Our Board of Directors

Marianne Park

Marianne is an experienced facilitator/instructor.  She has worked in the violence against women field for over twenty years. She is experienced in the issue of disability awareness and advocacy having the distinction of being a woman with a disability.

Marianne has presented workshops and seminars throughout the province to a number of diverse groups.  These groups include; police officers, shelter workers, health care professionals, developmental service workers and social justice advocates. The sessions have special emphasis on the issues of domestic violence, violence against women with disabilities, disability sensitivity and workplace harassment.

She is a member of the Board of Directors for DAWN - Ontario Disabled Women’s Network. She chairs the board for the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a specialty clinic of Legal Aid Ontario dealing with poverty law. Marianne is vice chair of Echo-Improving Women’s Health in Ontario.

She has received a number of awards for her community work including being named to the Mayor’s Honour List 2004, for her advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities, and the Ontario Volunteer Service award from the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation 2001.

Marianne holds a BA Hon. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Windsor and an MA in Cultural/Medical Anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

Chantelle Lapointe

Chantelle is a Staff Lawyer at Mississauga Community Legal Services and has been a staff lawyer in the community legal clinic system since her Call to the Bar in 2008.  She obtained her Honours Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University, and her Bachelor of Law from the University of Windsor.  Although all of her training would have suggested a career in International Law, while at the University of Windsor, she volunteered with Community Legal Assistance and Legal Assistance of Windsor, which is where she discovered the need for legal assistance in her own backyard.  She currently specializes in subsidized housing law, and also practices in the areas of social assistance and housing law.  She has appeared before the Social Benefits Tribunal, the Landlord and Tenant Board, Small Claims Court, the Superior Court of Justice, and Divisional Court. 

Vinay Jain

Vinay is the Director of Legal Services at the Unison Health and Community Services (formerly York Community Services).

Unison is a blended service, a partnership between six agencies working together to strengthen the community of Weston-Mt. Dennis. The Hub is a “one-stop shop” for social and health services as well as an accessible community space. The clinic assists with social assistance appeals, immigration and refugee cases, housing issues, human rights applications, employment issues and other legal matters.

Vinay has been a clinic lawyer for 15 years and has worked at Renfrew Community Legal Services and Dundurn Community Legal Services in Hamilton.  While Vinay has always maintained a general service practice, social assistance has always been a special interest and he has a good knowledge of social assistance and poverty law matters. Vinay believes that poverty law services in Ontario are inadequate

Roberta Oshkawbewisens

Roberta has been involved with Native Organizations since 1984. She has been involved with First Nations Communities and Urban Communities, as an adult educator/facilitator, supporter, and coordinator of programs and as Board of Director member of various groups promoting wellness in strength whether in be Aboriginal Culture and Tradition or working with community grass roots women.

Roberta is an Aboriginal Woman in Life Skills Coach, and brings skills that she gained in the area of Addictions, Family Violence, Community development and group facilitation to the Board.

Roberta is interested in promoting and educating people about their rights, advocating for people that the law considers less fortunate; helping to build solid foundations for the people at risk. Roberta speaks Odawa/Ojibawe.

Gerda Kaegi

As a past board member of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly Gerda has been exposed to the many issues facing the legal aid system in Ontario and this has raised her concern about the survival of clinic poverty law. She is currently an active board member of the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario, the association of legal clinics and the A-WAY, a consumer survivor courier service.

Her background is political science and she is a retired professor from Ryerson University, School of Public Administration and Department of Politics. Her academic and teaching work was in the area of public policy and government. She has been a long-standing member of Canadian Pensioners Concerned. CPC is an organization that has concerned itself with the well-being of people of all ages. She has helped write many of the CPC briefs to governments covering such topics as poverty, minimum wage, housing and supportive housing, pension issues, education and training for immigrants and low-income people. She has appeared before federal and provincial committees of parliament, where the issue of poverty has been a central focus.

Gerda believes we must fight very hard for the preservation and enhancement of poverty law services in this province. She is extremely worried about the tilt of governments towards the view that it is an individual’s responsibility to take care of themselves and not that of the community. The orientation to the values and language of the business culture concerns her deeply.  She knows that the growing gap between those who have and those who don’t is widening and this will inevitably lead to greater inequalities in society – and an even greater need for poverty law. Her vision for poverty law is that it is accessible to all that need it.

Kimberly Roach

Kimberly has worked in the clinic system for approximately 6 years, first as a law student at the University of Ottawa Community Legal Clinic then at Dundurn Community Legal Services and presently, at Rexdale Community Legal Clinic.  She holds a Master of Arts from York University.

In her role as a staff lawyer she has advocated for individuals and gained insight and knowledge of the issues that many clients face. Currently she is particularly interested in the adverse impact of OW and ODSP implementation of the special diet on certain cultural groups.  She believes there should be increased access to justice for low income individuals and racialized groups, starting with education.  She believes that Ontario needs to provide adequate and secure funding for clinics, organizations and agencies that assist low income individuals, so that they can do the work that is necessary on both the systemic and individual levels.

Hélené Ménard

Héléne has worked for a not for profit consumer advocacy organization in Ottawa since 1993 called Entraid Budgetaire Ottawa, a social service agency funded by the United Way. This organization offers budget consulting services to assist consumers to deal with crisis that is related to such things as hydro, pensions, medications, paydays, clothing, car repairs and fist and last months rent. The agency also provides a micro credit program to clients which is sponsored by a credit union in Quebec.

Héléne sees first hand the struggles that clients have around the issues of consumer rights, financial advice, tax returns for newcomers, and personal debt.  Héléne has served on not for profit boards that focus on youth, literacy and the local community. Héléne looks forward to being an active member of the Board and has the unique perspective of working for a not for profit as a staff member and also serving on numerous boards. 

Larry Woolley

As a Community member currently living in or with past experience living in poverty Larry believes he can bring these experiences to the organization and that there must be a significant change to the Social system to combat poverty.

Larry served on the board of directors for several years at the Algoma Community Legal Clinic and had a great opportunity to do a presentation at a poverty forum launched by Tony Martin the local M.P.The forum was at a time when Mike Harris reduced Welfare rates by 21.6% and introduced Ontario Works.

Larry serves on the board at the local Soup Kitchen and is involved with the delivery of a food program.   He is currently an active member of the Ontario Disability Support Program Coalition (ODSP Action Coalition).

He thinks that the new Social Assistance Review study is long overdue and needsfront line testimonialsto reflect real living experiences and we need to take action now.

Deirdre McDade

Deirdre obtained both her honours degree in Political science and her law degree from Queens University. Called to the bar in 1995, Deirdre was in private practice doing litigation until she joined the clinic in September 1999.

She has been a poverty law lawyer for 8 years practicing in the areas of social assistance law and human rights.   She does all the appellant work at the clinic in Belleville. She is actively involved in the community development work of the clinic. She is active in the movement to end violence against women.

She is a past Board member of the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre in Kingston, Three Oaks Shelter for Abused Women, and a former member of the Quinte Coordinating Committee against Violence and the Dedicated Domestic Violence Court. She is currently a member of the Eastern Region Income Maintenance Study Group and the Clinic Human Rights Working Group.  She has been involved with local community groups working to end poverty as well as local violence against women service providers. 

She is excited about working at a provincial level with other anti-poverty advocates to address systemic issues.

René Adams

Born in Cape Town, South Africa; René Adams is a single mother of two and an Ontario Disability Support Program recipient.  René is a dedicated community organizer, a member of the local Community Police Partnership, a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans of Canada,  Community Advocate with The Stop Community Food Centre’s Community Advocacy Project. She is also an active volunteer through The Stop's Civic engagement department Speaker's bureau and Bread & Brick Davenport social action group. Rene also supports the work of the Montreal & Toronto chapters ATD Fourth World Movement and Schools Without Borders.

Rene has been the voice of marginalized families & children as a spokesperson for Campaign 2000, a great supporter of the Toronto Board of Health’s call for a nutritional supplement to be added to social assistance cheques, and an active member of the 25 in 5 Network on poverty reduction.  She advised on the University of Toronto’s Centre for Urban & Community Health’s first Symposium on Family Homelessness and the Skyworks Foundation’s Homesafe Toronto documentary on family homelessness across Canada, which is currently in the filming stage.

A graduate of the Maytree Foundation’s Leaders for Change program, René was the only individual recipient of the Wellesley Institute’s 2008 – ‘’10 in 10 Urban Health Award’’ for Community Leadership and Participation over the past decade.   Rene was the first female Naval Reserve Boatswain to be hired in Toronto.  She is an Ontario Volunteer Service Award winner and received an Honorary RNAO (Registered Nurses of Ontario) Membership in 2009. She draws on her own experience of exclusion, marginalization & homelessness to challenge inequality & advocate for positive social change.

Christine Watts

Christine is an ODSP recipient and part-time rural librarian. As a single parent of two bi-racial young adults – one with a mental illness, she has studied equity issues and become a seasoned advocate.

Her social justice activities include membership in: Ontario Social Safety Network (OSSN), Northumberland Coalition Against Poverty (NCAP), Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), Make Poverty History (MPH), OCSJ and ODSPaction.     

Christine was a partner in developing a Mobile Food Bank in Northumberland County and Poverty Myth-busting workshops within the community.  She feels all Ontarians must have access to environmentally sustainable options.  Her vision includes true equality for First Nations people – in terms of their health, housing and educational options.  Christine believes that all workers’ rights in Ontario have been steadily eroded in recent years.  Costs of living and education continue to rise.  Our youth need to have hope for their future and trust that our system is just.  As more people reluctantly join the low-income experience, our need for law and policy supports continues to grow.  

She is pleased to add her voice to the ISAC board

Shelley A.M. Gavigan

B.A. LL.B., M.A., LL.M, S.J.D. (of the bars of Ontario and Saskatchewan) is a Full Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and member of the Graduate Faculties in Law, Sociology and Women’s Studies at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She holds graduate degrees in law and criminology and has taught in both disciplines.  Following graduation from law school in 1975, she articled in a rural-based community legal clinic and continued to practise in Saskatchewan, as a legal clinic lawyer (principally in the areas of criminal and family law), and briefly as a human rights lawyer, until 1980, when she moved to Toronto to pursue graduate studies.   Professor Gavigan was appointed in 1984 to the faculty of the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University.  She joined the Osgoode faculty in 1986 and has twice served as Academic Director of Parkdale Community Legal Services in Toronto.  Her research interests focus on socio-legal theory and history in the areas of Canadian criminal law; law and poverty; legal regulation and definition of family; access to justice and social justice.  Her current research builds on her 2008 doctoral dissertation, Criminal Law on the Aboriginal Plains: The First Nations and the First Criminal Court in the North-West Territories, 1876-1903 and also includes a research project studying access to justice and marginalized youth.  Her publications include The Legal Tender of Gender:  Welfare Law and the Regulation of Women’s Poverty, Shelley A.M. Gavigan & Dorothy E. Chunn, eds. (forthcoming, London, Hart/Onati Series). The Politics of Abortion with Jane Jenson and Janine Brodie (Oxford, 1992) and several articles informed by feminist, socio-legal and historical perspectives on the legal regulation of familial relations, lesbian parenting, abortion and access to justice. Her areas of teaching include Criminal Law, Family Law, Children & Law, Poverty Law and Clinical Legal Education.   Professor Gavigan has held appointments as Osgoode’s Associate Dean, as Director of Clinical Education, and recently completed serving her third term as Academic Director of Osgoode's Intensive Program in Poverty Law at Parkdale Community Legal Services.

Naomi Berlyne

Naomi Berlyne has been active in anti-poverty work for the last 20 years.  Her main interest is social assistance reform, and she has been part of many campaigns striving to improve social assistance, including “Pay the Rent Feed the Kids”, “Ontario Needs a Raise”,  and she is presently involved in the ODSP Action Coalition, the Put Food in the Budget campaign, and the Toronto Working Group on Poverty.  She also organized the ‘Take our Seniors off Welfare’ campaign of a few years ago.

Naomi has worked in the non-profit sector for many years, and presently is the Community Development Coordinator for Houselink Community Homes.  In the past she has worked as a housing worker, in a shelter, as an ID worker (helping low income people acquire identification), and as a community legal worker.  She also worked for three and a half years, mostly in France, with an international anti-poverty organization  called the Fourth World Movement.