Empowering Prairie Voices in Child and Family Wellbeing

First Nations University

University of Calgary

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Indigenous Children's Wellbeing, Calgary, Alberta

Dr. Marlyn Bennett is an Anishinaabe scholar and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Indigenous Children's Wellbeing at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on Indigenous child welfare, relational healing, digital storytelling, and arts- and land-based methodologies. With over two decades of community-engaged scholarship, she works closely with youth, families, and service providers to advance culturally grounded, strengths-based approaches to wellbeing, leadership, and systems change. She is also actively involved in governance, mentoring, and knowledge mobilization within Indigenous and child welfare communities.

Professor, Social Work, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta

Dr. Peter Choate is a professor of social work at Mount Royal University, where he specializes in assessment practices, child and adolescent mental health, and simulation-based learning. He has played a leading role in developing simulation methods for social work education, including interdisciplinary applications and child intervention scenarios featuring mock court proceedings with members of the judiciary. Choate has been qualified as an expert witness in social work in more than 150 legal proceedings, with subspecialties in parenting capacity (including assessments related to risk, domestic violence, and addiction), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and cross-cultural evaluations.

Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

Social Work professor with decades of child and family services experience.

Alberta Government

University of Manitoba

University of Regina

University of Calgary

MacEwan University

Faye Hamilton is a social worker with over thirty years of experience in a range of social work roles including child protection and health care. Faye has conducted research on the impact of trauma on beginning social workers and on the health care needs and life skills needs of youth involved with child protection services. She is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at MacEwan University.

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Dr. Jennifer Hedges is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Social Work Inner City Social Work Program. Her most recent work explored how transformative learning experiences can prepare students for working in child welfare and addressing challenges in this system. Dr. Hedges is committed to transformative education that is relational and rooted in feminist pedagogies. Current research interests involve exploring moral courage in social work, allyship in child welfare, cohort education for folks working in the child welfare field, and service-user knowledge in community advocacy. She is the co-chair of the Prairie Child Welfare Consortium and co-chair of the International Association of Schools of Social Work Research Committee.

Alberta Government

Creating Hope Society Alberta

Assistant Professor, University of Regina Faculty of Social Work, Regina, SK

Daniel Ji is an assistant professor at the University of Regina's Faculty of Social Work. He has completed postdoctoral training at the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre and University of British Columbia's School of Nursing. His research interests include the health and well-being of minoritized youth as well as resistance in the context of parent-adolescent interactions. Daniel has professional front line experience in child welfare and has published on topics related to child welfare. He holds a PhD in social work with a sub-specialization in Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology, and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Adolescence.

Associate Professor (Teaching), Director of Field Education, University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work, Central and Northern Alberta Region, Edmonton

Julie Mann-Johnson has worked most of her 25-year Social Work career in various areas of child welfare practice. This experience has led her to be particularly passionate about supporting feminist, anti-colonizing, and anti-racist practice as well as ensuring meaningful kin connections for children and youth within that system. Julie is also particularly interested in socializing new social workers to the social work profession, community partnerships, and social work education.

Saskatchewan Government

Saskatchewan Government

University of Manitoba

Mount Royal University

Leading Practice and Program Specialist, Child Protection Branch, Department of Families, Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

My name is Kim Wuirch and I work for the government of Manitoba in the Child Protection Branch as a Leading Practice and Program Specialist. I have a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Manitoba and am currently completing my Masters of Social Work with the University of Manitoba. I have worked in the CFS system and for the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth. I am registered with the Manitoba College of Social Workers.