Julie Despaties is the Founder and Executive Director of Interwoven Connections, providing peer support and clinical coordination for families formed through adoption, kinship, and customary care. Her commitment to supporting permanency for children and youth grew from her own adoption journey. After adopting a sibling group of three older children, Julie realized Ontario families providing permanency needed more resources, advocacy, and community connections.

A changemaker at heart, Julie has helped shape legislation to protect vulnerable youth and families. Together with Kids Brain Health, Interwoven founded the National Consortium on Aggression Toward Families & Caregivers (AFCCA), uniting policymakers, academics, law enforcement, practitioners, and families across Canada. Since 2018, she led #TimeToAttach advocacy, resulting in Bill C-59 receiving royal assent on June 20, 2024. When implemented, this will provide 15-week attachment leave for adoptive parents and families formed through surrogacy—creating parity with other families.

As a passionate advocate, Julie has spent over 20 years applying strategic leadership that inspires stakeholders across staff, volunteers, boards, and communities. Her effective networking galvanizes organizations to create systemic change. Under her leadership, Interwoven has grown into an organization with a $2.5M+ annual budget, delivering crucial programs with measurable positive impacts.

Julie's focus is on building comprehensive support ecosystems across multiple sectors. She liaises with private and public stakeholders nationally and provincially, forming strategic partnerships with child welfare, healthcare, schools, legal services, and community organizations. Through this multi-sector approach, she has positioned Interwoven as a key organization driving policy changes, ensuring families have access to the right supports at the right time across all permanency pathways.

Julie earned her Master's in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership from Carleton University and is bilingual in English and French.