At theblend we have the pleasure of working with and for some extremely good people. Here are just a few with more to come:
Dr. Jean Clinton
Jean Clinton is an Associate Clinical
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience at McMaster, division of Child Psychiatry. She is on staff at McMaster Children’s Hospital. In addition, she is an Associate in the Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Toronto and Sick Children’s Hospital. She is an Associate Member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies. She has been a consultant to child welfare and children’s mental health programs for 25 years.
Mary Gordon
Mary Gordon is recognized internationally as
an educator, best-selling author, child advocate and parenting expert who has created programs informed by the power of empathy. In 1996, she founded Roots of Empathy, which now offers programs in Canada, New Zealand, the United States and the Isle of Man. In 2005, Ms Gordon founded the Seeds of Empathy program. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Ashoka Fellow.
Ms Gordon is also the founder of Canada’s first and largest school-based Parenting and Family Literacy Centres, which she initiated in 1981. They have become public policy in Ontario, with hundreds of schools involved. They have been used as a best practice model internationally. The Nelson Mandela Children’s Foundation brought Ms Gordon to South Africa to share her parenting expertise.
Ina Zakal
Cultural Teacher – Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre
Ina is the Cultural Teacher for the Sivummut Head Start Program. Ina originally from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, has been living in Ottawa for over 20 years. Ina has an E.C.E equivalency and is bilingual in Inuktitut and English. Ina has been teaching her culture to children for over 30 years. In 2004, she was the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. Her expertise in delivering Inuktitut programming within the Sivummut Head Start is recognized by other Inuit Early Learning and Child Care programs in Canada. Ina also helped to create the Uqausivut Language Resources, and gave her knowledge in the DVD created to share Inuit culture.