On this page you will find a detailed outline of our schedule for the forum and descriptions about all sessions. To learn more about the speakers for each session, you can visit our speaker profile page.
Day 1 — September 25
Opening (7:30 am – 12:00 pm)
Registration for our Annual Training Forum will take place on the Lower Lobby. At registration our EVA BC staff will welcome you and you will receive a name-tag, a participant program, and your swag bag.
This session will set the energy for the two days of our forum. This plenary session will be available for all participants. More information coming soon.
Keynote Address: Elaine Alec
Elaine Alec’s keynote will draw from her work with Cultivating Safe Spaces, a transformative framework developed by Elaine Alec in 2019 designed to foster wellness, equity, and systems change. Since hosting the first workshop in February 2020, Elaine has delivered this training to over 300 groups and 10,000 participants worldwide, reshaping how organizations and individuals approach leadership, collaboration, and change.
Whether you’re navigating workplace challenges, striving for more inclusive systems, or seeking to elevate your leadership, Cultivating Safe Spaces provides the roadmap to lasting transformation—starting from within.
Keynote Address: Jackson Katz
Jackson Katz, Ph.D., a longtime partner of EVA-BC, will deliver a keynote presentation that focuses on efforts to engage and mobilize men from all ethnic and racial backgrounds in the prevention of all forms of gender violence. His comments will include a summary of the key themes in his new book Every Man: Why Violence Against Women is a Men’s Issue. Katz created and directed the first large-scale prevention program in the college and professional sports culture, as well as the first system-wide program in the U S military. He is one of the early architects of the “bystander” approach to prevention, and is one of the first educators and subject matter experts to identify gender violence prevention as a leadership issue – especially for men. His talk will include an overview of prevention efforts in these and other sectors over the past quarter century, and a discussion of lessons learned (and not learned). This will include comments about the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle prevention initiatives in the States. His talk will provide both inspiration and concrete strategies for improving leadership competencies at all levels – professional and personal.
Lunch (12:00 – 1:30 pm)
Information regarding lunch coming soon. If you have any dietary needs, restrictions or preferences, please make sure to note this information in your registration.
Workshops (1:30 – 3:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
Presenter(s): Cassidy Smith, STV Counsellor, Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC).
Using the arts-based method of body mapping, participants will explore how being supported, connected, attuned to, and reflexive within their working roles impacts their trust in self and others, and therefore their own working role sustainability. This hands-on workshop draws on the facilitator’s thesis research, which explored anti-violence workers’ experiences of trust and sustainability in their roles. This research identified four key themes: Trust, as Connectedness, as Safety; The Trustworthy Counsellor: Self-Trust and Sustainability through Role Affirmation; Sustainable Trust as Connected Assurance; and Self-Trust as Reflexive Realism. This interactive session will offer a reflective space for frontline workers to deepen their own understandings of themselves within their work, these core concepts, and their relevance in supporting long-term resilience in this important work.
Presenter(s):
- Kamaljit Lehal, Lehal Law Legal Services
- Sandy Sihota, SiLaw Group Family Lawyers
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a pervasive issue that affects individuals from all walks of life, and its impacts extend across various legal systems. This workshop will delve into the complex intersection of Family Law, Immigration Law, and Intimate Partner Violence, with a focus on the evolving legal landscape in Canada. It will provide a comprehensive and current account of how IPV is addressed within both family law and immigration law contexts. Drawing upon real-world expertise from seasoned practitioners, this session will offer valuable insights and practical strategies for navigating these systems—especially for vulnerable individuals caught in both.
At the heart of this workshop is the Tort of Family Violence, an area that has gained significant attention recently. The Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark case regarding the expansion of the law to encompass this Tort is a critical turning point in understanding how IPV is now treated legally in Canada.
This is not just a lecture-style presentation—we aim to foster an interactive learning environment that invites participants to engage in case studies and group discussions. By the end of the session, participants will have a deeper understanding of the legal options and protective measures available to individuals experiencing IPV within both the family law and immigration systems.
Presenter(s):
- Nadia Grutter, Living In Community
Sex workers are multiply marginalized by criminalization, sex work stigma, vulnerability to predatory violence, and lack of representation within many gender equity spaces. To truly deliver programming that creates safety for everyone, organizations must listen to and uphold sex workers’ needs and experiences.
In this session, Living in Community will deliver an informative workshop on how anti-violence organizations can ensure all parts of their work are intervening and advocating appropriately for sex workers’ rights.
Building on our 20+ years educating, advocating, and convening sex workers and other diverse stakeholders across BC and beyond, this workshop will address:
- Best practices for frontline workers when supporting sex workers accessing your organization’s programming
- Organizational policy recommendations for frontline organizations to ensure sex workers’ needs are met
- The importance of an integrated, sector-wide advocacy approach, viewing sex work as work and sex workers as respected and vital members of our communities.
Presenter(s):
- Samantha Fernandes, Ending Sexual Violence Association of (ESVA) Canada
- Candice Shaw, Ending Sexual Violence Association of (ESVA) Canada
This workshop will:
- provide an overview of GBV & Sexual Violence advocacy, research and collaboration being done nationally by ESVA Canada
- articulate the connections between national systems change work and community-based GBV work, and how one can influence the other
- explore how advocating to strengthen the GBV sector as a whole can improve conditions for GBV workers, non-profit organizations, and ultimately benefit survivors
- reframe the issue of GBV worker wellbeing from a systems perspective, delving into factors that are affecting workers and how we can start to address these issues
- explore tools and resources created by ESVA Canada that community-based organizations can use in their own advocacy work
- introduce one of ESVA Canada’s current projects: the development of a national GBV labour force strategy
- engage participants in a short activity that allows them to provide their input and feedback into the GBV labour force strategy development
Presenter(s):
- Jennifer Khor, Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
- Angela Leung, Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
The workshop will examine the integration of programs providing legal advice to people who experience sexual assault (Stand Informed) and people who experience workplace sexual harassment (SHARP Workplaces), public legal education and information (PLEI), and support services to create a unified holistic process. We will discuss leveraging funding for different programs to maximize services to clients while minimizing administrative and bureaucratic burdens. We examine how to streamline intake and service delivery of the legal clinic while maintaining a client-centric and trauma-informed approach. This led to the expansion of the clinic to include additional support services for clients and increasing collaboration with front line service providers and support workers. We will discuss how we include support workers and protect client confidentiality during legal consultations.
Lastly, we will review how public legal education can be integrated with legal advice for both preventing workplace sexual harassment and increase advocacy within a workplace.
Presenter(s): Nicole Marcia, MA, MC, RCC, C-IAYT
Human service professionals often face emotionally demanding situations that can build up over time, making it harder to care for ourselves and stay connected to others. Chronic stress can impact our nervous systems and lead to burnout, emotional fatigue, and unhealthy coping.
This workshop introduces trauma-informed chair yoga—a gentle, accessible, body-based practice rooted in trauma theory, chair yoga, and neuroscience. Using breath and mindful movement, this approach supports your well-being at work and at home.
Benefits include:
- Improved sleep and digestion
- Lower stress levels
- Greater sense of safety and connection
Join Nicole Marcia, Clinical Counsellor and Yoga Therapist, for a supportive, interactive session. Learn simple tools to calm your nervous system, increase body awareness, and reconnect with your resilience.
You’ll also be guided through an all-levels, chair-based practice. No yoga experience or special clothing required—just come as you are.
All movements are optional.
Networking Activities (3:30 – 6:00 pm)
These dedicated networking sessions are an opportunity for anti-violence workers in the programs EVA BC supports and leaders in the anti-violence sector to come together, connect and learn from each other. If you are attending our ATF and are not a frontline worker in one of our programs, or an anti-violence sector leader, we invite you to register for our open networking session where you can meet participants from across BC, including many of our community partners.
- Community Based Victim Services workers Networking Session
- Stopping the Violence Counsellors Networking Session
- Sexual Assault Services workers Networking Session
- Outreach Services and Multicultural Outreach Services Networking Session
- Anti-Violence Leadership Networking Session
- Open Networking Session
More information coming soon.
Day 2 — September 26
Morning (7:30 – 8:30 am)
More information coming soon.
Workshops (9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
Presenter(s): Jesanne Stanko, Blooming Self Somatics
This experimental workshop is a space to pause, restore, and reconnect with your body as a resource. Building on your existing understanding of nervous system functioning, we will focus on practical, embodied tools to support micro-regulation, boundary repair, and nervous system recovery in the face of the ongoing demands of your role.
Together, we will explore where and how the work lives in your body, practice tools for in-the-moment resourcing, titration, and boundary repair, and leave with personalized practices to sustain your presence and well-being within frontline work. This is a space for embodied integration, resourcing, and nervous system care, designed for those already doing the work and in need of space to be held in it.
Presenter(s):
- Annette Browne, Professor & Distinguished University Scholar | Associate Director, Graduate Programs
- Natalie Cringle, EQUIP, University of British Columbia
- Alix Dolson, Agency Coordinator, Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre
- Meaghan Hagerty, Program Manager, Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre
- Laurie Hannah, Executive Director with the Westcoast Community Resources Society
- Nancy Lipsky, Program Manager, University of British Columbia
- Caitlin Pitre, Personnel and Program Manager at Westcoast Community Resources Society
- Colleen Varcoe, Professor Emeritus, EQUIP, University of British Columbia
Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre and West Coast Community Resources Society have been working in partnership with EVA BC, and a team from UBC to develop a range of resources to strengthen approaches to substance use, with a goal of enhancing the safety and wellbeing of clients, staff, organizations and communities. This workshop will open with a screening of an animation focusing on the relationships between gender-based violence (GBV) and substance use. Participants will be invited to work with and provide feedback on other resources such as a policy development tool, a tool to support meaningful engagement of people with lived experiences of substance use, substance use stigma and GBV, and a tool to strengthen collaboration across sectors. The workshop will conclude with introduction to a game to explore best practices related to substance use. Working together on these resources will contribute to more effectively tailoring them to your settings.
Presenter(s): John Dube, more speaker details coming soon.
This workshop invites anti-violence workers to deepen their understanding and capacity to support survivors of gender-based violence who are experiencing suicidality. This session will allow time for self-reflection to explore our own beliefs, biases, and emotional responses related to suicide. From there, participants will engage with practical strategies and tools for supporting survivors, including holding space for complex disclosures, navigating risk, and building safety collaboratively.
Presenter(s): Dr. Harjit Kaur, Executive Director, Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society (VLMFSSS)
The workshop will provide insight to best practices for clinical and supportive counselling for working with immigrant populations centred around the collective culture. Participants will be provided with practical information, case studies and tools that will support culturally and trauma-sensitive work with immigrant and refugee populations impacted by family or gender-based violence.
Presenter(s): Angeline Day, Facilitating Change
Cultivating Safe Spaces is a leadership model rooted in Indigenous knowledges, neuroscience, emotional safety, and systems change. The Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) Framework was created in 2019 to support communities in trauma-informed facilitation.
During the training participants learn about Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) and the CSS framework, the colonial vs decolonial framework, and the trauma diagram. The breakout groups give opportunity for participants to discuss what they learn and brainstorm how they apply it to their lives and work they do.
Angeline is passionate about providing Cultivating Safe Spaces training to non-profits, decolonizing teams and groups, and especially for Indigenous and Black youth.
She is motivated to teach Cultivating Safe Spaces sessions for people who:
Want to learn to cultivate safe spaces for others and promote diversity and inclusion.
Want to learn how to decolonize their work, policies and procedures.
Want to gain self awareness and confidence to move deeper into their healing.
Want to learn new tools and vocabulary around Cultivating Safe Spaces.
Lunch (12:00 – 1:30 pm)
Information regarding lunch coming soon. If you have any dietary needs, restrictions or preferences, please make sure to note this information in your registration.
Workshops (1:30 – 3:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
Presenter(s):
- Alida Mayor, Peers Victoria Resources Society
- Pam Kimmerly, Peers Victoria Resources Society
This workshop explores why sex workers experience violence and how SAS workers can better support this community. We’ll break the session into three main parts:
- Sex Work & Violence
- Laws: Explore how laws meant to protect sex workers often increase their vulnerability.
- Stigma and Discrimination: Unpack the harmful belief that sex work is inherently dangerous and that survivors “asked for it.”
- Bad Date and Aggressor Reporting System (BDAR)
- What is the BDAR?: Learn about the BDAR system and its role in reporting violence.
- Why the BDAR Matters: Understand how it promotes safety and community care.
- Support and Advocacy
- Supporting Sex Workers: addressing biases through education, including conflating sex work with human trafficking.
- Resources Available: Review support options for sex workers.
- Solidarity: The importance of standing with sex workers, including on Red Umbrella Day
Presenter(s):
- lonnes leloup, Peer-to-Peer Community Co-op
- Ryan Calderon, Peer-to-Peer Community Co-op
- Rachel S., Peer-to-Peer Community Co-op
- katie hocking, Peer-to-Peer Community Co-op
The violence poor people face intensifies due to the barriers they encounter in accessing services and employment, often compounded by their diverse intersectional identities. Frequently, people supporting poor communities don’t have lived experience of poverty, which can increase the violence poor communities face when policies and programs supposed to help them are created and implemented without them.
The PPCC models what an inclusive economy and service provision free of violence could and should look like, grounded in cooperative organizing and community recommendations collected through a multi-year research project we conducted aimed at reducing gender-based violence in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES).
In this workshop, you’ll hear from people with lived and living experience from the DTES community on why and how centering and supporting a peer-led approach to poverty reduction can ensure sustainable systemic change within organizations to include the most marginalized, ultimately reducing the violence these communities face.
Presenter(s):
- West Coast LEAF, Presenter TBD
- West Coast LEAF, Presenter TBD
When an MCFD worker knocks on your client’s door to investigate a report, the stakes are high. MCFD workers have the power to remove a child from their home. Moreover, a “child protection” investigation is in and of itself traumatic to parents, caregivers and children.
What are your client’s rights during an investigation? Do they have a right to know the details of the allegations being investigated? Can they refuse to let an MCFD worker into their home? Do they have to answer every question? Can an MCFD worker compel them to undergo drug testing?
Our presentation will address and explain the investigation rights of parents and caregivers. It will also contextualize them, recognizing that it can be difficult to enforce rights in highly coercive circumstances. Where a parent or caregiver knows their rights, they can conduct their own risk assessment and make informed choices. In particular, they are empowered to negotiate with MCFD workers. For example, here are some scripts arising from our rights presentation: “I’d like to talk to my lawyer before meeting with you.” “Now is not a good time for me to invite you into my home. How about we schedule a home visit tomorrow?”
Presenter(s):
- Dr. Sarah Marsden, Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
- Elizabeth Korompai, Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
People who report gender-based violence (GBV) within their workplace, school, sports league, or other institution, often face challenges in the form of victim-blaming, retaliation, and retraumatizing investigations. CLAS is engaging in consultation with communities across BC to learn how organizations can better support and respond to disclosures of GBV. We’re also examining how non-disclosure agreements (NDAS) are used in settlements to silence people who have experienced GBV and protect the reputation of an abuser/organization. This forced silencing can have significant negative outcomes on the lives of complainants. We’ve been consulting with British Columbians on if and how the law on NDAs should change. Join us to learn about the preliminary results of our consultations, and for an opportunity to discuss these issues. Your input will be used to refine our recommendations on law and policy reform to create safer workplaces and organizations and effect changes in our laws!
Presenter(s):
- Anne Davis, Advisory Seat, EVA BC Board of Directors
- Ninu Kang, Executive Director, Ending Violence Association of BC (EVA BC)
Since most of the funding for our sector and the policies that affect our work come from the provincial government, our relationships with our local MLA’s are important, as are our relationships with all levels of government. With positive relationships, they can be some of our best advocates. How do we go about building those relationships? Do we understand the etiquette, and the potential pitfalls, of meeting with an MLA? How can we make use of media to enhance the message we are trying to get across? Through a mix of presentations and sharing of experience, workshop participants will have an opportunity to build their skills and share their experiences.
Presenter(s): Mercedes Baines, MA, RCC, CCC, CAC.
In this afternoon of ease, rest & re-connection, you will explore energy containment, feeling into boundaries & personal limits, anchoring & grounding techniques & the role of breath and breath awareness in your day-to-day. We will also explore the way engaging with pleasure & celebrating the mundane beauty of the day-to-day can act as a counterpoint and soften the experience of distress and pain within our bodies. We will also explore the impact of co-regulation in community. The intention of the workshop is to support folks to develop sustainable practices to avoid burn out & overwhelm as well as to find sustainable ways to engage in social justice work over the long term.
Closing (3:30 – 4:30 pm)
More information coming soon.
Join us as we gather all participants back in one space to close our two days together and honour the work that we all do for survivors and for our communities.
