Our Board

Regan Spencer
Director & Officer/ Chairperson

Regan Spencer is the Director of Social Work and Utilization at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, where she works in partnership with senior management of patient care programs, allied health professional and medical directors to ensure the highest quality of health care services.

Previously, as Manager of Social Work, Child and Women’s Health Programs, she was able to establish a collaborative model of partnerships with a number of child and family service agencies, focused on improving health services to patients and families, while maximizing efficiencies in both systems. This included securing a CFS Medical Liaison position, developing protocols to manage high risk patients and their families and initiating integral changes to practice guidelines around birth alerts. Her focus has been on establishing and maintaining formal connections with agencies, resources and communities throughout Manitoba, and, most recently developing a transitional housing project that ensure safe transition and discharge of patients.

Regan’s work within in her previous roles as Health Care Transition Service Coordinator and Clinical Leader of Social Work and the Women’s Health program involved efforts to continually improve on service delivery, and respond to emerging needs with innovative projects and programs. She has also been involved with the Adult Eating Disorder Program and the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic. Regan holds a Master of Social Work from University of Manitoba (2004), a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Ryerson University (2000), A Bachelor of Arts in Criminology (1995) and a Certificate in Health Services Management through the Health Sciences Centre and Red River College (2011).

Janelle Bird
Director & Officer / Vice-Chairperson

Sergeant Janelle Bird has been a dedicated member of the Manitoba “D” Division RCMP for 27 years. She has worked in detachment policing, including two remote Northern Manitoba communities; specialized investigative units including the Internet Child Exploitation Unit, Serious Crime Unit and Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit; she is currently assigned to the Winnipeg Major Crime Unit as a Team Leader.

Sgt. Bird has extensive training and experience in child abuse investigation, particularly Internet Child Exploitation and Child Forensic Interviewing. She has completed a variety of specialized courses, including those related to sexual offender behavior and interviewing. She has instructed on this subject matter in a variety of RCMP training situations, as well as various training events hosted by partner agencies.

In her current work, Sgt. Bird operates in partnership with other RCMP investigational units and police agencies, and community organizations to ensure that information is shared and that comprehensive investigations are conducted.

Amber Vialette
Director & Officer / Treasurer

Amber Vialette is currently the provincial Child Abuse Committee Specialist at the Child and Family Services Division. Involved in child welfare in various capacities for over 15 years, she began her career by providing child protection and intake services in the Interlake Region. Amber has practiced with a holistic approach, gaining experience in most areas of Child and Family Services (CFS) delivery including abuse investigations, intake screening and working directly with children in care.

Amber transitioned to the Child Protection Branch (now the CFS Division), Department of Families, during the implementation of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry- Child Welfare Initiative, to assist with the roll out and training users of the CFS computer applications (CFSIS and the Intake Module). She spent much time travelling to communities supporting agencies and staff with adapting their business processes and meeting their training needs. Amber continues to work closely with agency child abuse committees across the province. Amber earned a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Winnipeg, and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Manitoba. Her educational and employment experiences have fostered a strong passion for working with and serving children, youth and families.

Outside of work, Amber enjoys music, travelling, gardening and spending time with her family. She has spent many years involved as a parent and Board member in the competitive swimming community.

Kelly Wozney
Director & Officer / Secretary

Kelly Wozney is currently employed at the Southern First Nations Network of Care as the Intake Coordinator. In this role she assists Southern First Nations Child and Family Services agencies with case planning for complex cases, high risk youth, and provides assistance, consultation and support to child and family services workers as needed. Kelly works with several committees that assists in developing programming and strengthening programs in the child and family services system.

She provides training on the Structured Decision Making (SDM) tool and child abuse investigations to child and family services workers in southern first nations communities.

Kelly began her career in child and family services in 2006 after graduating from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Social Work Degree. Prior to this she worked in the health care field. Kelly worked at All Nations Coordinated Response Network (ANCR) as an Intake Worker and as a Child Abuse Investigator for 7 years. She then worked as a Permanent Ward Worker working closely with high risk youth to develop permanency planning for them. Kelly then worked at the Child and Family Services Division as an Issues Management Specialist. During her time at the Child and Family Services Division, Kelly liaised and built relationships with the four Child and Family Services Authorities and provided information and reports to the Minister of Families.

In her spare time Kelly enjoys camping, biking, and gardening; however her favorite hobby/interest is traveling. Kelly and her family enjoy exploring new places filled with history and adventure.

Sheila Hutton
Director

Sheila Hutton, RN, BN, is the Manager of Patient Care at the Children’s Emergency Department at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre. Sheila has worked as a registered nurse at the Children’s Hospital for almost 24 years, in many diverse and challenging roles, and is proud to have dedicated her entire career to the area of child health. Her current role in leadership at Children’s Emergency enables her to realize her passion for (and firm belief in) providing the most holistic care possible to the patients and families who seek care and compassion in that setting.

Sheila is extremely proud of her family. She and her husband are the biggest fans of her two teenage children, championing and cheering them on as they participate in their favorite sporting and musical activities.

Jamie Blunden
Director

Inspector Jamie Blunden began his career with the Winnipeg Police Service in 1990. Inspector Blunden has had a well-rounded career in Operations, divided between Uniform Patrol and Special Operations. Inspector Blunden’s previous assignments include General Patrol, Division Crime Unit as well as the Tactical Support Team. He became a member of the Emergency Response Unit in 2000 until 2012 when he transferred out of the Tactical Support Team. He also presently serves as an Incident Commander for the past four years at High Risk & Critical Incidents.

In his current role, Inspector Blunden is the Divisional Commander of Winnipeg Police Service’s Specialized Investigations Division, where he is responsible for multi-system collaboration involving Sex Crimes, Child Abuse, Vulnerable Persons, Missing Persons, Counter Exploitation and Internet Counter Exploitation investigations units.

Inspector Blunden graduated from the University of Manitoba where he has obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in Criminology and minor in Psychology. He has received the Police Exemplary Service Medal, which honours Canadian police officers with 20 year service, and also has a number of commendations for exceptional police work. Inspector Blunden is an avid triathlete who has competed in over a dozen Ironman races. He and his wife Sherry are proud owners of four horses and seventeen cats.

Corrine Scott
Director

After a 31 year career, Corrine retired from the Winnipeg Police Service as a Superintendent and member of the Executive Management Team. She is now Director, Compliance, for the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba.

In 1981, Corrine Scott began her career with the Winnipeg Police Service. After graduating from recruit class, she was assigned to work as a general patrol uniform officer in the south end of the city. Throughout her career, Corrine worked in a number of uniformed and plainclothes divisions.

In 2002, Corrine was awarded the Police Exemplary Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada and in 2007 she received the Manitoba Attorney General Excellence in Law Enforcement Award.

In 2006, she became an ‘Aide-de-Camp’ to the late Honourable John Harvard and she remained in that role until December, 2009.

In 2009, Corrine was invested into the Order of Manitoba. She was one of 12 new members inducted into the Order by Lieutenant Governor John Harvard, chancellor of the Order, during a special ceremony held at the Manitoba Legislature Building. Established under special legislation, the Order of Manitoba is the province’s highest honour. It recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence and achievement in any field of endeavour, benefiting in an outstanding manner the social, cultural or economic wellbeing of Manitoba and its residents.

In 2010, she received the Athabasca University Distinguished Alumni Award (2009).

Corrine has a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from Athabasca University; a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree from the University of Manitoba; a Graduate Diploma in Management from Athabasca University; a Management Development for Women Certificate from the University of Manitoba and two Police Leadership Certificates from Dalhousie University. Corrine is also a Certified Fraud Examiner, a graduate of the Canadian Police College and a graduate of the Emergency Preparedness College in Ottawa.

Debra Baker
Director

For more than 30 years, Debra Baker worked within Manitoba’s Justice System.

Her experience ranges from working in the Crown Attorney (Criminal) Branch, advancing through various positions in the Court of Queen’s Bench, and 12 years as the Executive Director of the Winnipeg Courts.

During her professional career, Debra developed expansive applied skills, knowledge base and leadership skills. She is an organizational, change management and human resources specialist.

Debra’s strategic thinking, problem-solving and leadership skills were critical to her success. She participated in or lead a variety of projects including the Child Friendly Courtroom.

During a three-year term as President of the Association of Canadian Court Administrators (ACCA), Debra’s reputation for integrity, professionalism and commitment allowed her to establish and maintain positive, strong working relationships with colleagues and other board members.

Debra has key insights about the courts environment that will help Snowflake Place identify and advance the need to support the physical, emotional and psychological needs of children as they prepare for and move through for the “courthouse experience”.

Since retiring, Debra has been exploring various activities and interests, and most notably, having fun with her four pre-school grandchildren.

Tracie Afifi, PhD
Director

Dr. Tracie Afifi is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences and cross-appointed in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba. She is also a research scientist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba and an Associate Editor of the academic journal Child Abuse & Neglect.

Dr. Afifi’s program of research is in the area of child maltreatment (including child abuse, neglect, physical punishment, and exposure to intimate partner violence). She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal publications and presented research findings in 120 national and international conference proceedings. Dr. Afifi has participated in over 100 media interviews for print, radio, television, and social media resulting in over 1,500 known worldwide news stories. Since her initial academic appointment, Dr. Afifi has been awarded research grants as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator totaling over $14 million. In 2013 and 2017, Dr. Afifi was the recipient of a Merit Award in Research from the University of Manitoba. She was also the 2013 recipient of the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, Children’s Rights Support Award. This award is presented to an individual or group who has demonstrated exemplary efforts to respect the rights of children as described in the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2014, Dr. Afifi received the Rh Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Health Sciences category from the University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation. Dr. Afifi was also named as one of CBC Manitoba Future 40 in 2016. In 2017, Dr. Afifi was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars.

In her spare time, Dr. Afifi likes to spend time with her family, travel and cheer on the Winnipeg Jets.

Callum Beattie
Ex-Officio

Callum Beattie is the co-founder of Honest Agency, one of Winnipeg’s premier branding and communications agencies. His primary role is working with business and organizational leaders to develop strategies that help them build and deliver meaningful brand experiences for their audiences.

Callum graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Management with a BComm (Hons) degree in marketing. After graduation, he took 4 months to travel through Europe before taking a position as Account Coordinator with Clark Communications that quickly transitioned into an Account Executive role. In 2000, he co-founded Neuhaus Design where he developed and managed brands for organizations like the National Screen Institute – Canada, Richlu Manufacturing, and cityplace. Neuhaus was re-branded as Honest Agency in 2009 and has added clients like MTS, MB Hydro among others to its roster.

Callum has taught advertising at Red River College and Martha Street Studio and continues to teach through the University of Winnipeg’s PACE program. He is a graduate of the Leadership Winnipeg program through the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and was Marketing Chair of the Exchange District Biz for six years for which he received a volunteerism award from the mayor.