Staff
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Alana Prochuk
Manager of Public Legal Education
she/her/hers or they/them/their/theirs
Alana is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to West Coast LEAF’s work for social justice as the Manager of Public Legal Education. A BC-certified English and ESL teacher, Alana brings experience in classroom-based and grassroots education, as well as communications, research, and project coordination. Most recently, Alana worked at the BC Civil Liberties Association and at WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, where she led a campus initiative against gender-based violence in partnership with Vancouver Community College. Alana also holds an MA in Cultural Studies. When they’re not at work, you’re likely to find them scooting around town on their bike, checking out local arts events, reading, writing, or dancing with abandon.
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Basya Laye
Director of Development & Engagement
she/her/hers
Prior to her tenure as editor of a community newspaper, Basya was director of a community foundation, and worked for an organization in New York City dedicated to building collaborative relationships between national ethnic lay organizations and communities around the country. Basya has an interdisciplinary degree with a focus on identity issues in the African diaspora, and attended NYU to study humanities and social thought. With strong interests in public health, ethics, religious traditions, art, literature, music, animal conservation, public policy and equality rights, she also loves to spend time with family and friends, read, and enjoy Vancouver’s natural surroundings.
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Cait Hurley
Office Manager (Interim)
she/her/hers
Cait joined West Coast LEAF with an interest in experiencing decolonizing and feminist non-profit operations, and she comes to work every day with pleasure to learn from the leadership of her colleagues. Cait is a longtime cannabis advocate with a background in cultivation, distribution, low-barrier retail operations, public education, and pre-legalization licensing. She also sits as a board member and chair of Hives for Humanity’s community engagement committee. Having recently completed a fellowship for social change makers with SFU RADIUS, she feels fortunate to renew exploration of operational methods for relationship-based social change while engaging in lively and critical discussions about plain language in social justice work and creative protocols. She feels particularly connected to drug user justice, explorations of neurodiversity and madness, beekeeping, chess, mapping systems, and a lovely glass of natural wine at Juice Bar!
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Caitlin Anderson
Administrative Assistant
she/her/hers or they/them/their/theirs
Caitlin is thrilled to join West Coast LEAF as the Administrative Assistant. Having previously worked in law and accounting offices, she brings a love of problem solving and list making to the team. An avid dragon boater, she is a strong promoter of adapted sports as a way to combat isolation for people with disabilities. To offset her participation in paddling and yoga, Caitlin knits, reads and binge watches bad dramas.
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Cat Hart
Manager of Fundraising
they/them/their/theirs
Cat is a British settler who moved to these lands over a decade ago. They join West Coast LEAF with a background in communications, outreach and fundraising from their previous work at the BC Civil Liberties Association. Cat holds a Masters in Communication from Simon Fraser University, where they focused on national security narratives and their intersection/conflict with human rights and civil liberties. Cat is passionate about amplifying marginalized voices, youth empowerment, and testing the limits of colonial law. When not in the office, they are most likely making pictures and art forms out of whatever is handy.
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Cecile Afable
Youth Workshop Coordinator
she/her/hers
Cecile is a Filipino-American feminist from Massachusetts. Prior to joining West Coast LEAF, Cecile spent several years teaching at Lycée Marcel Gimond in Aubenas, France, and researching wrongful conviction for the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. She holds a B.A. in Women’s & Gender Studies from Brandeis University, where she wrote a Thesis on intersectional Title VII (employment discrimination) lawsuits. Cecile is passionate about cultivating legal literacy and excited to bring West Coast LEAF’s workshops to youth throughout British Columbia.
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Chelsey Blair
Practicum Student
she/her/hers
Chelsey Blair is joining West Coast LEAF from the University of Northern British Columbia’s regional campus here in the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations of the Coast Salish peoples. She will complete a practicum with West Coast LEAF to finish off her social work undergraduate degree. She is transitioning out of a long career in personal services and into this next adventure; she is an activist and a writer, as well as a staunch feminist seeking to make a dent in this unjust patriarchal machine we live in. She has focused her studies on women’s support services, as she has long made it her activism to make safe spaces for queer women and non-binary folks who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. Chelsey is looking forward to honing her developing taste for research and policy work with West Coast LEAF.
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Elba Bendo
Director of Law Reform
she/her/hers
Elba comes to West Coast LEAF following years of work with communities directly impacted by systemic inequality. Prior to joining West Coast LEAF, Elba practiced labour, employment and human rights law at a Toronto-based social justice firm and volunteered with the Worker’s Action Centre where she assisted workers in situations of precarious employment in enforcing their rights. Through this work, Elba saw first-hand the challenges the most marginalized communities face in accessing the law. In 2016, she returned to school to receive an LLM from SOAS, University of London during which she researched how transnational coalition building can facilitate feminist law reform efforts. Following her LLM, Elba led a public legal education program at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law for newcomer youth. Most recently, she acted as a legal advisor to a number of women-led grassroots community organizations working on indigenous land rights in Myanmar. Elba loves traveling, reading (particularly post-modern fiction) and trying out new fitness classes.
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Kate Feeney
Director of Litigation
she/her/hers
Kate comes to West Coast LEAF with a commitment to engaging in litigation informed by broader campaigns for social change. She holds a law degree from the University of Victoria and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of British Columbia. Since law school, Kate has worked on supporting access to justice in a variety of areas, including administrative, constitutional, human rights, and family law. She has both helped people use the law to achieve their individual goals and litigated cases with the aim of systemic law reform. Outside of work, Kate enjoys hiking, camping, and singing (sometimes in key) with her family.
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Raji Mangat
Executive Director
she/her/hers
At the core of Raji’s wide-ranging legal career is a commitment to using the law as a tool for positive transformation. Her recent work has focused on access to justice, the impact of detention on women, and family law. Raji holds a law degree from the University of Victoria, a master’s degree in international affairs from Carleton University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from the University of British Columbia. After completing law school, Raji clerked for Justice Frank Iacobucci at the Supreme Court of Canada. She was called to the Ontario bar in 2004, to the New York State bar in 2005, and to the BC bar in 2011. She has practiced administrative and constitutional law since returning to the West Coast in 2012. Raji serves on the boards of the Access Pro Bono Society of British Columbia, the Vancouver Public Library, and the One to One Literacy Society. Outside of work, Raji likes to make paper crafts, binge on Netflix, and meander along city streets in search of coffee.
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Sharnelle Jenkins-Thompson
Manager of Community Outreach
she/her/hers
Sharnelle Jenkins-Thompson is a proud mixed woman raised by a Welsh-Jewish immigrant Mum and a Metis-Cree father. Sharnelle is passionate about addressing the impacts of colonialism and injustice through the power of meaningful relationships. Sharnelle grew up in Nanaimo (Snuneymuxw Nation) but now calls Vancouver home. She is a student at UVic in a Masters of Indigenous Social Work. She often can be found hanging out with her tortoise and cat and enjoying this beautiful, unceded Coast Salish Territory.
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Sharon Xia
Event Manager & Donor Coordinator
she/her/hers
Sharon is the Event Manager & Donor Coordinator at West Coast LEAF. She coordinates the Annual Equality Breakfast and manages the donor database. Prior to joining West Coast LEAF, she worked with international organizations and education institutions in China and Australia to implement training and research programs. Sharon has an academic background in Labor Economics; she loves knitting and also likes to spend time exploring new places.
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Victoria Chen
Office Manager
she/her/hers
Driven by a passion for social justice, Victoria brings her experience in community organizing and non-profit work to West Coast LEAF, as well as her joy in well-organized systems. She has a BA from SFU with a triple minor in Dialogue, Sociology, and Psychology, in addition to a Certificate in Social Justice. She is inspired by the resilience of migrant women like her mum, and can be found singing no matter where she is.
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Whitney Vicente
Articling Student
she/her/hers
Whitney Vicente is an Anishinaabe woman from Manitoba. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication in 2015 and graduated from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law in 2020. Whitney is very passionate about Indigenous law and Indigenous issues, specifically regarding social welfare involving Indigenous women and children, as well as the intersection of Indigenous law and Environmental law. She spent her 3L summer working at West Coast Environmental Law. When she is not working, Whitney enjoys volunteering with Indigenous youth, camping, baking, and spending time with family.
Board
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Clea Parfitt
Vice-President Internal, Legal Committee Chair
Clea was called to the bar in May 1992. She articled with Victory Square Law Office, a union-side labour firm, and then worked for the BCGEU doing arbitration and labour board cases. Since October 1993, Clea has practiced privately, from 2000 onwards as a sole practitioner. She works primarily in the areas of human rights and employment law. Clea was co-counsel in a historical abuse case against the Crown involving a former child ward at Woodlands School. Clea was active for more than a decade with the West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association, a non-profit organization which provides legal advice and advocacy for domestic workers in British Columbia, was a Board Member of P.A.C.E. (Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society), and has sat on the West Coast LEAF Legal Committee for more than a decade. She is currently the chair of that committee.
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Elin Sigurdson
President
Elin is a lawyer at Mandell Pinder, LLP, where her practice focuses on Aboriginal and constitutional litigation and dispute resolution. Elin has had the opportunity to work on cases directed at social change, environmental protection, access to justice, equality, and Aboriginal and treaty rights. Elin came to practice law because of her dedication to using all available tools to improve social justice and equality. Elin lives in Vancouver and surrounds herself with family and friends who inspire her with their diverse and interesting work and interests. Elin was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 2007. She received a Bachelor of Arts from UBC in 1999, a Bachelor of Laws from UBC in 2005, and a Master of Laws from the University of California at Berkeley in 2010.
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Frances Rosner
Frances Rosner is a Metis lawyer working as a sole practitioner in Vancouver, recently called to the bar in March 2016, practicing primarily in family and prison law. For the past 5 years, Frances has been working as a Gladue report writer for all levels of the court in BC, and co-authored a report filed in support of a leave application to the Supreme Court of Canada. She is passionate about social justice and has taken a special interest in advocating for persons with disabilities in all areas of her law practice. She has always been highly focused on legal issues involving Indigenous peoples—this lifelong passion stems from her own personal experience with racism and discrimination having grown up in Winnipeg on both sides of Portage Avenue (Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities). In her professional life, she has had the privilege of working closely with Indigenous peoples and communities across Canada. She is now more determined than ever to advocate for change and work towards reconciliation. Generally speaking, she finds herself drawn to legal issues that involve arbitrary state action, power imbalances, and the marginalization of any person or group. In her experience, these issues are most prevalent in prison law and child protection and so these areas of her practice are quickly growing.
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Joana Thackeray
Joana Thackeray is a Vancouver-based lawyer with expertise in litigation, judicial and appellate review, administrative, constitutional, and human rights law. She has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia, in the Supreme Court of Canada, and before a variety of administrative boards and tribunals in British Columbia. Prior to her call to the bar, she was a law clerk for the Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell of the Supreme Court of Canada and for justices at the British Columbia Court of Appeal. She received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria in 2008, and a graduate degree in law from the University of Oxford (Wadham College) in 2017. While in private practice, Joana acted for a broad range of clients in the private and public sectors, including non-profit advocacy organizations such as West Coast LEAF. She has a strong interest in comparative human rights, equality and constitutional law. Joana currently practices as legal counsel in the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General.
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Julia Kwinter
Treasurer
Julia Kwinter is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator who lives in Victoria. She is currently a Senior Manager at Grant Thornton LLP. Since 2003, Julia has provided financial advisory support to clients, primarily related to valuation and dispute resolution. With a clear understanding of the distinct roles of board and management with respect to governance and operations, Julia creates practical solutions to complicated problems. She brings expertise in accounting, finance, and strategic planning with industry specialization in consumer products and retail sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Victoria and is a member of the BC Association of Women in Finance.
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Martina Zanetti
Martina Zanetti is a trusts and estates lawyer with the Vancouver office of Norton Rose Fulbright. Her practice focuses on estate planning, estate administration, and incapacity matters. She received her J.D. at UBC, and holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto with majors in Women and Gender Studies and International Relations. Martina has volunteered with West Coast LEAF in numerous capacities including on the CEDAW Report Card Subcommittee and at the Equality Breakfast. She currently serves as Treasurer of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. In her spare time Martina loves live music, cooking, knitting, and hanging out on Commercial Drive or at the edge of the world in Tofino.
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Mia Taghizadeh
VP External
Mia Taghizadeh has worked to increase youth civic engagement locally, nationally through federal politics, and internationally through different UN agencies. This passion brought her to West Coast LEAF six years ago when she began facilitating the No Means No and Youth in the Workplace workshops to high school aged students. Mia also completed an internship with West Coast LEAF prior to entering law school. She contributed to the development of legislative audits conducted through a gendered lens. She has also been a speaker at the West Coast LEAF Equality Breakfast, the UBC Women and Law Dinner, and nominated for the Auriol Gurner Young Memorial Award at the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies at UBC.
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Naomi Moses
Naomi Moses is a lawyer at JFK Law in Vancouver, where they are privileged and humbled to practice law on behalf of Aboriginal people. Naomi also practices class action litigation, criminal law, and constitutional law, and works to meet the legal needs of LGBTQ+ people. Naomi has been involved with West Coast LEAF since 2012, and has worked for the organization as a communications assistant, copy editor, and volunteer. As a non-binary trans person, Naomi looks forward to supporting West Coast LEAF as they evolve into a non-profit working tirelessly towards equality for all people who are marginalized because of their gender.
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Nina Purewal
Nina was called to the Bar in 2006. She has worked primarily in civil litigation with private firms. However, her interest in human rights pushed her to become involved with West Coast LEAF as a volunteer, which ultimately led her to work with Pivot Legal Society & LLP in 2009. In August 2010, Nina went with the CBA Young Lawyers Program to Tanzania where she interned with their Law Society. She has a Masters in International Human Rights Law through the University of Oxford and has worked with the Representative for Children and Youth in Vancouver. She currently practices as Crown Counsel in Smithers, BC.
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Sana Shahram
Dr. Sana Shahram works with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow with the Equity Lens in Public Health (ELPH) research project . Dr. Shahram is also an Embedded Health Equity Scholar in Interior Health’s Population Portfolio and Research Department , and a sessional instructor at UBC Okanagan. Her research interests include decolonized approaches to health equity research, the social determinants of substance use during pregnancy, and knowledge mobilization that disrupts the systemic roots of inequitable health outcomes.
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Veronica Singer
Veronica is a business lawyer with Ratcliff & Company LLP, in North Vancouver, with an emphasis on First Nations economic development work. Her practice spans most aspects of a business’s life, from initial set up, operational matters, licensing and brand protection, expansion, financing, and employee issues, all the way to estate planning, income splitting, and preparing a business for sale. Her clients include small to mid-sized businesses and professional practices, First Nations from around the province, and local, national, and international not-for profits. Veronica has a particular interest in working with women in business, and has worked for federal and provincial government agencies, and in private practice for many years. Veronica is currently on the executive of the National Women’s Lawyer’s Forum, and member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Children’s Law Committee. She has been an active participant in the WLF mentoring program, Access ProBono and SOGIC. Veronica has been Chair of the North Shore Women’s Centre, the North Shore Youth Justice and Family Court Committee, and on the executive of the Gifted Children’s Association, and Mothers of Multiples. Veronica is the mother of three teenagers and stays sane by keeping active as an avid runner and member of Vancouver Frontrunners, cyclist, swimmer, snowshoer and very frequent user of the fantastic North Shore trails.
Indigenous Advisory
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Doris Fox
Ms. Fox is a Musqueam Elder. Throughout the year, Ms. Fox works at different wellness days as a Life Coach, Spiritual Advisor and healer using various traditional healing methods taught to her by her Elders and by various other Indigenous healers. Doris sits on several advisory boards, committees, Elders Circles, etc. As well, Doris works at several Health Clinics as an Elder and healer.
Doris Fox teaches various traditional arts and crafts such as, traditional Salish Weaving, Cedar-bark Weaving, beading, etc., that was taught to her by her Elders. During her classes, Ms. Fox ensures that the students know about the history, traditions, values and beliefs behind the ancient knowledge that she shares. Doris also shares her knowledge of intellectual property and the importance of artists knowing how to protect themselves and their work. Doris is an artist and clothing designer, as well, and has taught sewing classes too.
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Dr. Jenny Morgan
Dr. Jenny Morgan is from the Gitxsan First Nations. Clan member of the Lax Gibuu fr Anspayaxw + Gitwangax. Daughter of late Am Bax Gan and Simoget Tsu, and from the House of Wii Muk’willixw. She is grateful to reside on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations for nearly 20 years, also known by the colonial name of Vancouver. Her day to day work is as the Director for Indigenous Health at the B.C. Women’s and Children’s Hospitals. Her post secondary educational endeavours include a BSW from UBC, MSW from UVic, and EdD from Western University. Her passion and hope remain with decolonizing systems and upholding the rights of Indigenous peoples for the greater good of all.
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Lillian Howard
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Lorelei Williams
Lorelei Williams is an Interior Salish/Coast Salish woman from Skatin Nations/Sts’Ailes, Vancouver (Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh), BC. She is a single mom raising two beautiful and amazing children. Lorelei is back at Capilano University to finish her Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Business Management. She is also the Program Manager with The Restoring Circles Project which is an Indigenous Ally Transformative Justice Project where they seed community talking/healing circles/workshops to prevent/end violence. They also collaborate with other programs and trainings that specialize in practice-specific teachings such as Land-based Trauma Healing and more. Lorelei is raising awareness and advocating for victims and families of MMIWG through Butterflies in Spirit – a dance group she founded in 2012. The group is comprised of family members of MMIWG and was formed with the goal of empowering Indigenous women in her community, and raising awareness about her missing Aunt, and her cousin Tanya Holyk who was murdered in 1996. “As a family member of both missing and murdered Indigenous women, I do what I can to raise awareness of this issue so this doesn’t happen to more families,” Lorelei says. As a Research Assistant at Sovereign Bodies Institute (SBI), located on Wiyot and Ohlone territories, in Northern California, Lorelei is developing “Butterflies in Spirit: Dance, Healing, MMIWG” – a project aimed at producing an understanding and awareness of how dance can be utilized as healing practice for both Indigenous survivors of violence and their families, as well as those impacted by the MMIWG crisis, through research, skill-building, and public awareness. She is also part of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Coalition, a diverse group of more than 25 urban community and political advocacy groups and family members of MMIWG. “My wish is that violence would end for women and girls around the world.”
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Owen Ballendine
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Frances Rosner
Frances Rosner is a Metis lawyer working as a sole practitioner in Vancouver, recently called to the bar in March 2016, practicing primarily in family and prison law. For the past 5 years, Frances has been working as a Gladue report writer for all levels of the court in BC, and co-authored a report filed in support of a leave application to the Supreme Court of Canada. She is passionate about social justice and has taken a special interest in advocating for persons with disabilities in all areas of her law practice. She has always been highly focused on legal issues involving Indigenous peoples—this lifelong passion stems from her own personal experience with racism and discrimination having grown up in Winnipeg on both sides of Portage Avenue (Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities). In her professional life, she has had the privilege of working closely with Indigenous peoples and communities across Canada. She is now more determined than ever to advocate for change and work towards reconciliation. Generally speaking, she finds herself drawn to legal issues that involve arbitrary state action, power imbalances, and the marginalization of any person or group. In her experience, these issues are most prevalent in prison law and child protection and so these areas of her practice are quickly growing.