Our Board
Board Officers
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Christie Esau
Board Chair
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Melissa Pierre-Sossoyan
Board Vice-Chair
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Lisa Cameron
Board Treasurer
Directors of the Board
Martha represents families touched by open adoption and care arrangements at board meetings and creates resources and supports to strengthen families with varying levels of openness.
Martha Chamberlain
Nancy participates in marketing and communications planning and provides guidance to the Board and Interwoven Connections team in these areas, to raise our profile and presence in the adoption and kin and customary care communities.
Nancy Bent
Genevieve is an executive in the federal public service, and has worked on energy, environment and Indigenous policy matters at several departments and agencies since 2005. Genevieve holds a PhD from the University of Ottawa in Biology.
Genevieve Carr
Erin is the Associate Director, Education and Learning and has worked in the Office since 2014. Erin is responsible for the implementation of training and learning strategies relating to human rights, equity and inclusion.
Erin Clow
Michelle Young is a Canadian author of multiple books. She has been featured in The Globe and Mail, appeared on television and podcasts, and is passionately seeking new ways to bring invisible battles into the light through her stories.
Michelle Young
Simone is a Registered Social Service Worker with Julliette’s Place, currently in the role of Manager of Community Engagement & Support Services.
Simone Cornelissen
Andrew is trained as a lawyer and a philosopher and holds degrees from McGill, MIT, and the University of Toronto. He is currently a Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario’s Faculty of Law and has held a number of academic leadership positions during his time at Western, most recently as Acting Dean of Law.
Andrew Botterell
Accepting Board Applications
The board is accepting applications from all interested candidates but is prioritizing folks with experience in fundraising, 2SLGBTQIA+, First Nations, Metis and Inuit, and African/Caribbean-Canadian communities. As we embrace our new brand and identity, the board seeks candidates with fresh ideas, an open mind and a commitment to furthering the strategic direction and long-term financial sustainability of the organization.
Teneil is an adoption and fertility lawyer at Inspire Law and supports clients on their paths to parenthood by drafting surrogacy, embryo donation, and gamete donation agreements, in addition to obtaining parentage declarations as needed.
Teneil MacNeil
Raven is currently completing an Honours degree in Sociology, she brings both academic insight and lived experience to her advocacy for child and youth rights. Raven has worked with organizations including HEERO™, PaleBlue™, and Defence for Children International Canada.
Raven Bartman
Kim has been working in the field of social work education since 2015, has been in the social work field for over 25 plus years and has deep commitment for social justice, education and changes to adoption policies by practicing from an anti-oppressive lens that is decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive. She is a Cree on her late mother's side, a member of the Peguis First Nation and Polish on her late father's side of the family.
Kim Grzybowski
Former Board Directors
Carolyn and her partner, Andrew, adopted two boys internationally, aged three and five at the time. A professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, Carolyn focuses on the ethics of assisted reproduction and adoption in her research. She co-edited the book Family-Making: Contemporary Ethical Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2014) and was an invited participant at the International Forum on Inter-country Adoption and Global Surrogacy, in The Hague, Netherlands.
Former Chair of the Board,
Carolyn Mcleod
Tedd is a father to two boys (biological brothers), whom he adopted from the Children’s Aid Society, with his husband Garry. The couple worked with a private adoption practitioner to become adopt-ready. He found Interwoven Connections while on adoption probation and struggling to find post-adoption supports. He served on the Board because he wanted to ensure all new adoptive parents have a place to reach out to in times of need. Tedd currently works in research project management at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Former Chair of the Board,
Tedd Konya
Mary-Jo is a Registered Psychotherapist specializing in attachment, trauma, and parenting. She is the author of “Caring Together: A Guide for parents, foster parents, and adoptive parents of children who are in care” and a past president, and current Advisory Board member for The Association for Training in Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). She continues to collaborate with Interwoven Connections as a trusted advisor on mental health supports for families supporting permanency, and on the development of our work in addressing AFCCA.
Former Director of the Board,
Mary-Jo Land