Meet the Team

The leadership team setting the program design from methodology to policy to processes, and who delivered the plan in the community, directly engaging with the respondents, collaboratively shaped the approach and resulting report.

  • Hi, I’m Chéla. 

    My role on the WCI Team is to lead the process and program, offer dynamic opportunities for individual participants to provide input, and to connect with the community in support of the critical client outcomes. 

    I am passionate about excellence in smaller communities because I know that resident wellness and inclusion are the most important factors that local leaders can focus on to bring about prosperity for all.

    I have been inspired to lead and engage with others since I was a small girl. My interest in public speaking and leadership took shape in my school years, where I took part in public speaking competitions, student government, science fair, and youth leadership groups. I also developed into a competitive swimming coach in my small town in Bruce County during this formative time. The time I spent earning my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics in North Bay refined my ability to connect with and communicate with audiences and groups of influence. 

    When I chose the path of my career in leadership, I could not predict where it would take me. I was awarded the leadership role of a large federal project to support the settlement of newcomers to Canada in the rural communities of Renfrew & Lanark Counties. This work changed my perspective of leadership altogether. I learned about the importance of courageous and inclusive leadership when engaging with community development work and aiming for widespread impact on people. This led me to develop three more projects that complemented the first, eventually I created a special projects department for Algonquin College targeted to local inclusive community and economic development. 

    While building the impact unit in Renfrew County with the college, I operated my consulting firm, With Chéla, supporting clients who wanted to invest in their leadership and develop strategies that will support prosperity through collaboration. Specializing in strategic planning, communications, community engagement, and leadership programs, With Chéla has allowed me to have the great privilege of helping hundreds of clients to evolve their visionary leadership. 

    Today, I work as the Head Coach of a military youth swim club at Garrison Petawawa, lead a local charity for the reduction of poverty affecting children and youth, and perform community engagement and clinic development contracts working with select clients who inspire me to take action. I love to cook, especially using the fresh garden vegetables grown in my yard at home in Pembroke, Ontario. I care deeply about inclusion and helping to create communities where everyone belongs. I consider myself an Everyday Activist because I have dedicated my career and way of living to demonstrating what can be possible when we come together and collaborate.

CHéLA BRECKON |

  • Hi, I’m Holly. 

    My role on the WCI Team is to ensure that respondents can access the program easily, navigate their opportunities to provide input, and work with the client’s staff to collaborate on solutions that matter to the community. 

    I am passionate about helping residents of smaller communities to be properly represented and valued by leadership groups, recognizing that leaders are also residents and deserving of respect and the opportunity to make a difference in the community. 

    Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege of building a rewarding career while learning and improving my leadership skills along the way. This includes developing programs and managing projects as well as providing collaboration within organizations on land-use planning matters.  The five years I spent working as a CAO in a rural municipality has given me an excellent understanding of the operations and obligations of local government and has inspired an interest in government relations.  

    I enjoy interacting and learning from staff and residents, so that I can understand what they are facing, and ultimately help them with planning and intentional collaboration.  While leading as a CAO, I completed an organizational re-structure including a governance realignment and implemented the first zoning by-law within the community.  I have extensive experience developing policy and procedures for all levels of government and agencies.  My skills with management and protection of personal information, development of data management, and expertise with elections are some of the important experiences that will help me participate and ensure success within the project.  

    On behalf of the Department of National Defence at Canadian Forces Base Borden, I managed multi-million-dollar projects including building demolition, contaminated site remediation, and multi-year data collection and analysis projects.  This experience, coupled with having worked as a Supervisor of Policy and Standards for the City of Barrie and Team Leader, Environmental Services for the Department of National Defence, helps me to understand the importance of and need for appropriate public interaction related to projects which will impact residents.  

    In addition to my bachelor’s degree and an Engineering Technology Diploma, I have spent the past few years completing a variety of Municipal specific training including the Municipal Administration Program (MAP), Municipal Finance Administration Program (MFAP), Clerk designation through AMCTO, and various elections and governance training.

Holly Hayes |

  • Hi, Im Jackie.

    My role on the WCI Team is to design a thoughtful, thorough, and inclusive methodology to guide the project team’s interactions with the respondents. I also create the documents that effectively and accurately translate the information given to the WCI Team by respondents. 

    I am a qualitative research specialist, Sociologist, and gender and sexuality scholar whose work centres on the empowerment of individuals and communities. My cutting edge research on public forms of nudity and sexuality contextualized an in-depth investigation, the first of its kind, of discourses of sexuality in Canada and how they frame the legality and practice of public nudity. My other extensive research project centered on the first Canadian ethnographic study of online dating among young professionals by examining how constructions of the self online have implications for the reproduction of gendered categories of being, mate selection, and ultimately love in our technologically-mediated world. 

    I have conducted research in a variety of contexts including Vancouver’s Drug Court and I have carried out municipal government-level studies on the feasibility of creating immigrant entrepreneur attraction strategies for small cities in Canada. I have also been involved in research in the service of policy recommendations for various branches of the federal government. I now conduct research in the service of non-profit organizations and I situate my work in meaningful needs-oriented approaches that allow for in-depth qualitative data generation that captures the words and voices of girls and young women so as to serve them in evidence-based, field tested, relevant, local, and community-integrated ways. 

    I am deeply committed to community, intersectional research strategies, and my role as facilitator and conveyor of the meaning that individuals and communities make of their experiences, their communities, and the world.

    I love hiking as long as it involves mushroom hunting with my family and I love to travel anywhere - near or far - in search of the next best meal that reflects the culture, values, and creativity of any given community anywhere in the world.

Dr. Jackie Schoemaker Holmes |

Significant contributions to the Ignace Willingness Study were also made by Graphic Artist Laura Hanek and Outreach Specialist Laura Julien. They can be included upon request for any learning events.

  • Hi, I’m Laura J.

    My role on the WCI Team  is to perform on the ground project outreach and to lead the direct interaction with respondents throughout our project timelines. 

    I grew up in a small community in Eastern Ontario, where I still live with my two almost-teenage sons. We spend our time exploring the natural wonders of the world we live in - we are avid campers and kayakers and we spend a lot of nights a year in the interior of Algonquin Park.  This is all mixed in with a healthy dose of Fortnite and NHL.

    I am an active and engaged community member, and serve as a volunteer member for a variety of local service organizations including Victim Services and Literacy Programs. I believe these small town services and organizations are critical to the success of our small communities and that resident engagement is key!

    My strengths are in bringing people together - I just love connecting with new people! I believe strongly that every voice matters and that everyone has something to contribute. 

    I began my career in corporate training, when a financial contact centre set up a large operation in my rural community. I discovered a passion for ensuring inclusive and accessible training and employment programs. This led me to Community Rural Employment Services, where I supported clients from youth to retirement in job preparation, searching, and maintaining employment. I also worked with local employers, coaching inclusive practices from recruiting to interviewing to onboarding. 

    I have had the pleasure of working with the With Chela team since 2019, when I joined a special project with the goal of making our rural community more inclusive. In that role, I offered training, support and advice to community services, organizations and the general public to increase capacity to serve newcomers to Canada. I believe diversity is strength in our small towns and that we can all learn from each other in a respectful and kind way.

Laura Julien |

  • Hi, I’m Laura. 

    My role on the WCI Team is to develop and design all of the materials you’ll need to participate with the project and to capture and tell your community story using art, illustration, document design, and graphic design. 

    I have a passion for inclusive community engagement that is meaningful and impactful for everyone involved. 

    I am an illustrator and graphic designer based in the small town of Petawawa, Ontario. I obtained my Bachelor of Applied Arts from Sheridan College and have been in the business of visual problem-solving and storytelling for the past 10 years.

    I have seen first-hand the impact, power and clarity that art can bring to important discussions through my skill of graphic recording - the real-time translation of conversations or presentations into text and pictures. I also believe in the effectiveness of adding graphics to information in order to help us all reach a mutual understanding of a situation or problem and ultimately arrive at a goal successfully. 

    In addition to freelancing for the past seven years, I have also worked for the Labour Market Group of Renfrew & Lanark Counties in workforce development projects. I have experience in a range of corporate marketing roles including CBC Ottawa, Canada Revenue Agency, BMW Foundation, Department of National Defence, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Keepers of the Circle, First Nations Information Governance Centre, Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects, as well as multiple small municipalities and universities. 

    When I am not working, I am busy exploring the woods with my nearly two-year-old son, tending to my urban chickens, connecting and supporting local businesses, and enjoying the benefits of small-town living.

Laura Hanek |