2005 Student Training Program - Trainer Bios

Todd Barr

Community Trainer for the Rural Communities Impacting Policy Project. Todd works with individuals and groups to increase understanding of how public policies affect them and how to participate in influencing those policies. As an educator, he works with individuals and groups to increase self-awareness and move forward on addressing community issues. He has worked with kindergarten-aged children right through to adults in Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Ontario. Past focuses of this work include policy and policy change, conducting and using research, environmental education, ethics and organizational development. He holds a Master's of Education in Adult Education, Community Development and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Andrea Caven

Andrea Caven has worked in a variety of non-profit community-based environments, starting with The Hunger Project in 1993. Working with a global team, Andrea delivered seminars to students, teachers, service club members, all levels of government and provincial departments of education. The purpose of these seminars was to begin creating a shift in the understanding world hunger and approaches to addressing the issue. The Project focused upon the building of capacity (not the provision of food) as a key step to eliminating inequities in the world and creating greater balance. These lessons provided important tools for continued work by Andrea as a community economic development officer, as the executive director of a disability employment organization, and currently, as policy entrepreneur and community trainer within the RCIP project. As a community trainer, Andrea delivers workshops on policy. As a policy entrepreneur, she engages community groups and builds coalitions around policy change processes needed for sustainable harbours and wharves and rural health delivery in rural Nova Scotia.

Lynn Langille

Lynn Langille is the Research Consultant at the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre at Dalhousie University. Her academic background is in the fields of anthropology and sociology, and she has taught at St. Mary's University, Mount St. Vincent University and Dalhousie University. At the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre, she provides a variety of consultation services to researchers in the Atlantic region including advice on research design and proposal writing, identifying sources of funding, data analysis and report writing. Research strengths and interests include qualitative research, research development and training, rural health, food security, healthy communities, and the impacts of social determinants on health.

Jim Mahone

coming soon

Ishbel Munro

Executive Director of the Coastal Communities Network, a province wide grassroots, non-profit that is working to ensure the future of Nova Scotia's rural and coastal communities. CCN is involved in very innovative work including training communities on how to change policies, networking isolated groups, provide in-depth research on our current state and providing a Large Voice for Rural Communities. Ishbel has been involved in community development work for over 30 years, working with First Nations, fishermen, environmentalists, women and youth. Prior to that she was an actress, playwright and director.

Wendy Robichaud

coming soon

Malcolm Shookner

Coordinator of the Rural Communities Impacting Policy Project. Malcolm has an extensive background in social development and population health. He has over thirty years of experience in human services, community development, health promotion, and social policy. He has also been an active participant in the anti-poverty, human rights and healthy communities movements in Canada and internationally. He has an M.A. from Goddard College, where he wrote his inter-disciplinary thesis on "Networks and Coalitions in Human Services."