2025 Presenters
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Ms. Evangeline Francis Advocate • Social Work Student• Steward of Healing and Inclusion - is a bridge between lived experience and academic pursuit, a passionate Social Work student specializing in Africentric frameworks at Dalhousie University. Rooted in a lifelong commitment to justice, equity, and wholistic well-being, her work is a testament to the power of inclusion and transformative care. With a rich foundation in early years education, trauma-informed practice, and reflective methodologies, she has spent years cultivating the skills needed to navigate complex social landscapes.
Motherhood has further deepened her understanding of family dynamics, shaping her ability to walk alongside those facing hardship with empathy and wisdom. Guided by the lessons of her Indigenous and African ancestors, Ms. Evangéline acknowledges her privilege to live and work in Mi’kma’ki, unceded ancestral lands where resilience and resistance have long intertwined. She carries forward the legacies of those who came before her—advocating, educating, and fostering spaces where healing and empowerment are not just ideals, but realities.
Beyond her work, she is a seeker of nature’s wisdom, drawn especially to the elements of wind and water, where she finds both grounding and renewal. She believes in lifelong learning, creative problem-solving, and the unshakable strength of community.
Shannon Hardy (they/them) is a queer, neurodivergent, non-binary therapist and consultant in trauma- informed practices and approaches in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia. They have worked in trauma-forward environments for 19 years and have been a professional facilitator for 11 years. Their passion for sexual and reproductive health led them to co-create the Nova Scotia Doula Association in 2006 and create Abortion Support Services Atlantic in 2012. Shannon also created the first trauma-informed abortion support training in Canada, which they continue to offer multiple times a year to people across the country.
Shannon was a doula for many years, working primarily with people who had experienced sexual violence as children. They also created ConsentFest, a weeklong discussion on university campuses across NS on consent, safer sex and queer specific issues. Shannon was recognized by Sexual Health NS for their work in 2020 with a Sexellence Award.
In their therapy practice, their focus is primarily 2SLGBTQ issues, polyamory, kink and sexual and reproductive health. Shannon describes themselves as an integrative therapist, drawing from multiple modalities such as narrative and somatic therapy, however their favourite modality will always be Geek Therapy. Shannon is a member of the Queer and Trans Therapists of Nova Scotia.
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Shannon Johnston is a Registered Social Worker, who works for Shelter Nova Scotia. After completing an undergraduate Arts degree at Saint Mary’s University, she moved to Calgary, Alberta, and then to California, working in university administration at Stanford University during her four years there. Coming “home” in 2004, Shannon worked in the Financial Aid and Awards Office at Saint Mary’s University before deciding to go back to school to pursue her BSW and MSW at Dalhousie University, graduating with her MSW in 2016. Shannon has been with Shelter Nova Scotia for the past nine years, working first as a Community Trustee, and more recently as their Volunteer Coordinator and Social Work placement supervisor, and believes that everyone deserves a place to live. She lives in K’jipuktuk with her husband, two teenager daughters, and cat, Oreo.
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Lisa Messervey, Clinical Social Worker | Trauma & Crisis Specialist | Advocate for Indigenous Mental Wellness. Lisa Messervey is a Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of experience supporting individuals, families, and communities through trauma recovery, crisis intervention, and mental health care. She has built a deeply meaningful career grounded in culturally safe, trauma-informed practice, with a strong focus on supporting Indigenous populations across Atlantic Canada and the North.
Throughout her career, Lisa has held key roles serving Inuit and First Nations communities, including her work as the Territorial Child and Youth Mental Health Specialist for the Government of Nunavut, where she led system-wide efforts to integrate culturally relevant mental health services for youth across the territory. As a Mental Health Consultant in Iqaluit, she provided direct therapeutic services using a holistic approach rooted in community, cultural knowledge, and client empowerment.
Lisa also operates a private counselling practice, where she provides virtual mental health services to Indigenous clients across Canada, including assessment, treatment, advocacy, and interagency collaboration. Her work centers Indigenous voices and prioritizes trust-building, community connection, and healing from systemic and intergenerational trauma.
Currently, Lisa works with the Nova Scotia Health Authority. Her practice spans emergency, inpatient, and urgent care environments, allowing her to support clients in moments of acute vulnerability with empathy, skill, and a deep understanding of complex trauma.
Lisa holds a Master of Social Work from Dalhousie University and is certified in IFS, EMDR, CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing, and critical incident response. She is committed to advancing equitable mental health systems through advocacy, collaboration, and culturally responsive care.
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Mélika Fontaine is originally from Ottawa but of Haitian descent. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences with a specialization in International Studies and Modern Languages ​​from the University of Ottawa but is currently an Africentric Social Work Student at Dalhousie.
She spent 10 years as a Settlement worker where she helped French-speaking newcomers & LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers settle in Canada. Now she helps equity-deserving groups gain access to entrepreneurial services. She is passionate about learning about other cultures so she decided to combine her love of dance and music and obtained her certification as a Zumba Fitness instructor in 2013. These certifications include Zumba Gold, Zumba Level 1 and 2, Zumba Kids and Zumbini for the little ones. Zumba is a guided dance class created in Colombia but influenced by the world. It’s great for all levels of dancers because you get to choose your intensity. Mélika’s Zumba class will work your cardio, muscle conditioning, balance, flexibility, memory, coordination, reduce stress, increase your energy level and be fun!
Through Dance Fitness, Mélika is excited to dance around the world with you! Get ready to sweat and have fun!
Jacki Woodworth Growing up in Berwick in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, Jacki always dreamed of becoming a Social Worker. Flash forward to 2025, and she is now a retired MSW with over 30 years in the field. Along that path, Jacki began exploring Yoga and meditation and discovered
them to be quieting, self-soothing and healing. Whether in movement or in stillness, the
practices made deep sense. So much so, that by 2010, while living in Doha, Qatar, she
completed teacher trainings in both yoga and mindfulness and began teaching both.
Teaching these classes became a passion that soon grew into creating and facilitating
courses, workshops and retreats. By 2014 Jacki was the Wellness Co-Ordinator for a
small Yoga & Pilates Studio, and a Wellness Consultant with the Qatar Development
and Consultancy Center. In late 2018, Jacki moved back to Nova Scotia and soon
developed health issues that have modified the physicality of her practice and expanded
her teaching style.
Jacki is known for her warmth, her ability to create and hold respectful space, and her
gentle guiding ways. Her classes invite curiosity, community, enquiry, and fun. A Yoga
class with Jacki always includes mindfulness and breath awareness, woven together
with gentle movements that explore mobility, range, flow, stillness, strength,
compassion, balance, rest, and finally, relaxation. Such classes honour our bodies,
sooth our nervous systems, and quiet our busy minds. Ultimately, may we explore the
paths home to ourselves, where peace & gentle healing reside.
Jacki is especially proud to have trained through the University of Massachusetts
Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, and to be
recognized as an Instructor of their internationally acclaimed 8 week-Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) course.
Em Bailey is a radical doula, intuitive, creative, and sexual and reproductive health advocate and educator. They offer care for birth and postpartum, gender affirming care, HIV, adoption, fertility, abortion, and loss of a wanted pregnancy. Em prioritizes their services for Queer & Trans, Black and Brown, and Indigenous families. They are a settler of European and South Asian ancestry and work in solidarity with L'nu and African Nova Scotians in Mi'kma'ki and for the liberation of Palestine. If you or someone you know might be interested in connecting with them, you can learn more about them via their website www.birthingtransformations.com or by emailing them for a meeting at info@birthiingtransformations.com.
Natalie Rippey is an artist from Windsor NS, who completed her BFA at Mount Allison University with a minor in French. She attended Acadia University for her B.Ed and is currently an Art and English teacher at Avon View High School. She also teaches a variety of art classes outside of school and her personal art practice includes water colour and acrylic painting, needle felting, weaving and embroidery.
James Omand is an empath, and has always wanted to help people feel better, happier. In 2021 a card reading showed a path that had remained unnoticed and unexplored, the path of healer. James began studying Shamanism, Energy Healing, Meditation, and Reiki. But as a lifelong musician, the one thing that really resonated was music, and Sound Healing just fell into place. Since then, James has amassed a collection of natural instruments, some even crafted himself, which are used to balance and restore the energies of the body, mind, and spirit, while also providing an acoustic backdrop for each client's own personal healing journey.
James offers Sound Healing for groups approximately once per month, and for individuals as requested. Reiki can be provided in person or remotely and can be combined with Sound Healing for even greater benefit.
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Chris Hessian is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) and experienced social work practitioner with a strong background in critical social work, trauma treatment, and social justice. With an MSW from Dalhousie University and extensive training in trauma-informed care, Chris is dedicated to challenging patriarchal structures through her work in both individual and systemic interventions. She has led programs within correctional services, mental health, and family violence prevention, focusing on the intersection of trauma, justice, and community well-being. Currently, Chris is the Manager of Case Management & Social Work Services for the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.
Her facilitation and research contributions explore how social work can dismantle structural violence and build sustainable, inclusive communities. Chris has presented at conferences and contributed to publications on topics such as patriarchy, resilience, and collective impact, striving to foster critical hope and social change. As a sessional lecturer at Dalhousie University, she teaches courses in clinical social work practice, emphasizing a systems-based approach to justice and social equity.
Chris is the co-owner of Repressed Emotions Collective, a private practice that applies trauma-informed, decolonizing, and social justice-centered approaches to therapy. The collective creates a safe and supportive space for individuals to heal from trauma, with a specific focus on recognizing the impacts of colonialism, systemic oppression, and cultural dislocation.
Hannah Cavicchi is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with extensive experience in critical social work, trauma-informed interventions, and the intersection of social justice and the criminal justice system. With an MSW from Dalhousie University and specialized training in trauma therapies like EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), Hannah’s practice centers on empowering individuals and communities to navigate complex systems of support while challenging structures of power, including patriarchy. She currently serves as the Clinical Team Lead for Case Management and Social Work Services with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, where she supervises and trains forensic social workers and provides
trauma-responsive clinical care to individuals within the criminal justice system.
Hannah also guest lectures at Dalhousie University and Saint Mary's University, focusing on advancing social justice and critical clinical practice. Her conference presentations explore themes of decarceration, criminalization, and trauma, with an emphasis on creating systemic change and supporting marginalized communities. Through her diverse professional experiences, including work on crisis intervention teams and community reintegration programs, Hannah advocates for a justice system that addresses root causes of harm and promotes healing.
Hannah co-owns Repressed Emotions Collective, a private practice that applies trauma-informed, decolonizing, and social justice-centered approaches to therapy. The collective creates a safe and supportive space for individuals to heal from trauma, with a specific focus on recognizing the impacts of colonialism, systemic oppression, and cultural dislocation.
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Stephen Young Most people call me Steve. I was born in Ottawa but in my early years I travelled around a lot as my father was in the military. Our last posting was in Cornwallis and I did most of my school years in Annapolis Royal. I played drums in the school band and pitched softball.
My first career was in the hospitality industry. I grew up working in my family’s country inn and after high school I attended Hotel/Restaurant management at then UCCB (now Cape Breton University). I worked for 2 years in the kitchen at the Nova Scotia Hospital then worked as a bar manager at an Italian restaurant in Grand Cayman for 3 years before coming back to Canada to start my second career. I now operate an Air B&B in an in-law suite in my home as a second income and have maintained a rating as a Super host.
I did a political science degree at Acadia, and a BSW at Dalhousie (along with fellow camper, Jonathan Fourdraine)
I worked for 8 years in child protection. I went back to Dalhousie and did an MSW. I worked 14 more years at community services as a Family therapist. In September of 2024 I moved to south shore mental health and addictions where I work a 60/40 mixed case load between the child and adolescent team and the adult team as a clinical therapist.
I enjoy travelling, live theatre, pub trivia and stamp collecting so, if you ever travel to a foreign country please include me in your post card mailings. I’m a volunteer firefighter/Medical First Responder with the Chester Basin Volunteer fire department. I’m an avid fan of women’s sports between the PWHL, the WSL, NWSL and newly formed NSL where I have season tickets for the Halifax tides.
Amy Pinnell is a Registered Social Worker, Clinical Therapist, and the founder of Sensitive Social Worker. She is on a mission to help tender-hearted, deep-feeling helpers and healers engage in meaningful, social-justice oriented work, without burning out. Through her online courses and live workshops Amy has helped 100s of Social Workers release martyrdom mentality and embrace their sensitivity so that they could continue showing up whole-heartedly for their clients and for themselves. Amy is the creator of the Love Notes for Social Workers Card Deck, a pocket-sized support for busy Social Workers which has been purchased by Social Workers worldwide. Amy has a Masters of Social Work from the University
of Victoria and has 10+ years of experience working as a Social Worker in the areas of mental health and addictions. You can find Amy on Instagram (@sensitivesocialworker) or through her website (www.sensitivesocialworker.com).