INCREASING WOMEN and DIVERSE REPRESENTATION

Increasing Women and Diverse Representation in Municipal Electoral Politics Date: Thursday, Nov 15, 2007

Location: Where Chief Simon Baker Room, Aboriginal Friendship Centre , 1607 East Hastings Street Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jane Sterk - New Leader of the B.C. Green Party and Esquimalt City Councillor

Moderator: Dr. Penny Parry - Vancouver's Former Child and Youth Advocate

Panelists: Sadie Kuehn, Melanie Mark, Michelle Mollineaux, Lily Harvey, Alicia Barsallo, Jim Deva

Bannock and Chili will be served This is a Free Event

Contact Jamie Lee Hamilton (778) 329-1981


DR. JANE STERK – KEYNOTE SPEAKER Jane Sterk has had successful careers in business, politics, government, and education. She is an elected councillor in the Township of Esquimalt. She ran effective campaigns in the 2005 Provincial and 2004 Federal elections where she was the 5th highest Green vote getter acrossCanada out of 308 ridings. She is teaching B. Comm and MBA courses in Business Environment at University Canada West. She owned a retail business in the computer industryand with a Ph.D. in counseling psychology and a masters in education, she worked as a psychologist and a public school teacher.


DR. PENNY PARRY - MODERATOR

Dr Parry has been an instrumental and influential voice in child and youth care. Penny served as the former City of Vancouver Child and Youth Advocate. Penny has been a longtime fighter for the rights of the underprivileged. Dr Parry is an artist and resides in Kitsilano with her partner, Tim Louis.


MICHELLE MOLLINEAUX

Born in England, lived in Trinidad, West Indies for 4 years, and has lived in Vancouver since 1985, Michelle juggles family and full time work in the High Tech Sector. In 2005 she ran with the NPA for Vancouver School Board and received over 46,000 votes – not enough to win but a very healthy number of supporters for a novice politician


MELANIE MARK

Melanie Mark is of Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Cree, Ojibway, French and Scottish heritage. Along with six siblings, she was raised in the Eastside of Vancouver, B.C. Melanie has strong familial ties to the Nass Valley, Hazelton, Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island. She is the proud mother of a beautiful four year old daughter. She graduated from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. with a B.A. in political science and sociology. Currently, she is a Child and Youth Advocate with the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth. Melanie is also the Chair for the Native Youth Centre $47 million Capital Campaign Committee and Advisor for the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre Society. Melanie is the co-author of both the Sacred Lives (Save the Children Canada- National Aboriginal Consultation Project) and Full Circle reports (Urban Native Youth Association), and was a project researcher for Violence in the Lives of Sexually Exploited Youth and Adult Sex Workers (Justice Institute of BC). She is passionate about social justice, youth participation, and Indigenous governance. Advocacy in the area of child and youth sexual exploitation is an important part of her work. In 2006, Melanie received the YWCA Vancouver Young Woman of Distinction Award.


SADIE KUEHN

Sadie was elected to the Vancouver School Board in 1986. She is a former longtime executive member of COPE and served as President of COPE. Sadie formerly worked with the Legal Services Society. She is a past Chair of Immigrant Visible Minority Society and Family
Youth Court Justice Committee and Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies


LILY HARVEY

Lily is a mechanical engineer by training. Prior to 1998, Lily was an elected board member of the Penticton Multicultural Society and volunteered for Crime Stoppers in Penticton, Lily has served as an elected board member of the False Creek Community Centre in Vancouver since 2004. Currently Lily is seeking the federal nomination to run in Burnaby New Westminster.


ALICIA BARSALLO

Alicia was the candidate for the NDP in Vancouver-Kingsway in 2001. She is a trained lawyer
and has been a longtime activist for Social Justice. She is currently spearheading a battle to stop Norqway Village from being re-zoned. She has enticed the support of neighborhoods across the City in an effort to draw attention to Mayor Sam Sullivan's Eco-Density plan.


JIM DEVA

Jim is the longtime owner of the hugely popular Little Sisters Bookstore. Jim resides in the West End with his partner Bruce. Jim is a founding member of the Gay/Lesbian Business Association and has served as Vice-President and other executive positions of the Davie Village BIA. He is a longtime champion regarding Freedom of Speech rights in Canada.