Friday, 19 November 2021

When: 1 pm - 4:15 pm AT
Where: Online

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Saturday, 20 November 2021

When: 9 am - 6:30 pm AT
Where: In-person at the Chebucto Family Centre* (3 Sylvia Av, Halifax) and live-streamed.

Dr. Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health. Dr. Shlafer joined the faculty in September 2012 after completing a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship in the Division (2010-2012). Dr. Shlafer completed her BS (2004) and MS (2007) in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and her PhD (2010) in Child Psychology at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Shlafer's research focuses on understanding the developmental outcomes of children and families with multiple risk factors. She is particularly interested in children with parents in prison, as well as the programs and policies that impact families affected by incarceration.

Dr. Shlafer teaches the writing seminar for our interdisciplinary training program in Adolescent Health and routinely teaches undergraduate courses in Child Psychology, as an affiliate faculty member at the Institute of Child Development.

In addition to her research and teaching activities, Dr. Shlafer is a volunteer guardian ad litem in Hennepin County where she serves as an advocate for abused and neglected children involved in juvenile court.

Corinne Sauve MSW, RSW has been a registered Social Worker for over 20 years. She completed her BSW at the University of Calgary and worked within a variety of child-centred non-profit organizations in the Calgary community. She then attended Dalhousie University and graduated with her Masters in Social Work. She went on to work with families in the IWK Pediatric Clinical Neurosciences and Rehabilitation program as a Medical Social Worker for almost 8 years. She currently is a Perinatal Social Worker supporting individuals who are pregnant and postpartum at the IWK. She participates in a number of IWK committees which consist of topics she is passionate about such as; screening and supporting those experiencing Intimate Partner Violence, Professional Development, Family Legal Health issues, Pediatric Advocacy and Perinatal care for individuals who are incarcerated.

Elene Lam is an activist, community organizer, educator, and human rights defender. She has involved in the sex workers, migrants, labour, gender and racial justice movement for over 20 years. She is the founder of Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network) and has used diverse and innovative approaches to advocate social justice for migrant sex worker. She holds a Master of Laws and Master of Social Work. She is the PhD candidate at McMaster University (School of Social Work) and studying the harm of anti-trafficking movement.

Maggie Rahr is an investigative journalist based in Halifax.

Carrie Low is an accomplished and acclaimed trauma-informed sexual assault advocate for survivors’ rights in the Criminal Justice System in Nova Scotia. Carrie is the founder and peer facilitator of Survivors for Change & Empowerment and has been hosting this peer support group along with workshops since October 2020. Currently, Carrie is working towards a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences degree at Dalhousie University. As well, Carrie is employed as an Administrative Assistant for Wellness Within and with the Gender-Based Violence Strategy at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia. 

Melody Rowhani is a nurse practitioner in Ottawa, with a master of public health from the university of Waterloo. She previously worked for correction service Canada as a nurse researcher, working closely with patients with addictions. This led to her passion in working to advocate for the best health for individuals who are detained.

El Jones is a spoken word poet, an educator, journalist, and a community activist living in African Nova Scotia. She was the fifth Poet Laureate of Halifax. In 2016, El was a recipient of the Burnley “Rocky” Jones human rights award for her community work and work in prison justice. She is a co-founder of the Black Power Hour, a live radio show with people who have experienced incarceration on CKDU that creates space for people inside to share their creative work and discuss contemporary social and political issues, and along with this work, she supports women in Nova Institution in writing and sharing their voices. El was recently named the Nancy's Chair of Women's Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University for the 2017-2019 term. Her book of spoken word poetry, Live from the Afrikan Resistance! was published by Roseway Press in 2014. El would like to pay tribute to the many nameless and unrecognized women whose work makes it possible for her to be here today.

Raven Davis is the Wellness Within 2021 Artist in residence. Raven is an Anishinaabe, 2-Spirit, transgender, disabled multidisciplinary artist, and educator whose maternal lineage is from Treaty Four in Manitoba, Canada. Davis was born and raised in Michi Saagig /T’karonto Territory (Toronto, Ontario). Davis resides and works as a professional artist, curator, and educator between K'jipuktuk, Halifax, and their birth territory. A parent of three sons, Davis works within the mediums of painting, performance, and media. Challenging systemic oppression, Davis fuses narratives of colonization, race, gender, disability, transformative justice, and 2-Spirit/Indigiqueer identity in their work.

Davis has been active in abolition and justice for over 25 years. Beginning their journey in the early ’90s. Beginning this journey working for the Black Action Defence Committee, and as a Community Council member for Aboriginal Legal Service’s, which was part of Gladue Courts’, restorative justice circle of community members, and Elders. The restorative circle worked with people in the justice system to collectively create rehabilitation plans and care systems. Currently, Davis works with the Toronto Prisoners Rights as a curator for a mural project regarding abolition and alternative justice, and as a member for the National MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ committee, raising awareness about gendered violence, and in doing so also advocating for alternative, community-led justice programs, protection for those enslaved in human trafficking, and the decriminalization and advocacy of sex workers.  

Jessica Liauw is an investigator, BC Children's Hospital Perinatologist and Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician, with BC Women's Hospital. Having pregnancy complications, such as a baby that doesn't grow as much as expected, or a baby that is born too early, can be difficult for parents and families. My research focuses on figuring out how to best detect and manage pregnancies at risk of having these and other complications, and how to best communicate information so that patients can make treatment decisions that are right for them.

Dr. Tiffany O'Donnell, MD, CCFP, c.ISAM, (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. She is a family physician in Sipekne’katik First Nation and at Mobile Outreach Street Health. She works as a consultant in Addiction Medicine for the Nova Scotia Health Authority. She is a co-chair for the Doctors Nova Scotia Section of Physicians for Indigenous Health, co-founder and co-chair for Doctors for Decriminalization (@docs4decrim), and sits on the Advisory Committee to the Atlantic Mentorship Network for Pain and Addiction. She has been providing medical consultation to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia for the past year and a half and sits on the board of the East Coast Prison Justice Society.

Souheil Benslimane is a Non-Binary, Queer, illegalized and criminalized migrant who is currently living on occupied, unceded, and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinaabe territory where they await an imminent deportation to so-called Morocco. Souheil became involved in abolitionist as well as prisoner and migrant justice organizing as they were released from the penitentiary and immigration detention in March 2018 as a member of the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP), a member of the Ottawa Sanctuary Network (OSN), and an organizer with the Jail Accountability and Information Line (JAIL) hotline. Souheil organizes with incarcerated comrades and is involved in police abolition organizing, mutual aid, and other projects and sites of resistance on Algonquin Anishinaabe territory as a guest and displaced human.

Emily Peter Paul, with funding from the Canadian Women's Foundation, is the coordinator for Indigenous-led doula practice initiatives at Paqtnkek First Nation Health Centre. Emily is the Health Centre nurse and a Master's of Adult Education student at STFX

Clare Heggie is a health researcher and health promoter, currently working as a health promotion specialist at IWK Health. She has a MA in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University and has been a volunteer doula for three years.

Jennifer Taylor (she / her) is a lawyer in Halifax. She sits on the board of the East Coast Prison Justice Society and is a member of the Nova Scotia Policing Policy Working Group. She is the co-author of LEAF’s guide to abortion access in Nova Scotia (which is currently being updated and expanded) and is also involved with the Canadian Bar Association and the Dalhousie Feminist Legal Association.

Clark MacIntosh, BSc, BSW, is the Finance and Resource Centre Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group and Queer Doula Coordinator with Wellness Within. They are a graduate of the Dalhousie School of Social Work, where they focused on anti-oppressive, queer-centred practice. As a disabled, non-binary parent of two, Clark is an advocate for accessible, equitable policy design who has consulted with non-profit groups across the province.

Jordan Roberts (she/her) has been a doula with the Halifax Volunteer Doula Program since 2013. She graduated from Dalhousie University with a degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and Sociology in 2008 and worked with a number of non-profits in Kjipuktuk from 2008 – 2019 serving people affected by homelessness, income inequality, and criminalization. She is currently the Sexualized Violence Prevention and Response Officer with the University of King’s College. Jordan is a mom to 4-year-old Rupert.

Nicole Marcoux (she/her) is a queer, settler librarian in Kjipuktuk. She has been a doula with the Volunteer Doula Program since 2018 and works with a books to prisoners program in the women's section of Burnside jail.

Yotakahron (she/her; pronounced like yoda-GAH-lou) is a Mohawk Bear Clan woman from Six Nations of the Grand River. She is a medical student at McMaster University, where she also completed her MA in Sociology and BA in Sociology and Indigenous Studies. She is an Auntie, a traditional doula, a tiny house builder, a podcast co-host, and a traditional crafter.

Martha Paynter is a registered nurse providing abortion and postpartum care. She is a Doctoral Candidate in Nursing at Dalhousie University. She is the founder and coordinator of Wellness Within, a non-profit organization supporting women, transgender, and nonbinary individuals who have experienced criminalization in the perinatal period in carceral institutions and the community. She works to advance reproductive justice through advocacy, collaboration and nursing scholarship.