Julie Despaties is the Executive Director of Interwoven Connections, an organization which provides peer support and clinical coordination for families formed by adoption, kinship, and seeking permanency. Julie’s commitment to supporting permanency for children and youth grew from her own adoption journey. After she and her husband adopted a sibling group of three older children, Julie realized that families in Ontario who are providing permanency would benefit from more resources, advocacy and community connections. In forming Interwoven Connections, Julie created a unified voice and invaluable peer network for adoptive parents and permanent caregivers.

A changemaker at heart, Julie has helped shape legislation designed to protect, value, and support youth and their families, including some of Ontario’s most vulnerable young people. She has been a founding partner in the National Consortium on Aggression Toward Families & Caregivers in Childhood & Adolescence (AFCCA), creating awareness to the need for improved focus on family preservation. Most recently, she was a leader in advocating for #TimeToAttach, a national campaign to provide expanded Employment Insurance benefits that provide parity for adoptive and kinship families and support secure healthy attachments for children.  

Julie has been a passionate advocate in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years. Along with her Interwoven Connections team, she has formed collaborative relationships with Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario, as well as with organizational partners, including the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, the Child & Youth Permanency Council of Canada, as well as other partner agencies across Canada.