Board of Directors
EVA BC is governed by its board of directors that represent our members from 11 regions across the province.
Directors are elected at our annual general meeting and serve for two-year terms.
Lynnell Halikowski, Co-Chair
North Central ยท Region 10
Lynnell has worked in the anti-violence field since the early 1980s. She started as a volunteer with the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre (PGSAC), then moved on to similar work throughout the region, followed educational pursuits, and had four amazing children. She returned to PGSAC in 1997 as an STV Counsellor and is now the executive director.ย
Lynell’s passion for this field comes from a long line of family members who have dedicated their lives to community service, advocacy, and anti-violence work.
Samantha Loppie
South Vancouver Island ยท Region 2
Samantha Loppie is Executive Director of the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre, and is privileged to work closely with the programs and people who support survivors of sexualized violence, their families and community.
Samantha is an uninvited visitor on the territories of the lษkฬสทษลษn people, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt nations, and the WฬฑSรNEฤ people on whose land she has worked and lived for the last nine years. Originally from Nova Scotia, she gained a Master’s Degree in Sociology from Dalhousie University, located in Miโkmaโki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Miโkmaq. She has spent the last 10 years in management and leadership roles over a variety of sectors including sexual health, human resources and anti-violence work.
She is dedicated to collaborative leadership that uplifts the voices of people around her and strives to highlight the knowledge and experience of voices who are most often silent or silenced. As a woman with mixed ancestry, she recognizes her heritage as Black Nova Scotian, Acadian settler and honours distant roots inย Miโkmaq communities. She is grateful to sit on the Board of Directors for EVA BC and support in the effort to end gender-based violence in the province.
kylie shaw
Lower Mainland ยท Region 3
kylie is the Victim Services Program Coordinator at Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre in Vancouver and has served in a client-facing role at the agency for more than five years, where she’s developed a strong understanding of the complex challenges facing both frontline workers and the survivors who access services. This experience has grounded her in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered practice and given her a nuanced perspective on the systemic barriers many survivors face when seeking safety and support.ย
She brings an anti-oppression and intersectional feminist lens to her work and believes in the importance of centring equity and community care in every decision.ย
She joins the board with this experience, passion, and a deep commitment to supporting survivors of gender-based violence and strengthening the systems that serve them. She looks forward to learning from the collective knowledge of the sector and taking an active part in shaping policies and strategies to improve our provincial response to gender-based violence.ย ย
Nichole Olsen
Fraser Valley ยท Region 4
Nichole has served in a leadership role at Cythera Transition House Society in Maple Ridge since 2020. During this time, she feels fortunate that sheโs been able to engage deeply in local service and is now eager to expand her knowledge and share her experiences with others working in the field. While she recognizes that her experience may differ from others, she is confident in her ability to learn, apply new insights, and contribute meaningfully to the work of EVA BC. ย
Most recently, sheโs committed herself to understanding the unique and complex needs of marginalized populations, reading widely on this topic, including exploring blogs by individuals with lived experience and attending workshops and trainings. However, she feels it is the conversations sheโs had with people who generously shared their experiences and insights with her that have been the most impactful. ย
Nichole continues to seek opportunities to drive meaningful change. Alongside her team, she remains focused on exploring innovative ways to deliver services that are timely, effective, and responsive to the needs of their diverse community.ย
Looking ahead, Nichole is committed to building regional connections and growing her skills in community action and policy development.ย She hopes to deepen relationships across the region and gain a broader understanding of service delivery models and the communities they serve.ย
Nichole is a confident and skilled public speaker with a passion for sharing knowledge, her own lived experience, raising awareness, and engaging the public in conversations about gender-based violence.ย
Priscilla Healey
Okanagan ยท Region 6
Priscilla is theย Program and Services Coordinator and the Sexual Assault Counsellor with the South Okanagan Women in Need Society (SOWINS) where she has been a dedicated team member since 2014. In her current dual role, she oversees the STV, PEACE, CBVS, and SAS programs. Her work spans public education, prevention initiatives, and advocacy related to gender-based violence.
Priscilla brings a wealth of experience from both frontline service delivery and academic research. From 2015 to 2017, she served on the board of the South Okanagan Victim Assistance Society, including a short term as Chair before relocating to Victoria to pursue doctoral studies, during which time she worked with the Victoria Child Abuse Prevention and Counselling Centre and served as a sessional instructor in the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria. She also contributed to research at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, focusing on the lived experiences and rights of sex workers in Canada.
Priscillaย is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and maintains a private counselling practice, rooted in the belief that access to services should be a right, not a privilege. She is an approved practicum supervisor for graduate students in Yorkville Universityโs Master of Counselling Psychology program, supporting the next generation of trauma-informed practitioners.
One of Priscilla’s greatest strengths is her comprehensive understanding of frontline service delivery, combined with a strong academic and research background that informs policy and systemic change. As an EVA BC board member, she looks forward to contributing to the province-wide coordination and strengthening of responses to gender-based violence. She is particularly excited to collaborate with fellow board members from across BC, share insights from her region, and help develop effective, community-informed strategies to address ongoing challenges.
Katie Chave
East Kootenay ยท Region 7
Katie Chave brings 11 years of anti-violence work and an honours degree in Women and Gender Studies to her position on EVA BCโs board. She currently works in Community-Based Victim Services with Summit Community Services in Cranbrook. In addition to her current CBVS role, past anti-violence work for Katie has included delivering Third Party Reporting training around the province in partnership with EVA BCโs Coordination team, and Violence Prevention Outreach work with YWCA Banff.
She was motivated to join the EVA BC Board to bring attention to what survivors are seeking for advocacy on a provincial level, and to bring consideration to the experiences of service providers, and what supports may be needed to better enhance the wellness of those who both experience and are witness to the impacts of gender-based violence.
Katie enjoys spending time snowboarding with her family in the winter, and paddleboarding in the summer. Katie is motivated and inspired by the work of women and feminists past and is invested in supporting social movements that address injustices, and inequities, and give voice to the wisdom of resistance.
Victoria Runge
West Kootenay ยท Region 8
Victoria comes to the EVA BC board with many years of frontline experience working alongside woman and families fleeing domestic abuse and violence. She has been in the STV counselling role for more than five years in the West Kootenays. She is a strong advocate for Indigenous women in her region and facilitates the yearly Moose Hide Campaign, MMIWG2S and Truth and Reconciliation Day events in local communities. She previously sat on the EVA board for a short period of time and returns now to bring a strong voice to represent her region.ย
Tara Lee Rea
Region 9 ยท North West
Tara Lee works as the VAP coordinator working as both the outreach and victim services worker at Islands Wellness Society in Haida Gwaii. She also has past experience working in a transition house, with police-based victim services and youth counselling.ย ย
She brings optimism and hope, along with an inquisitive and questioning perspective and fresh eyes from her experiences as a frontline worker to her role on the EVA BC board.ย
In her work she shares space with two communities in South Haida Gwaii: Haida, and the settlers who reside on their islands. She stays current by taking courses and listening to her community. She feels this is key to her confidence and work on de-colonialism and hope for unity. She defines herself as a feminist.ย ย
She says EVA BC represents the beacon of light to guide, support and anchor the people delivering service. She would be honoured to collaborate and share thoughts amongst the heartbeat of a phenomenal association.ย
Shari-Lyn Rougeau
Region 11 ยท North East
Shari-Lyn Rougeau is the Society Manager at Linda Krystina Housing Society and Safe House and Outreach Program in Chetwynd-Treaty 8 Territory.
She joins the EVA BC board with a deep commitment to supporting survivors of gender-based violence and contributing to systemic change that advances equity, safety, and justice in our communities. She believes EVA BC plays a vital role in strengthening services across the province, amplifying the voices of survivors, and advocating for policy and practices that create lasting impact.
Shari-Lyn brings over 20 years of extensive frontline experience supporting survivors of domestic and gender-based violence to her role on the board, along with a deep understanding of the challenges and systemic barriers survivors face.
Her experience has also helped her develop her skills in leadership and governance, knowledge of policy and advocacy, skills in training and facilitation, strategic thinking, communication and collaboration, community engagement, and a commitment to equity and inclusion. She works alongside Indigenous communities, newcomers and others, seeking to ensure culturally safe and responsive supports.
Being on the EVA BC board gives Shari-Lyn the opportunity to contribute her experience, leadership, and passion toward this important collective vision. Shari-Lyn sees this role as an opportunity for her to give back to the sector, contribute to strengthening services province-wide, and to support EVA BCโs leadership role in ending gender-based violence.
Deanna Sudnik
Floating Seat
Deanna Sudnik was born and raised in Dawson Creek and received Post Secondary Training at Grande Prairie Regional College, Northern Lights College and University of Victoria. It was during her time at Northern Lights College that she was offered a Practicum with South Peace Community Resources Society (SPCRS) and never really left!
From 1997-2011 Deanna worked in a variety of programs within the Counselling and Victim Services Department, eventually working her way up into Management. Although she missed working frontline with the clients, she loved the opportunity to support and guide the staff who were often new to this work. Deanna took a five-year hiatus from Social Services work to spend more time with her two daughters and to pursue some of her other interests before returning to the position of Department Manager after missing anti-violence work. Deanna has been an active member of EVA BC during her years in the anti-violence field.
Deanna feels very privileged to be raising two wonderful strong daughters and keeps busy outside of work with their activities. She is passionate about theatre and is a co-director of a local theatre company. Recently Deanna has returned to an earlier passion of social marketing and clean living. She has an insatiable love for travel, good food, theatre and the empowerment of women supporting women.
Thank you
We thank our board of directors for their ongoing commitment, support and direction.
If you work with a member program and would like to run to serve on our board, please email us at evabc@endingviolence.org.
