Meet Our Team

 Learn how we can support you on our Parent2Parent Support page.

Julie Despaties, Founder and Executive Director

Julie Despaties is the Executive Director of Adopt4Life, an organization which provides peer support and clinical coordination for families formed by adoption, kinship, and seeking permanency. Julie’s commitment to supporting permanency for children and youth grew from her own adoption journey. After she and her husband adopted a sibling group of three older children, Julie soon realized that families in Ontario who are providing permanency would benefit from more resources, advocacy and community connections. In forming Adopt4Life, Julie created a unified voice and invaluable peer network for adoptive parents and permanent caregivers.

A changemaker at heart, Julie has helped shape legislation designed to protect, value, and support youth and their families, including some of Ontario’s most vulnerable young people. She has been a founding partner in the National Consortium on Aggression Toward Families & Caregivers in Childhood & Adolescence (AFCCA), creating awareness to the need for improved focus on family preservation. Most recently, she was a leader in advocating for #TimeToAttach, a national campaign to provide expanded Employment Insurance benefits that provide parity for adoptive and kinship families, and support secure healthy attachments for children.  

Julie has been a passionate advocate in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years. Along with her Adopt4Life team, she has formed collaborative relationships with Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario, as well as with organizational partners, including the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, the Child & Youth Permanency Council of Canada, as well as other partner agencies across Canada.

Parent2Parent Support Network Team

  • Cindy is an adoptive mom to three incredible humans who joined the family through foster care.

    She has gained much awareness, insight, and strategies in living with the impacts of Neurodevelopmental Disorder Associated with Pre-Natal Alcohol Exposure (ND/PAE), Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), trauma, loss, and grief. She knows how hard parenting complexities can be and is finding more compassion for herself along the way.

    Professionally, she has recently returned to the practice of Occupational Therapy, combining her lived experience, in a private pediatric clinic. She became a Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Practitioner (TBRI® Practitioner) in 2021.

    As a Regional Parent Liaison, she understands the benefits of peer-to-peer support and is looking forward to connecting with families on their parenting journey

  • Marcela and her husband became parents of a sibling group of two through public adoption. In her adoption journey, Marcela became closely connected with the complexities of Post Adoption Depression, secondary Trauma, ADHD, Developmental Trauma, Learning Disabilities and Reactive Attachment Disorder. Originally from Brazil, Marcela immigrated to Canada in her 20s and learned how to manage cultural differences and challenges associated with immigration. She remains deeply passionate about cultural inclusiveness and developing a sense of belonging and acceptance with those of different backgrounds. Professionally, Marcela has vast experience navigating complex systems, including immigration, healthcare and education. She specializes in helping others manage complexity without feeling overwhelmed and burned-out.

    Marcela knows from personal experience how important it is to have community support during difficult times and looks forward to connecting and supporting other families in their journey.

  • Courtney is a proud parent to two wonderful children who joined her family through public adoption. She brings to the role lived-experience with dually-approved placements, ADHD, FASD and school advocacy. Courtney’s core belief in the importance of openness and supporting cultural connections has shaped her work within her previous Regional Parent Liaison Role. Her keen sense of community, tangible lived experience of the unique issues our caregivers face and diverse networking knowledge lends itself well to her role as Parent2Parent Support Network Team Lead.

  • Shannon is a mother through both birth and adoption: Her eldest son is 26 and has gifted her the role of “Nana” with his two young children. Her youngest son is 16 and joined her family at five months old, initially as a foster child. After adopting, Shannon and her wife stepped into the worlds of FASD, ADHD, ASD and anxiety. They became founding members of the South Eastern Ontario FASD Parent Action Group and continue to be active members. Shannon is passionate about her work as a Registered Early Childhood Educator, a role in which she advocates for families within the local Children’s Aid Society, school boards and community partner organizations. She is particularly invested in supporting the LGTBQ2S+ community, promoting self care among parents raising children with complex needs, fostering cultural connections in First Nation adoptions, and ensuring access to mental health services. Having started with Adopt4Life several years ago as the Eastern Parent Liaison, Shannon uses this experience to strengthen the permanency landscape across Ontario as the Program Director of our Parent2Parent Support Network.

  • Linda is a mother through both birth and adoption. She is also proud to hold the title of grandmother. Professionally, Linda has many years of experience working with children, including 6 years teaching indigenous children on reserves in Northern Ontario. She was the owner and director of a private kindergarten for 20 years. Linda has experience in the areas of FASD, ADHD, Autism and other learning disabilities. As an adoptive parent of an indigenous child with FASD, she has spent many years advocating for services, including education, health, housing, mental health and issues of racism.

  • Christine (she/her) is a proud mother to her son, through adoption, and is a child of an adoptee. She likes to think of herself as a city mouse turned country mouse. Professionally, Christine is an Ontario Certified Teacher and has over ten years experience working in the public school system. She also has extensive experience supporting individuals and families within the ASD community. Christine has lived experience of private adoption and openness. She has committed herself to being a lifelong learner and is always looking for ways to become a better ally.

  • Jennifer is the proud, single Mom of 2 daughters, who joined her family through public adoption. She has also fostered medically fragile children over the last 16 years. As a Registered Nurse, Jen possesses over 21 years' experience focusing on Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Telehealth and school nursing. The skills acquired from parenting children with special/medical needs and working as a nurse in the community has built Jen into a strong advocate. She has experience in FASD, Trauma, and medical needs. Jen co-facilitated a parent support group for FASD through Lutherwood, Waterloo Region. Although she has put an end to her foster/adoption journey, Jen is excited to continue pouring back into her community as a Regional Parent Liaison.

  • Erin is a proud mother of one, who joined the family through public adoption when he was 7 years old. She met her little boy while working as an educational assistant, and shortly after she and her wife began taking steps for a child specific adoption. Erin has worked in a variety of positions, including education, mental health, and autism specific programs. She graduated from the Child and Youth Worker program over 10 years ago and has always had a passion for supporting vulnerable children and youth. After becoming a parent, Erin realized that it is not just children and youth who need compassion, love, and support... it is parents too! Especially families impacted by child welfare, foster care, adoption, guardianship, and customary care. Erin has both professional and lived experience with trauma informed care, therapeutic parenting, ADHD, intellectual disabilities, childhood apraxia of speech, AAC, navigating the school system, and the LGBT2SQIA+ community. She is passionate about supporting children, youth, and families during all of the wonderful, messy, and complicated stages of their lives!

  • Melissa is a mother of two children, having formed her family through both adoption and egg donation. Melissa is a passionate advocate for families, with a strong history of advocating within community and education settings, and supporting children’s success in school. She recognizes and deeply values the importance of peer and community supports in family well-being, and has supported families navigating openness, AFCCA, and various complex needs. Professionally, Melissa brings past experience from within the children’s mental health and education sectors, and has further system navigation experience that spans healthcare and housing systems. She’s a lifelong learner, and is always seeking ways to learn from, and with, the communities she’s engaged with.

  • Linda is a birth mother of one son and a proud kin grandmother to a beautiful grandson. Linda’s lived experience, professionally and personally, is grounded in breaking down barriers to create equitable access to services and supports—for her own children and for others. She has experience with ADHD, learning disabilities, mental health issues (child and youth), autism, global developmental delay and trauma. She is also familiar with and advocates for change within the criminal justice system - advocacy for one is advocacy for all.

    Linda is committed to personal life-long learning and believes she learns the most from the lived experiences of other individuals she works with. Her background in community development work across marginalized neighbourhoods in Toronto, in the inner-city/Downtown East side of Vancouver and in the Caribbean, has helped her to understand the downstream effects of poverty and racism and has given her the opportunity to collaborate with many different folks in building capacity and creating eco-systems of support.

    Linda believes that her role as parent liaison is to bring out the strengths and wisdom that parents and caregivers already possess and translate that into hope, knowledge and sense of belonging, while working together to find solutions to the challenges faced.

    Her values are simple—work to create and maintain knowledge, hope and a sense of belonging.

AFCCA Family Support Team
(Aggression toward Family/Caregivers in Childhood & Adolescence)

  • Maude brings extensive clinical, research, and personal experience to Adopt4Life. She is the mother of five children through birth and adoption, and her children (now teens) were older adoptees when they came together as a family. Maude is also a Neurosciences Ph.D. Candidate from Queen’s University with a specialty in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Trauma, and Aggression toward Family/Caregivers in Childhood & Adolescence (AFCCA). She is also a registered Social Worker and Psychotherapist, and completed her MSW with a thesis on the experiences of parents raising children with FASD and developmental trauma while undergoing Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). In the past, Maude was closely involved in the implementation of the FASD Keyworker Program in Vancouver, and the FASD Worker Program in Ottawa. She is a sought-after expert and bilingual speaker for related trainings and conferences, with a passion for sharing ideas, strategies, and resources that support families

  • Tanya Eichler is a psychotherapist with a focus on working with people and families who are affected by early childhood trauma, attachment complexities, FASD, and related neurodiversities. Tanya is an adoptee herself and loves that her path has led her to work in this field, bringing an empathy and understanding to the complex journeys that many youth experience. She is trained in DDP (Dyadic Developmental Psychology), Polyvagal Theory, and NVR (Non-Violent Resistance), which inform her approaches to supporting families experiencing AFCCA and other complex situations. She also works with adoptive families in her Ottawa-based private practice, and previously was an FASD Key Worker in British Columbia supporting parents, caregivers, and youth. She helped to form and launch Ontario's Fetal Alcohol Resource Program (FARP), also a founding practitioner with the Ottawa Center for Attachment & Trauma Therapy (OCATT). Tanya is also a mother of 2 fascinating young men and a step-mother of a wonderful woman.

  • Jenn (she/her) is a parent of six children and teens. From rural South-Western Ontario and has a background in social work. She and her husband became concurrent foster parents over ten years ago after having two biological children. They have fostered over a dozen babies and toddlers, adopted three olders from the public system, and adopted their youngest through kinship care. Four of her kids are Indigenous (Cree, Ojibwe and Metis). She is passionate about supporting the Indigenous community and developing an anti-racism framework in her community. Through personal experience, Jenn is deeply acquainted with the challenges faced by families affected by FASD, Developmental Trauma, Attachment Disorder and Anxiety. After years of fostering, she is keenly aware of the emotions felt by those who have experienced permanency break-down and adoption loss. Jenn is excited to help connect other adoptive parents with the support they need.

Strategic Projects

  • Ruby has extensive experience working collaboratively with children, youth and families in various social service, healthcare and therapeutic settings. Over the years, she has worked closely with families navigating challenges related to chronic illness, mental health, neurodivergence, marginalization, and identity. She has also had the privilege of witnessing her younger sister-in-law, who joined the family through adoption, grow into a strong, talented and caring young woman.

    Ruby’s Master of Social Work focused on integrating principles of anti-oppression, anti-racism and decolonization into her practice. With a strong orientation towards social justice, she acknowledges how people’s complex identities and lived experiences influence how they move through the world. Ruby looks forward to using her knowledge of equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as her clinical skills to ensure that families receive tailored and meaningful support.

  • As an adoptive parent to 3 youth, through public adoption, Tracy deeply understands the complexities inherent in adoption and the need for ongoing, trauma-informed, attachment-centered supports for families. She’s a passionate advocate for increased understanding of neurodiversity and supporting children with exceptional needs. As a founding member, and past director, of two parent support networks for families and individuals with FASD, Tracy has helped to build effective peer support relationships that improve parent and caregiver mental health and resiliency. Tracy also brings 20+ years’ experience in leading and implementing engaging marketing, communications, and public relations strategies, spanning the technology and non-profit sectors.

  • Alice (She/Her/Elle) is a proud mixed-race Black queer woman raising six children with her wife in the Ottawa area. Their three younger ones were adopted through the Child Welfare System. To be the parent her children needed, she had to educate herself about Trauma in all its form and manifestation, FASD, Attachment issues, and neurodiversity, among other essential things. She also quickly realized that if some challenges were common in families created the same way as hers, others were specific to minority or marginalized communities, like BIPOC or LGBTQ2+. Using her MA in political sciences and her diverse background, she intentionally applies an interdisciplinary and intersectional lens to address complex realities and create change. Diversity is at the heart of her identity and work.

    Following her passion for social justice, she’s also active in the labour movement and volunteers for community organizations.

    She prides herself on being intersectional. Neurodivergent. Polyglot. Lesbian/Queer. Shipper. Parent. Wife. Friend. Daughter. Sister. New Settler. Learner. Listener. Celebrator. Accomplice. Gamer. Builder. Organizer. Space giver. Sharer.

Finance and Operations Team

  • Edlene is the mother of a sibling group who joined her family at ages 6, 10 and 12. She has lived experience in older child adoption, complex trauma, advocacy within education and healthcare systems, navigating intercultural and interfaith dynamics as well as openness realities. She has over 10 years’ experience in administrative support both within the private and not-for-profit sectors. Currently, she sits on the Board of Directors of the Aurora Cultural Centre where she is the secretary of the Board Governance and Nominating Committee. She was a member of the Town of Aurora’s Anti-Black Racism and Anti-Racism Task Force. She was born in the Philippines, grew up in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada at the age of 18.

  • Nicole is the mother of five children and has parenting experience with complex trauma, developmental delays, multiple diagnoses and complex mental health. Nicole holds degree in Psychology and Family and Social Relations. As an RPL, Nicole’s collaborative work with families and professionals created a strong community, built on inclusion, trust, support and advocacy. As Program Coordinator, Nicole is dedicated to continuing to grow and develop Adopt4Life’s P2P supports, assisting in strategic planning and to support community networking. Nicole is eager to continue her passion for policy development, operational efficiency and community engagement.

Marketing & Communications Team

  • Van grew up in extended society care, later taking the role of Kin-in-Care Caregiver to her siblings. She is deeply invested in the outcomes of families and youth. As a multidisciplinary creative, she is interested in our responsibility to tell cross cultural narratives to connect people. Van brings 11+ years of creative and marketing experience from agencies, Saas, tech, and NPO sectors. Currently Van is studying game development part time.

  • Lori is a mom through public adoption to a young boy who brings endless joy and adventure to her life. Through the journey of adoption Lori has come to recognize that all families look different and there is never a one-size-fits-all approach to parenting. Lori brings 20 years of design and marketing experience within the corporate and non-profit sector. Working with various settlement groups and human rights networks, she has gained a deeper understanding of how our life experiences shape our outlook and perspective on life. Through various personal and professional opportunities Lori has had the pleasure of building with partners who work tirelessly to bring attention and support to the underserved and often unrecognized within our communities.

 Opportunities

Interested in joining our team? Visit our careers page!