Partners in Practice forum speakers
On this page you will find the profiles shared with us by the speakers for each session. To find a detailed outline of our schedule for the forum and descriptions about all sessions, you can visit our schedule page.
Keynotes and Special Guests
Elaine Alec (she/they)
Naqsmist Storytellers Inc.
- Keynote Address
Elaine Alec is a Syilx and Secwépemc author, entrepreneur, and founder of Naqsmist Storytellers Inc., devoted to cultivating spaces of belonging, wellness, and justice. With over two decades of experience in Indigenous governance and community planning, she has supported over 250 organizations and facilitated healing spaces for more than 30,000 people.
As the founder of the Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) framework, Elaine helps leaders, communities, and organizations shift toward emotional safety, inclusivity, and systems change. Over 200 facilitators are now certified in CSS, reaching over 11,000 people globally. In 2024, she extended this work to Pakistan, supporting the Punjabi Provincial Government in addressing violence against minorities through a multi-year strategic plan.
Elaine’s first book, Calling My Spirit Back, shares her story of healing and reclamation. Her forthcoming book, Coming of Age: Overcoming Trauma to Achieve Self-Determination, continues that journey, blending story and cultural wisdom to offer tools for transformation.
Recognized as BCBusiness Magazine’s 2023 Woman of the Year in Equity and Inclusion, Elaine envisions training one million leaders to reach one billion people. As a visionary and systems thinker, she continues to inspire change across sectors—always grounded in Indigenous values and connection to the land.
Jackson Katz (he/him)
Co-Founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP)
- Keynote Address
Day 1 — Workshop Presenters
Nadia Grutter (she/they)
Living in Community (LIC)
- Safety for All: Sex Workers’ Needs in Programming, Policies, and Advocacy
Nadia Grutter (she/they) is the Education Lead and Community Developer at Living in Community (LIC). She is a queer, disabled immigrant and settler on the traditional coastal homelands of the Songhees people.
Her background is in public legal education, communications, and frontline harm reduction and violence prevention. She holds a BFA, and writes in her spare time.
Cassidy Smith (she/they)
STV Counsellor, Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC)
- Bodies at Work: Exploring Sustainability in Anti-Violence Working Practice through Embodied Creativity
Cassidy is a Stopping the Violence counsellor at the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre, serving survivors on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and SENĆOŦEN-speaking peoples of the Esquimalt and Songhees nations, and the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples of the Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum, and Malahat Nations.
Since 2020, Cassidy has facilitated arts-based group programming for survivors of intimate partner and sexualized violence. This background in creative expression and anti-violence work inspired their thesis research for their Masters of Counselling Psychology from the University of Victoria, completed in early 2025. This research examined antiviolence workers’ experiences of embodied trust, and how this trust contributes to working role sustainability.
Beyond their work, Cassidy can be found cozied up at home with their dog and partner, or engaging in whichever of their hobbies is the most seasonally appropriate at the time: swimming in the ocean, sewing, or planning next year’s garden.
Day 2 — Workshop Presenters
Pam Kimmerly (she/her)
Peers Victoria Resources Society
- Rights Not Rescue: Understanding and Supporting Sex Workers
Pam, a white settler originally from the Fraser Valley, moved to what is now known as Victoria six years ago. Having faced her own mental health and substance use challenges, as well as witnessing her loved ones struggle to access support, Pam is passionate about improving care for vulnerable populations, particularly sex workers.
In 2023, Pam graduated with a diploma in Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions from Camosun College. She joined Peers Victoria Resources Society after completing her practicum there and has worked in several programs, including HOPPS (Housing Overdose Prevention and Peer-led services), Night Outreach Van, and Drop-In Services, with a recent focus as a Violence Prevention Support Worker.
What drew Pam to Peers was the core values of harm reduction, peer-led services, and advocacy, which she believes are essential in addressing the vulnerabilities of sex workers and fostering community support. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring Vancouver Island and spending time with her cat, Mr. Yams.
Alida Mayor (she/they)
Peers Victoria Resources Society
- Rights Not Rescue: Understanding and Supporting Sex Workers
Alida is Métis and a settler originally from Manitoba who relocated to what is now known as Victoria on Vancouver Island during their childhood. This is where they continue to reside today.
As a Violence Prevention Coordinator and HOPPS (Housing Overdose Prevention and Peer-Led services) worker at Peers Victoria Resources Society, Alida brings invaluable lived experience to their role, having navigated periods of homelessness, substance use, and working as both an escort and a survival sex worker.
Alida is deeply passionate about all things harm reduction. They firmly believe that individuals deserve the rights to make their own choices and to do so safely, with autonomy and dignity. In their spare time, Alida enjoys beadwork and spending time with their fur babies, Rascal and Meow Meow.
Jesanne Stanko (she/her)
Blooming Self Somatics
- From Activation to Anchor: Applied Somatic Practices for Anti-Violence Work
Jesanne is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and the founder of Blooming Self Somatics, a practice dedicated to helping people reconnect with their bodies through felt sense and nervous system care. With over 15 years of experience in holding space for individuals and groups, she has a background in anti-violence work, both frontline and in leadership.
Her work integrates Somatic Experiencing principles with creative reflection and deep listening, offering gentle and accessible pathways to self-awareness and regulation. Having supported individuals in complex, high-intensity roles, including frontline care, social services, and healing professions, she is particularly passionate about tending to the body’s wisdom in times of overwhelm.
Her approach is slow, spacious, and grounded in the belief that our best work occurs when we return to ourselves with compassion and care.
Peer-to-Peer
Community Co-op
Multiple Presenters
- Working for and with Poor People: a peer-centered approach
- lonnes leloup (she/her)
- Ryan Calderon (all pronouns)
- Rachel S. (she/her)
- katie hocking (she/her)
Ryan, Rachel, katie, and lonnes are all front line workers and members of the Peer-to-Peer Community Co-op, a Vancouver DTES group that outlines a transformative approach to poverty reduction for hyper-marginalized women and gender-diverse individuals by modelling what an inclusive economy could and should look like.
Our mission is to engage meaningfully with poor communities (and the people who work with them), equipping our members to address the challenges they encounter related to poverty in their own lives while fundamentally altering the systems perpetuating those economic inequalities.
The PPCC offers PWLE (People With Lived/Living Experience) public speaking training, hands-on management experiences and experience in program development. We support our members as they work to shift power dynamics to improve their lives and the lives of their community
