Advisors
Advisors
We are proud to partner with leaders in mental health research, policy, support services and capacity building in order to promote well-being and to help create our WE Well-being tools and resources.
Advisors
Dr. Schonert-Reichl is an Applied Developmental Psychologist and a Professor in the Human Development, Learning, and Culture area in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is also the Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership in the School of Population and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. Dr. Schonert-Reichl is a renowned expert in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL) research with children and adolescents, particularly in relation to the identification of the processes and mechanisms that foster positive human qualities such as empathy, compassion, altruism and resiliency.
Dr. Amy Cheung is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. She is jointly appointed at the Mood Disorders Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Cheung’s research focuses on the management of depression in adolescents. Dr. Cheung has recently been in the news highlighting the latest update of Teen Depression Guidelines to help physicians tackle mental health issues, recently published by the American Academy of Paediatrics. Dr. Cheung is one of the lead authors and among a team that has developed the first update to the guidelines in 10 years. She has been quoted in the Washington Examiner and Medical News Today, and interviewed for other radio and print publications. The guidelines have garnered headlines, including on CBS and The Today Show on NBC.
Clinical Child Psychologist with research and practice interests in school mental health promotion, knowledge mobilization and implementation science, Dr. Kathy Short is Director for School Mental Health ASSIST, a provincial implementation team supporting the uptake and sustainability of evidence-based promotion and prevention programming in schools. Dr. Short has served on several provincial advisory groups, including the Student Well-Being Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Education and the Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council for the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, and is involved in several national projects. She co-chairs the School Mental Health International Leadership Exchange (SMHILE), a network of global leaders focused on key themes in mental health promotion.
Primary author for the Hawn Foundation’s MindUPTM program (www.mindup.org) and Committee for Children’s Mind Yeti mindfulness-based digital application (www.mindyeti.com), Molly Stewart Lawlor, M.A., Ph.D. candidate, has expertise in social and emotional development throughout childhood and adolescence. Molly’s research includes the investigation of mindfulness and psychological adjustment in children and adolescents, and evaluations of social-emotional learning programs for children and adolescents in school settings. Molly has expertise in program development, specifically social emotional learning (SEL) programming and mindfulness-based curricula. She is the Director of Education and Research for Playing Forward, and developer of the Taxi Dog Social Emotional Learning Program.
Lisa Pedrini has worked at HELP (Human Early Learning Partnership) as a National Scale-Out Project Manager. There, she helped launch the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI)—a self-report questionnaire completed by children in Grades 4 and 7 that asks them how they think and feel about their experience both in and outside of school—in Canada. Questions relate to areas of development that are strongly linked to well-being, health and academic achievement. Lisa has also held various roles in education, most recently as the Manager for Social Responsibility and Diversity for the Vancouver School District.
An award-winning television producer and interviewer, Maria has moderated many events featuring widely recognized leaders, including the Dalai Lama. Maria holds a M.Ed. with an emphasis on Social and Emotional Learning and is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC.
Jenny Mitchell believes that well-being is foundational to learning and uses this lens first and foremost as an educator, coach and community member. She is a Physical and Health Educator with over 10 years of working and learning alongside students and educators, currently teaching at the secondary school level. She also holds the role of health promoting school coordinator where she works to foster a culture of well-being at all levels through her influence in district-led initiatives and everyday practices in school communities. She supports educators through mentorship and encourages youth-led action in well-being. Jenny holds bachelor’s degrees in Human Kinetics and Education, as well as a master’s degree in Athletic Leadership.
Safe Schools Coordinator in Coquitlam, BC, Marna MacMillan is a leader in social and emotional learning, curriculum and safe schools. A teacher for the past 28 years, she coordinates implementation of both the Grade 4 and 7 Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI), a self-report questionnaire completed by children in Grades 4 and 7 that asks them how they think and feel about their experience both in and outside of school. Questions relate to areas of development that are strongly linked to well-being, health and academic achievement.
Dr. Amy Cranston is the Executive Director of the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the State of California (SEL4CA). As a veteran educator of nearly 20 years, she has served as a classroom teacher, school site administrator, county office director and state representative for a four-county region under the California Department of Education (CDE).
A special thank you to an anonymous donor.