Experts and Speakers
Known and respected within the social services sector, FST's expert counsellors and social advocates know the issues and their impact on real people.
Some of the issues you might be interested in:
- Sexual Orientation Issues
- HIV/Aids Topics
- Seniors & Caregivers
- Community Building & Social Reform
- Child Poverty
If you would like to arrange for an interview with any of our experts, contact Marketing & Communications Department, 416 595 9230 ext. 225
Sexual Orientation Issues/HIV Aids
Laurie C. Chesley, M.S.W.,
R.S.W.
Manager - David Kelley Services
Laurie Chesley is a social worker with over 25 years experience in providing therapy and counselling as well as workshops and training. In both agency and private practice settings she has provided service to general counselling populations as well as having developed specialties in the areas of childhood abuse and violence against women. As a lesbian, she is pleased to participate in the development of specific services and programs for her community.
She co-authored the booklet Abuse in Lesbian Relationships: A Handbook of Information and Resources, available on Health Canada’s National Clearinghouse on Family Violence website (search word Lesbian) at http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/hppb/familyviolence/pdfs/lesbianabuse.pdf.
Seniors & Caregivers
Lisa Manuel, Ph.D
Director
Changing Lives and Family Violence
Lisa Manuel is the Director of Family Service Toronto’s Changing Lives and Family Violence programs, a role she took on in March 2009 after 11 ½ years as Manager of the Seniors and Caregivers Support Service Unit (SCSS) and four years as Manager of both the SCSS and the Violence Against Women program at FST. Before joining FST she was the Director of Social Services at St. Paul’s L’Amoureaux Centre. She has more than 20 years of experience working with seniors and caregivers. Ms. Manuel completed her Ph.D. in Sociology in 1995. It focused on how family members identify and define the dementia process and how these patterns of understanding impact on their ability to secure assistance from the formal care system. Her current areas of interest include abuse of older adults, violence against women, working with marginalized populations and health system planning.
She is active in many different committee and networks in the seniors field and the violence against women field. She is the author of FST’s “Breaking the Silence: Best Practices for Working with Older People Experiencing Abuse”. She was also instrumental in developing one of Ontario’s first elder abuse consultation teams and more recently lead the development of Pat’s Place – Ontario’s only safe haven for older people experiencing abuse.
Community Building & Social Reform
Laurel Rothman, M.S.W., R.S.W.
Director - Community Building & Social
Reform
Laurel Rothman is the Director of Community Building and Social Reform at the Family Service Toronto and the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, a non-partisan national coalition of more than 85 organizations committed to securing the implementation of the 1989 federal all-party resolution "to seek to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000". Partners include a breadth of organizations, for example, Canadian Institute of Child Health, Canadian Teachers' Federation, Canadian Auto Workers, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Ontario Inter-faith Social Assistance Review Coalition, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.
Laurel brings 30 years of experience as a professional, volunteer, advocate and consumer in the community services field. She has worked in the voluntary sector, municipal and provincial governments, and the union movement in direct service, planning, policy development and advocacy. As (past) president of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and Skills for Change, she broadened her knowledge about the diversity of Ontario's communities. From her thirteen years of work at the City of Toronto, she deepened her knowledge of and commitment to building and sustaining healthy communities.
Laurel is a frequent media spokesperson on issues of children's well-being. She also has published articles in professional journals and magazines including Child Welfare, Women and Environments and the Canadian Review of Social Policy.
Born in Ohio, Laurel completed her M.S.W. at the University of Pittsburgh and emigrated to Canada in 1971. She lives with her family in Toronto.
