The Peace it Together Team

Our board, staff and advisors were made up of people from a variety of backgrounds who are all passionate about finding solutions for peace.  Click on a name to display their bio.  This is only a partial list.

• Past Staff

  • Reena Lazar

    

    Reena Lazar
    Executive Director and Co-Founder

    Reena Lazar is one of the Founders and the Executive Director of the Peace it Together Society.  Reena oversees all programming and communications, represents Peace it Together in the community, manages all operations, and ensures the strength and resiliency of the organization. 

    Reena's work stems from her background in creativity and international studies and her personal connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Reena's academic background is in architecture (McGill University) and international affairs (Columbia University).

    Reena was born and raised in Montreal where she attended Jewish schools and summer camps. Although she spent two summers in Israel as a child, it wasn't not until Reena attended a Compassionate Listening Delegation in 1999 that Reena learned first-hand about the lives of Palestinians. During that journey to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, Reena had the opportunity to listen to people with many different perspectives talk about the conflict, how it impacts their lives, and their hopes for the future. It was one of the most intense and transformative two weeks of her life and it inspired her to change the focus of her career to peace work.

    Upon her return home, Reena joined Vancouver's Palestinian and Jewish Women's Dialogue Group for Peace, and began studying conflict resolution at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. In the summer of 2003, Reena co-facilitated compassionate listening and dialogue sessions at "Creativity for Peace," a summer program for Israeli and Palestinian girls in New Mexico. The experience was so fulfilling and inspiring that Reena was determined to create a similar program in Canada.

    In the year that followed, Reena completed the advanced training in Compassionate Listening in Washington State while enrolling over fifty local volunteers to plan and organize the first Peace it Together program. It was in this context that Reena met Palestinian Adri Hamael and discovered their similar objectives to create understanding between people impacted by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Reena and Adri later founded the Peace it Together Society. Reena also taught conflict resolution as part of the Peace and Conflict Studies at Langara College in Vancouver for four years.

    Before moving into peace work, Reena's career and volunteer work focused around international and sustainable urban development. Between 2000 and 2004, Reena sat on and chaired the Vancouver City Planning Commission and was a member of the City's Urban Design Panel.

  • Atef Abdelkefi

    

    Atef Abdelkefi
    Technical Director 2006-2013

    Atef Abdelkefi was born and raised in Tunisia, and moved to Canada in 1993. He has a Bachelors Degree in computer science from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Since 2002, Atef has thrived in the capacity of Information Technology Director, Video Editing Mentor, and Webmaster at the Gulf Islands Film & Television School (GIFTS) in British Columbia. He is also certified as a level I gymnastics coach by the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), and has trained young athletes from the ages of 6 to 12 years old. He is fluent in English, Arabic and French.

    He is the principle in Atef Design doing branding, design and web sevelopment. 

  • Shelley Hermon

    

    Shelley Hermon
    Israeli Regional Coordinator 2012-2014

    Shelley grew up in Israel and England and began her media career in 1997, as Art-Director for Ad agency ‘Ogilvy & Mather’ Hong Kong. Since 2000 she has freelanced as film Producer/Director/Cinematographer on range of international productions. Her feature documentary “Within The Eye of the Storm” won numerous awards worldwide and toured in over 74 cities. Her multicultural background infused her with a passion for cultural diversity and she focuses much of her work on community projects, working with youth and women. She has been regional director at Peace It Together, mentoring youth through the film and outreach program and worked as New Media Producer at the Israeli Co-production Forum, scouting and mentoring projects.

    She is currently developing a documentary TV series as well as facilitating movement classes with women, using the core movement principles of Open Floor International. 

     

  • Catherine Bargen

    

    Catherine Bargen
    Dialogue Facilitator 2008, 2011

    Catherine Bargen has been working with community Restorative Justice (RJ) programs since 1999. She is recognized across BC and Canada as an expert consultant, trainer and practitioner for RJ programs. Since 2002, she has provided training to over 1500 youth and adults on RJ in various settings including schools, faith groups, government and non-government organizations.
    
    From 2001-2008, Catherine was on staff with Langley's Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association (CJI) as their senior trainer, facilitator, and mediator. She also worked with CJI in partnership with the Langley School District as the Restorative Justice School Program Coordinator and co-authored the internationally sought-after resources "Conversation Peace" and "Talking Peace" in this capacity. Prior to her work in BC, she served as the Victim Offender Mediation Program Coordinator in Edmonton and as a Restorative Justice Educator for Mennonite Central Committee in Alberta and B.C.
    
    She received her Master's degree in Conflict Transformation in the Spring of 2008 having studied with Dr. Howard Zehr. In November 2008, Catherine was appointed the Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Provincial Government of British Columbia, housed within the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. This is a new position created to help achieve a connected and coordinated vision and strategy of RJ in B.C.
    IN the summer of 2008, Catherine was one of the facilitators for the Peace it Together Camp. Catherine loves camping, meeting new people, laughing and dreaming with her loved ones, and dancing whenever she can.

  • Huda Abu Arquob

    

    Huda Abu Arquob
    Palestinian Regional Coordinator 2013-2014

    Huda was born in Jerusalem and raised between Saudi Arabia and Hebron-West Bank. She is a Fulbright scholar with an MA in Conflict Transformation and Peace Education from the Eastern Mennonite University. She is an expert in experiential educational programs and conflict transformation studies. She has a rich and extensive career in facilitation, mediation, and education, serving as a consultant to a number of national and international organisations–including the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education. Huda is also active in various grassroots initiatives on women and youth empowerment in Palestine. Prior to joining the Peace it Together team, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco, where she also served as executive co-director of Abraham’s Vision, a conflict transformation organisation in the bay area. She is currently teaching a course on identity and narrative in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Tel Aviv’s Ono College. She lives in Dura, a town in southwest Hebron.

  • Emily Parsons Dickau

    

    Emily Parsons Dickau
    Communications and Program Assistant 2010-2012

    Emily is deeply grateful for her time with Peace it Together, first as a volunteer and then as the Communications and Program Assistant from 2010-2012. Emily continues her work for peace as the Community Building Coordinator at Kinbrace, a community of welcome and support for refugee claimants in East Vancouver. emily@kinbrace.ca

    Emily  is an SFU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies, Spanish, and International studies. After travelling to Colombia and El Salvador (two lands that continue to live through the devastating effects of violence) and learning more about  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Emily began to better understand our world's desperate need for a way through conflict that does not take life or perpetuate the cycle of violence. Emily began volunteering for Peace it Together in early 2010, and is overjoyed to be part of the team empowering youth to create lasting peace through creative, non-violent collaboration.

     

     

  • Ramiya Pushparajah

    

    Ramiya Pushparajah
    Development and Operations Assistant 2011-2013

    In her role at Peace it Together, Ramiya assists in grant writing, donor relations, and general operations. She is an emerging filmmaker, particularly interested in the nexus between film and public consciousness.

    Born into a civil war in Sri Lanka, Ramiya was compelled to learn more about the drivers of conflict. She lived on four different continents before pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Waterloo. In the lead up to the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, she wanted to inquire deeper into the pervasive propaganda entrenching the ethnic divide. Feeling these narratives were not wholly representative of the people in the conflict, she travelled to post-war Sri Lanka, journeying around the country and documenting her interactions with the peoples of various communities, as well as the work of grassroots development and peace-building organizations. Upon returning to Canada, Ramiya worked with multi-ethnic dialogue groups in the Sri Lankan diaspora in Toronto. Ramiya’s aptitude for creative arts allowed her to explore innovative ways of discussing personal stories, deep memories and emotions, things she felt were critically missing from traditional dialogue processes.

    Prior to joining Peace it Together, Ramiya received a diploma in film production from Vancouver Film School. This training provided her not only with technical and artistic skills, but also production and project management skills which she utilizes in her role at Peace it Together.

  • Aaron Lyons

    

    Aaron Lyons
    Dialogue Facilitator 2004-2011

     

    Aaron is a facilitator, trainer and mediator specializing in issues of justice and accountability. He facilitates victim-offender dialogue in serious and violent crimes, and provides training and consultation for communities and organizations across North America and internationally. Aaron holds a Master’s Degree in Conflict Transformation.

    Since 2009 Aaron has facilitated with Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives’ pioneering Victim Offender Mediation Program. As Training and Education Coordinator, he has trained groups across governmental and non-governmental sectors internationally. With the Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute, Aaron provides training and consultation on a variety of topics related to workplace conflict, violence and justice in Canada and the United States.

    Aaron completed graduate studies in Peacebuilding and Restorative Justice with Dr. Howard Zehr of the Centre for Justice and Peacebuilding. In the United States he facilitated collaborative justice processes through programs at the Prince William County Circuit Court and the District of Columbia Superior Court. In 2008 Aaron convened Youth Justice Family Group Conferences in New Zealand, widely considered the world’s first national program of restorative youth justice.

    Born and raised on British Columbia’s west coast, Aaron developed an early passion for human dynamics as a wilderness leadership instructor. After a year in Jerusalem during his undergraduate studies, Aaron became involved in designing and facilitating arts-based dialogue programs with  Peace it Together. From 2003-2006 Aaron worked with adjudicated young men struggling with violence and substance abuse through PLEA Community Services in the Vancouver area.

    Aaron currently lives in Fort Langley, British Columbia, with his wife and two children. Blending keen intuition and leadership, Aaron brings creativity and new possibility to all of his work.

    Aaron is a partner at Just Outcomes Consulting and can be reached at:info@justoutcomesconsulting.com 

  • Claudia Medina

    

    Claudia Medina
    Film Mentor 2006, 2008, 2011

    Claudia Medina-Culos is a filmmaker, writer, and educator from the West Coast of BC. Her filmmaking deals with the stories and influences of her tri-national background (Mexico, Italy, Canada) and how they are transposed onto the Canadian cultural landscape. She also dedicates herself to filmmaking and facilitating youth to tell their own stories through this medium, and has developed curriculum and taught filmmaking workshops for many years now. She also works as a camera operator, editor, and field producer for documentaries and collaborates with artists of different disciplines on performance/installation events in which she does live video mixing. Claudia currently lives on Galiano Island, BC.

  • Patricia Marococcia

    

    Patricia Marococcia
    Assistant Film Mentor and Film Maker 2011

    Patricia is a Toronto-based multimedia storyteller and creative producer with a passion for surfacing authentic stories. Her work focuses on moving pictures and written word, often at the intersection of documentary film and social impact. Patricia first volunteered with Peace it Together as an assistant film mentor and a behind-the-scenes filmmaker for the 2011 summer cohort. She was recruited to work with the organization late in the following year to help develop the organization’s first symposium, Struggling with Peace, which was initiated by Canadian delegate youth. In order to lead critical conversations about the future of peacebuilding, Patricia sourced international guests and co-facilitated youth workshops to develop creative content and formats for the three-day public conference.

• Past Board Directors

  • Dima Alansari

    

    Dima Alansari
    Director

    Dima Mohamad Sami Adel Ibrahim Alansari is a filmmaker, theatre artist, community activist and yoga instructor, currently living and working in Vancouver, Canada. Dima’s mother is Lebanese and her father is Kuwaiti; she is originally Palestinian from Al Quds (Jerusalem). Dima is deeply connected to this work because of her need to tell the stories of her people, her desire to hold those with power accountable and her ability to see both sides of the story - despite the challenges that come with it.

  • Victor Heeckt

    

    Victor Heeckt
    Director - Youth

    Victor was born in Germany, and moved to the United States in 2005, before attending the United World College of Costa Rica from 2008 to 2010. Here he was exposed to Peace and Conflict studies, theories of non-violent communication and conflict transformation, and the practices of mediation and facilitation. While committed to continued exploration of peace building and facilitation, Victor was a member of the 2011 Canadian cohort in the Peace it Together program. Following the summer intensive, Victor remained a highly engaged member of the Canadian youth team, facilitating several community screening workshops and helping to coordinate the Struggling with Peace symposium. Victor joined the Board of Directors as a youth representative in 2012. Victor is in his final year of a degree in Film Studies at SFU.

  • Erin Hobday

    

    Erin Hobday
    Co-Chair

    Erin is a lawyer and has practiced in the areas of criminal law, Aboriginal law and policy. Her work has taken her all over Canada and the world, including three years in Australia working on issues related to Indigenous law and criminal legislation. Erin first became involved with Peace it Together because she was interested in the organization’s unique approach to conflict and conflict resolution.   She has stayed because of the great people, the challenges, and the hope that there will someday be peace. When she is not at board meetings, you will find Erin running the seawall or smashing volleyballs at the beach.

  • Nawal Musleh-Motut

    

    Nawal Musleh-Motut
    Director

    Nawal is a PhD Candidate and Sessional Instructor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Her research focuses on the divide that exists between Palestinians and Israelis due to conflicting memories of the Holocaust and Palestinian Nakba. She is currently developing a digital photograph-based storytelling methodology which uses family photographs related to the Holocaust and/or Nakba to facilitate politico-ethical engagement and witnessing between Palestinians and Israelis currently living in Canada. Nawal holds a Masters degree in Modern Middle Eastern History. She was born in Canada after her parents moved here from the West Bank following the 1967 War. Both of Nawal’s parents and their extended families are from Beit Sahour (east of Bethlehem).

    Nawal can be reached at nsmusleh at sfu.ca 

  • Bassim Nahhas

    

    Bassim Nahhas
    Director

    Bassim Nahhas was born in Kuwait in 1964 to Palestinian parents. Bassim travelled to Canada at the age of 12 to pursue his education. Many years later, while studying at the University of Victoria and Georgetown, he was involved in many Middle Eastern groups on campus to promote awareness of the Middle East. During this time Bassim also took an interest in film, taking film studies courses. Though he would eventually go on to build a career in the financial services industry, Bassim is passionate about film, and believes it is an important way to develop new narratives, and deepen dialogue. He believes Canada is a great place to make that happen.

    Bassim can be reached at: bassimnahhas at shaw.ca 

  • Audrey Ple

    

    Audrey Ple
    Co-Chair

    Audrey has a strategic marketing background and extensive international experience in the areas of branding, marketing communications and business development for a diverse group of organizations. Audrey had the opportunity to work with NICE Systems and visit its headquarters in Israel multiple times in the late 1990s, which fuelled her desire to join and support Peace it together. She founded Magenta Marketing is 2001 and has worked with a variety of brands, including YVR (International Airport), TransLink, Commissionaires, Taymor, Exchange-A-Blade, Lexxon Training and Kinetic Security. When Audrey is not working, she’s probably out walking her three highly energetic big dogs in the Pacific Spirit Park!

    Audrey can be reached at audreyple at magentamarketing.ca 

  • Haifa Staiti

    

    Haifa Staiti
    Director

    Haifa was born and raised in Palestine before moving, first to Norway at age 17 and then to Canada at age 19. Growing up during the First Intifada, Haifa has firsthand experience living under the Israeli occupation and in the midst of the conflict in the Middle East. Her childhood and formative experience as a participant in the Seeds of Peace program has fueled a desire to work with others towards achieving a long lasting peace between the two nations so that no other person has to live through the same conditions she and her family endured. Haifa has an International Baccalaureate diploma from United World College – Red Cross Nordic, a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (both from Simon Fraser University). Haifa currently lives with her husband and two sons in Toronto, and works as a program manager for Brain Canada Foundation, a non-profit organization that funds neuroscience research.  

  • Ran Vered

    

    Ran Vered
    Director

    Ran Vered was born and raised in Tel Aviv. His father was born in Israel and his mother in Egypt. He married a Canadian and emigrated to Canada in 1990. Ran is self-employed and lives in Vancouver with his wife and children while the rest of his family still reside in Israel. While not directly affected by the Holocaust, Ran feels that growing up in Israel with the “us” against the rest of the world narrative impeded his development in clearly judging the Israel-Palestine conflict. He feels that he “lives and breathes the conflict on a regular basis and fears for the people involved on both sides.” Ran has a strong conviction that unless an understanding is reached to build trust and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians, both people and cultures are destined for disaster.

• Past Advisors

  • Sami Adwan

    

    Sami Adwan
    Advisor

    Dr. Adwan is a Palestinian educator whose work has won him international recognition. He was born in 1954 in Sourif, a small town northwest of Hebron, Palestine. After graduating with a B.A. in elementary education from Jordan University in 1976, he received an M.A. in educational administration from San Francisco State University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of San Francisco in 1987. He taught and was chair of the education program at Hebron University, where he also headed the employee's union and became active in politics. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Faculty of Education at Bethlehem University.
    
    Dr. Adwan's research focuses on Palestinian education and the role of education in building peace. His publications include Learn to Live Together, with Dr. Ruth Firer; Comparative Analysis of the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict in History and Civic Education; Two Conflicts, Four Countries (Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine); and The Historical Perception of Israeli and Palestinian Youth, with Dr. Shifra Sagy. He is also co-editor, with Dr. Dan Bar-On, of three works The Role of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs in Peace Building, Victimhood and Beyond, and Learning Each Other's Historical Narrative: Palestinians and Israelis (Part I, 2003; Part II, 2006). Adwan is a member of To Reflect and Trust (TRT), and, with Dr. Bar-On, co-director of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME).
    
    In 2001, Dr. Adwan and Dr. Bar-On were awarded the Alexander Langer Foundation Prize for their work and their dedication to peace as co-directors of PRIME. Similar honors were bestowed on them in 2005 when they received the Victor J. Goldberg IIE Prize for Peace and the European Association for Education of Adults Prize. Dr. Adwan was awarded the joint Legislative Resolution of the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey in March 2007, and a Fulbright Grant in Spring 2007.

  • Victor Chan

    

    Victor Chan
    Advisor

    Victor Chan first met the Dalai Lama in India in 1972. Many years later, after forging a close relationship, Chan co-authored The Wisdom of Forgiveness (Riverhead, 2004) with the Dalai Lama. The book was nominated for the Nautilus award for best spiritual book in 2005. Chan is also the author of The Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide (Moon Publications, 1994). Together with the Dalai Lama, Chan recently co-founded the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver, Canada.

  • Patsy George

    

    Patsy George
    Advisor

    Patsy George is a retired public servant and Social Worker. Born in Kerala, India she immigrated to Canada in 1960. After graduating from University of Windsor, she received Masters degree in Social work from University of Ottawa.

    
    Patsy worked as community worker in Ontario, medical social worker in Quebec and as the Director of a Family Service agency in Nova Scotia before her arrival in BC in 1975. She was employed in a variety of middle management positions in Child Welfare, Public assistance, and Community development .She retired in 2001having served as a Director in the Provincial Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration.
    Patsy was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in 1989 to 1992 and coordinated the backlog division for BC and Alberta. BC government appointed her to the Panel reviewing the child welfare legislation using a public consultation process .The resulting report led to a new Child, Family, and Community Services Act of BC.
    
    In her volunteer community service, Patsy has served as the President of BC Association of Social workers-the first visible minority person to hold that position. She is the founding member and Vice President of Immigrant and Visible Minority women of Canada. Patsy helped to start the Pacific Immigrant Resources Society and served as its President. She was a Trustee of the Vancouver Public Library, Director of the United Way of Vancouver and Lower Mainland, and Director of Legal Services Society of BC. Patsy served as the President of the international Council on Social Welfare Canada and as the President of the North American Region of its World body that promote social development globally. She is the past President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of BC and a past vice president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.
    
    Currently She is the President of the United Nations Association in Canada, Vancouver Branch, and Director of Stephen Lewis Foundation, Director of Canadian Cross roads International, Co Chair of Margaret Mitchell Fund for women and Chair of Parents together Society of BC.
    Patsy has spoken at numerous conferences locally and internationally on social development, human rights, women's issues, and sustainable development. She has represented Canada and Canadian Non governmental organizations at the UN meetings.
    
    Patsy has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions including the Order of British Columbia. And the Order of Canada.

  • Michelle Le Baron

    

    Michelle Le Baron
    Advisor

    Michelle Le Baron serves as Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Dispute Resolution at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has done seminal work in many areas of conflict resolution including intercultural, international, family, and commercial law. Professor LeBaron's recent scholarship focuses on the creative arts as they facilitate intercultural conflict transformation. She offers short courses internationally, and has given keynote speeches in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and across the US and Canada. Professor LeBaron is the author of Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution from the Heart and Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World, both from Jossey Bass, and Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Differences with Venashri Pillay. Previously, Michelle was a tenured professor of conflict analysis and resolution and women's studies at George Mason University in Virginia after practicing law and psychotherapy.

  • Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman

    

    Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman
    Advisor

    Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman is a retired clinical social worker. In 1982, in response to the threat of global nuclear war, Libby was a founding member of the Beyond War Movement, now Foundation for Global Community. In 1991, she helped organize the Beyond War conference for Israeli and Palestinian citizen-leaders which resulted in a historic signed document, FRAMEWORK FOR A PUBLIC PEACE PROCESS. Libby then co-founded the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, 15 year-years-old in early 2008 and preparing for its 189th meeting, having inspired dozens of other Dialogues to begin and continue. Libby is a Trustee of the Foundation for Global Community, and in 1994 was inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame.
    
    In 2005, Libby and Len convened in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for the first time leadership from the dozen North American camps for the Middle East public peace process. There they gathered new social intelligence about the process of social change which they have made universally available to download on the Internet.
    
    Libby helped conceive, plan, and lead all five years of the Oseh Shalom ~ Sanea al-Salaam Palestinian Jewish Family Peacemakers Camp in California. During 2003-2007, over 500 Muslim, Jewish and Christian youth and adults from North America, and from over 40 towns in Israel, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) and Jordan gathered to experience a new quality of listening, relationship, recreation and creativity at Camp Tawonga near Yosemite National Park in California.

  • Lionel "Len" Traubman

    

    Lionel "Len" Traubman
    Advisor

    Lionel "Len" Traubman retired in 2000 from his practice of Dentistry for Children in San Francisco. He is a former Director of the San Francisco Dental Society, and was Editor of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and of the California Society of Dentistry for Children. Len was regional alumni President of Alpha Omega Jewish dental fraternity, and received the 1998 Distingushed Alumnus Award of the University of California School of Dentistry, for whom he gave the 2006 Commencement Address.
    
    He wrote and published THE ORECKOVSKY FAMILY: FROM RUSSIA TO AMERICA, depicting his pioneer ancestors' immigration following the first pogroms of the early 1880s. The book resides in 100 libraries in North America and Europe. For 25 years, Len has published on war and peace from personal experience with Russians and Americans, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and Jews and Palestinians.
    
    Len, with his wife, Libby, conceived and co-produced two 2007 documentary films -- PEACEMAKERS: Palestinians & Jews Together at Camp, and DIALOGUE AT WASHINGTON HIGH, and created the accompanying TEACHER'S GUIDE freely downloaded on the Internet. The DVD sets have gone to over 4,500 individuals representing 1,384 institutions in 948 cities, all 50 states, and 59 countries on every continent.

  • Catherine Winckler

    

    Catherine Winckler
    Advisor

    An unflagging entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a passion for the communications possibilities presented by emerging new media, have brought Catherine Winckler enthusiastically to where she is today. As Partner in Vancouver-based Fleming Creative Group and Creative Director of the 30-person firm's interactive division, Switch Interactive, Catherine has concentrated on providing multi-platform marketing solutions to international clients predominantly in the movie, TV, videogame, and luxury real estate markets. Clients of the award-winning company include Nintendo of Canada, Haddock Entertainment, Microsoft USA, Propaganda Games, A&E, and Brightlight Pictures.
    
    Catherine is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (Political Science), and has her Certified Internet Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS) designation from the same institution. She is a member of the prestigious International Women's Forum (IWF), most recently attending the organization's international conference hosted in Amman, Jordan, bringing together 500 women from 47 countries around a theme of 'Building Bridges, Breaking Down Walls.' She is a longstanding member of the Forum of Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), is on the Advisory Board of Kwantlen College, is a former Board member of BC Spaces for Nature, acts on the Advisory to the Acute Care Geriatric Nurses' Network of BC (ACGNN) around issues concerning family participation in continuity of care, and is an active letter writer for Amnesty International.
    
    Catherine Winckler shares her expertise and enthusiasm through participation in new media industry events and association memberships and through mentoring young people entering the tech and communications fields. Most recently she was listed among PROFIT magazine's 'Canada's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs.'