Our Team

Staff

• Alana Prochuk

  Manager of Public Legal Education

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  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.
• Basya Laye

  Director of Development & Engagement

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  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.
• Cait Hurley

  Project Manager, Internal Strategic Planning

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  Cait joined West Coast LEAF with an interest in experiencing an organization questioning what it means to be a decolonizing and feminist non-profit. She comes to work with pleasure to learn from the experiences of her colleagues. With commitment to connecting non-profit governance and operations into earth systems, she brings her experiences in feminist legal operations, cannabis retail operations and community organizing to the exciting opportunity of strategic planning and change management. Cait is working through building understanding into her maternal Doukhobor ancestry by questioning the ways she has inherited utopian settler ideology and how this plays out on these unceded lands. Outside of work, she is proud to serve as Board Chair of Hives for Humanity and facilitate their Community Engagement Committee.

   
• Caitlin Anderson

  Administrative Assistant

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  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.

   
• Cat Hart

  Manager of Fundraising

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  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.
• Cecile Afable

  Youth Workshop Coordinator

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  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.
• Chelsey Blair

  Practicum Student

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  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.
• Elba Bendo

  Director of Law Reform

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  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.
• Kate Feeney

  Director of Litigation

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  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.
• Raji Mangat

  Executive Director

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  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

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  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.
• Sharon Xia

  Event Manager & Donor Coordinator

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  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.
• Victoria Chen

  Office Manager

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  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 spends her days chasing after a very active toddler and singing everywhere she goes.
• Whitney Vicente

  Articling Student

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  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.