Need help now?

We don’t provide mental health advice, counselling, or treatment. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact your local community crisis team. You can also reach out to the Indigenous Hope for Wellness Help Line 1-855-242-3310, the Black Youth Helpline 1-833-294-8650, or Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868.

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Our Team

We’re a multidisciplinary team focused on student mental health. Our team includes mental health professionals, system leaders, subject matter experts, and implementation scientists. The majority of our team supports School Mental Health Ontario part time. We also have committees to provide advice and feedback to help improve the effectiveness of our work. We are guided by a CODE (Council of Ontario Directors of Education) Advisory Team, ensuring our provincial school mental health strategy is aligned with priorities and practices in Ontario school districts.

Mental Health Promotion and Literacy

Deanna Swift

Mental Health Promotion and Literacy – Area Lead
dswift@smho-smso.ca


Mentally Healthy Systems

Denise Andre

System Leadership Consultant

Joan Kantola

System Leadership Consultant -northern focus

Louise Moreau

System Leadership Consultant

Monique Chartrand

System Leadership Consultant


Mentally Healthy Schools

Judith Desjardins

School Leadership Consultant

Monique Chartrand

System Leadership Consultant

Simone Rose-Oliver

Special Education Consultant

Toni Lauzon

Identity-Affirming School Mental Health Consultant


Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Deb Shackell

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Stephanie Oliver

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Susan Sweet

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy


MH78 Implementation

Deb Shackell

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Stephanie Oliver

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Susan Sweet

Mental Health Promotion Consultant – Wellness Promotion and Literacy

Toni Lauzon

Identity-Affirming School Mental Health Consultant

Tony Calarco

Communication and Technical Services Consultant – Learning Management System and Information Technology

Early Identification and Student Support

Lindsay Bunn

Early Identification and Student Support – Area Lead
lbunn@smho-smso.ca


Student Support Staff

Camila Gonzalez

Early Identification and Support Consultant – Child and Youth Care Practitioner

Connor Lafortune

Indigenous Student Mental Health Consultant

Emily Taylor

Healthy Relationships Program for 2S/LGBTQIA+ Youth Program and Research Consultant


Special Education

Deb Crawford

Special Education and Mental Health Consultant

Simone Rose-Oliver

Special Education Consultant


Guidance Teachers

Edith St. Arnaud

Early Identification and Support Consultant

Theresa Wilson

Early Identification and Support Consultant

Prevention and Early Intervention

Gwendolyn Fearing - Afflick

Prevention and Early Intervention – Area Lead
gfearing-afflick@smho-smso.ca


Addictions Prevention

Gem Lee-Herder

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant

Sylvie Ella Noutie

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant


Eating Disorders Prevention

Ashley Hendy

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant – northern focus


Learning and Training

Barbara Ward

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant – Learning and Training

Elizabeth Paquette

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant

Tracey Grose

Prevention and Early Intervention Consultant – Culturally Responsive Services

IA-SMH, Student and Parent/Caregiver Engagement, and Partnerships

Equity, Reconciliation, and Identity-Affirming SMH

Michelle Coutinho

Identity-Affirming School Mental Health Consultant

Saleem Haniff

Identity-Affirming School Mental Health Consultant

Toni Lauzon

Identity-Affirming School Mental Health Consultant


Student and Parent/Caregiver Engagement

Leshawn Benedict

Area Lead

Alina Medeiros

Student Engagement Consultant

Connor Lafortune

Indigenous Student Mental Health Consultant

Elo Igor

Student Equity and Mental Health Consultant

Gillian Gray

Parent/Caregiver Mental Health Literacy & Engagement Consultant

Huda Adnan

Newcomer Student Mental Health Consultant

Michael Giffen

Parent/Caregiver Engagement and Literacy Consultant


System Collaboration

Heather Carter

Area Lead

Ashley Hendy

Youth suicide prevention / life promotion focus

Connor Lafortune

Youth suicide prevention / life promotion focus

Edith St. Arnaud

Right Time, Right Care / northern focus

Joan Kantola

Youth suicide prevention / life promotion focus

Maureen Mackay

Youth suicide prevention / life promotion focus

Tanja Steinbach

Indigenous student mental health focus


Strategic Communications

Brian Woodland


Operations, Administration, and Human Resources

Racquel Peters

Area Lead

Kim Chapman

Executive Assistant

Michele Lambie

Exectuive Assistant

Research, Evaluation and Monitoring

Kevin Runions

Evaluation and Monitoring Area Lead
krunions@smho-smso.ca


SMH Research Hub

Tracy Weaver

Research Assistant Consultant


SMH Innovation and Scale Up

Alexandra Fortier

Innovation, Scale-Up, and Research Mobilization Consultant

Tracy Weaver

Research Assistant Consultant


Research, Evaluation and Monitoring Support

Elana Gray

Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring Support Consultant

Tracy Weaver

Research Assistant Consultant

Trish Woehrle

Research, Evaluation and Measurement Consultant


Research Mobilization

Alexandra Fortier

Innovation, Scale-Up, and Research Mobilization Consultant

Louise Moreau

System Leadership Consultant

Tracy Weaver

Research Assistant Consultant

Implementation and Leadership Support

Jacquie Brown

Leadership and Implementation Support – Area Lead
jbrown@smho-smso.ca


Board/Regional Coaching

Central

Jacquie Brown
jbrown@smho-smso.ca

Michael Giffen
mgiffen@smho-smso.ca

Louise Moreau
lmoreau@smho-smso.ca

Toni Lauzon
tlauzon@smho-smso.ca

East

Elizabeth Paquette
epaquette@smho-smso.ca

Theresa Kennedy
tkennedy@smho-smso.ca

Tracey Grose
tgrose@smho-smso.ca

Theresa Wilson
twilson@smho-smso.ca

London

Andréanne Fleck Saito
aflecksaito@smho-smso.ca

Gwendolyn Fearing-Afflick
gfearing-afflick@smho-smso.ca

Lindsay Bunn
lbunn@smho-smso.ca

Michael Giffe
mgiffen@smho-smso.ca

Deborah Crawford
dcrawford@smho-smso.ca

Northwest

Ashley Hendy
ahendy@smho-smso.ca

Edith St. Arnaud
estarnaud@smho-smso.ca

Joan Kantola
jkantola@smho-smso.ca

North

Barbara Ward
bward@smho-smso.ca

Edith St. Arnaud
estarnaud@smho-smso.ca

Deanna Swift
dswift@smho-smso.ca

Toronto

Andréanne Fleck Saito
aflecksaito@smho-smso.ca

Jacquie Brown
jbrown@smho-smso.ca

Michael Giffen
mgiffen@smho-smso.ca


Specialty Coaching*

Elizabeth Paquette

Early years mental health

Ashley Hendy

Eating disorder prevention

Gillian Gray

Parent/caregiver mental health literacy & engagement

Saleem Haniff

Identity-affirming school mental health

Tanja Steinbach

Indigenous mental health

Deanna Swift

Mental health promotion

Elana Gray

Research and evaluation

Heather Carter

Right Time Right Care system collaboration

Leshawn Benedict

Student engagement

Gwendolyn Fearing-Afflick

Substance use prevention

Maureen Mackay

Suicide prevention

*in collaboration with IS coaches


Mental Health Leadership Team Learning and Support

Alexandra Fortier

Andreanne Fleck Saito

Denise Andre

Elizabeth Paquette

Jacquie Brown

Joan Kantola

Louise Moreau

Monique Chartrand

Tracey Grose

Theresa Wilson


MH Leadership Team Learning and Support

Kathy Short

Executive Director
kshort@smho-smso.ca

Theresa Kennedy

Associate Director
tkennedy@smho-smso.ca

Communication and Technical Support

Dani Rathwell

Communication and Technical Support Area Lead
drathwell@smho-smso.ca


Digital Content/Social Media and External Communications

Ashley An

Communication Consultant

Sarah Stright

Communication Officer


Internal Communications

Milé Lazarevski

Communication Officer

Shelly Upson

Communication and Technical Services Consultant


Technical Support

Chris Pagliari

Information Technology Consultant

Tony Calarco

Communication and Technical Services Consultant – Learning Management System and Information Technology


Translation Services

Christine Massoda

Translation Consultant

Lucie Lauzon

Translation Consultant

Marsha Gillis

Translation Services Coordination Consultant

Melissa Gagnon

Translation Consultant


Graphic Design and Video

Ashley An

Communication Consultant