SOLOS Board of Directors 2011/2012

SOLOS is supported by a Board of concerned volunteers. They include parents, youth advocates, community service veterans, child protection workers, business people, restorative justice visionaries, internet industry elders and national law enforcement agency representatives.

Michelle Fortin, Chair

Michelle Fortin has been working in the community social service sector since 1985, shortly after completing her BA in Psychology at York University in Toronto.  Ms. Fortin has worked in many different capacities including frontline work with emotionally challenged youth in a group home setting and homeless and battered women in a transitional shelter; she managed a caseload of sexually exploited youth and also worked as a street youth outreach worker.  In the hopes of affecting greater change within the client populations served, Michelle obtained a counselling certificate from the Counsellor Training Institute in 1993. As the Executive Director of Watari Youth, Family & Community Services since 2003, Michelle is responsible for ongoing program development, staff training and fundraising with this Vancouver based community agency.  She is deeply committed to the idea of possibilities for individuals and communities, believing in solution focused approaches to the work.

Janelle Kelly, Vice Chair

Janelle Kelly has worked for over a decade in a variety of capacities with 
street involved and vulnerable youth. She is currently the Executive 
Director of Peak House, a provincial residential youth alcohol and drug treatment program located in Vancouver, BC.

Kate Baillie, Treasurer

Kate Baillie has been with TELUS for the past 8 years, first in the marketing communications department and for the past 3 years as Director of the Product Marketing team for the Internet and voice portfolios. Before TELUS, Kate worked for an Internet startup and has seen firsthand the way that the Internet can improve lives. She joined the SOLOS board in 2011.

Jocelyn Helland, Secretary

Jocelyn is currently the Manager of the Broadway Youth Resource Centre where she has the privilege of working closely with youth and community agencies in the east side of Vancouver to provide a "one stop shop" of resources for at-risk youth in that community. She is the past Executive Director of the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks and has worked generally with at-risk youth in BC since 1998.

Gary Van De Keere, Member at Large

A quiet man by nature, Gary has been a SOLOS Board Member since 2005. He is a Supervisor of the Guardianship Team for the Ministry of Child and Family Development in Mission.

Nancy Bell, Member at Large
Nancy Bell, an associate adjunct professor at the University of Victoria who currently works as an independent researcher/consultant in the area of human rights. Formerly, she worked for the BC Children's Commission before completing a PhD in sociology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Her research interests centre on the monitoring and implementation of human rights, with a particular focus on children's human rights.

Matthew Taylor, Member at Large
Matthew is a dynamic individual actively seeking educational and professional opportunities to drive social change. With a strong affinity for supporting marginalized populations who seek increased personal health and wellness, he has over four years of experience in the non-profit, social service sector. Matthew also volunteers significant time to organizations with similar mandates and has been a member-at-large on the SOLOS Board of Directors since January 2011.  

Currently, Matthew is the Program Director for HUSTLE: Men on the Move; a grassroots outreach and support program for male sex workers and street-involved youth he co-founded in 2007. Matthew hopes that by using his voice and experience, he can help raise awareness around issues facing individuals in sex work and increase health and safety for all members of community that are impacted by the sex industry in Vancouver.

Jan Sippel, Member at Large
Jan Sippel is the Abuse Prevention Coordinator for the Vancouver School District, a position she has held for 24 years.  Her work focuses on child abuse prevention, online safety, bullying prevention, sexual health education and the promotion of social responsibility through social—emotional learning. Jan strongly believes that prevention education builds resilience and contributes to significant, lasting and positive change in the lives of children, youth and families.

 

The Safe OnLine Outreach Society is a federal charitable organization (Canada #86021 9641 RR0001) and a registered non-profit society (British Columbia #S45067).