Care Association, Leader of the Year Award. Pat is the co-chair of the Manitoba Reggio Inspired Coalition of Educators (Manitoba Reggio), is a board member of the Vanier Institute of the family and is part of the Children’s Rights working group with the World Forum Foundation. Pat is passionate about the rights of diverse learners. She is often found freezing in various community rinks as all three children play hockey; she loves reading, walking her golden retriever, cross-country skiing, and paddle boarding at the lake in the summer.

Sara Sutherland
Sara is the Director at the Capilano University Children’s Centre. Sara, in her work as the director of the Children’s Centre, is inspired by the challenges of pedagogical leadership and what this form of leadership might open up in terms of possibilities for the collective life of a child care centre. She feels privileged to work alongside a pedagogist and an atelierista and is passionate about dismantling the barriers between managerial and pedagogical practices.

Sandra Davenport
Sandra is a proud Métis woman originally from the historic community of Ile-a-la Crosse, Saskatchewan. Fluent in the Northern Michif language, Sandra proudly and willingly shares her knowledge of the language and culture. Sandra is a mother of three and a proud mâmâ of six grandchildren.  Sandra is a certified teacher with a Bachelors of Education degree. With 30 years of teaching experience functioning in various capacities, Sandra has been and continues to be a strong advocate for the promotion of Indigenous language learning for all ages. Sandra has overcome many multi-generational impacts of the Residential School system (being a Day School attendee and her mother a survivor of Residential School). Sandra’s penchant for language learning derives from the negative experiences Sandra’s mother had at Residential school where speaking Northern Michif and being Indigenous was shameful. 

Sue Delanoy
Sue has spent 32 years as a community based advocate for women, children and youth, tirelessly encouraging and supporting innovations for better, more and high quality services, especially for the early years.  She has been involved specifically in varying capacities with the Early Childhood movement for over 30 years. Her previous positions include National director for Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, Children’s advocate for Communities for Children in Saskatoon, Executive Director for the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Association, and most recently the Executive Director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan. She has been on several boards and was named a children’s champion by the Saskatoon Preschool Foundation, Child Friendly Saskatoon, and awarded an honorary diploma by Saskatchewan Polytechnic and more recently was awarded the Queen’s 70th Diamond Jubilee medal for her many contributions to services for youth and family.