Our history…

IICRD began in 1994 at the University of Victoria, Canada as the Unit for Research and Education on Child Rights (URECRC). Since then, we have advanced the realization of children's rights by:

• Accumulating recognized expertise across major children's issues and child rights strategies;
• Carrying out culturally grounded child rights field-based research and technical assistance;
• Convening national and international conferences on sexual exploitation. families, children and their environments, child rights in education and child participation; and
• Developing a variety of culturally grounded rights-based programs and resources.

Our team…

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development works in partnership with a multidisciplinary team of academics, front-line workers, community members, policy-makers and professionals from universities, professional associations, NGO's, government agencies and UN organizations.

Our core team is:

Dr. Philip Cook - Executive Director
Dr. Philip Cook, a graduate from Queen’s University in Cross Cultural Psychology is the founder and current Executive Director of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), a non-governmental organization located in the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. IICRD is recognized to be a Canadian leader in community-based, national, regional and international applications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). These applications are unique in providing a “bottom centered” approach to children’s rights that build on children’s natural resiliency as well as the resiliency of families, communities and culture.

Since 1991, Dr. Cook has overseen the Institute’s growth as a leader in linking children’s healthy development to broad issues of human development and participatory governance across diverse cultures and situational contexts. During this time the Dr. Cook has worked in partnership with a cross section of UN agencies, governments, and non-governmental organizations, as well as with children, youth, and families. These partnerships have resulted in: policy design, school based programs, community based research initiatives, and projects with vulnerable children and youth (e.g. indigenous children, sexually-exploited children and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS).
pcook@uvic.ca

Bruce Lund- Chief Operations Officer

bliicrd@uvic.ca

Dr. Stuart Hart - Deputy Director
Stuart Hart is Deputy Director of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development; and Founding Director of the Office for the Study of the Psychological Rights of the Child and Professor Emeritus of the School of Education, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the present Chairperson for the Children’s Rights Committee and Past President of the International School Psychology Association, the Past President of the National Association of School Psychologists (USA), and the Past-President of the National Committee for the Rights of the Child (USA). He is a director of CRED-PRO, our international program of child rights education for professionals serving children and families. He has presented and published extensively on psychological maltreatment of children and on children’s rights. He is a member of the NGO Advisory Panel for the UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children and he is on the editorial boards of Child Abuse and Neglect – The International Journal, School Psychology International, and the Journal of Emotional Abuse.
shiicrd@uvic.ca

Suzanne Williams - Legal Director
Suzanne Williams is a lawyer qualified to practice in Ontario and British Columbia and the managing director of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD).Over the past ten years Ms. Williams has practiced law in government, private practice and non-profit settings. Since 1996 she has been a strong advocate for children’s rights beginning with her involvement in UNICEF BC as chair of its Speakers Bureau, then as Education for Development Committee Chair and Board member. She joined the team at IICRD in 2002 and has contributed her expertise to IICRD organizationally, as well as to its work across various partnerships and initiatives, particularly those focused on meaningful child participation and the law. Ms. Williams has provided child rights training locally, nationally and internationally to audiences ranging from young people and university students, to policy makers and professionals.
swiicrd@uvic.ca

Michele Cook - Capacity Building Director
A supporter of IICRD since its infancy, Michele has a background in Physiotherapy and Community Development. She provides continuity within IICRD's programming areas and manages several project. She has also produced many of IICRD's culturally grounded training materials. Areas of excellence include supporting children with a disability, family based interventions, community asset building, developing and delivering all manner of training and capacity building tools. She has 17 years experience working in India, Thailand, South Africa, Malawi, Mexico and Canada.
mciicrd@uvic.ca

Bill White, Xelimuxw/Kasalid, Coast Salish - Traditional Tribal Advisor
Bill White has worked with traditionally trained elders/Sulalewqw from Nanaimo and Cowichan, since the mid 1970’s, particularly around identifying ‘good ways to strengthen each other’. Most recently, he has been involved with Sulalewqw from Katzie, Saanich and Qualicum, British around the application of protocol and teachings to strengthen communities.
wwiicrd@uvic.ca

Dr. Natasha Blanchet-Cohen - Research Director
Building on her two Masters degrees, one in International Affairs from Carleton University and another one in Public Policy from Concordia University, Natasha has just completed her PhD in Education at the University of Victoria. She has been working in the area of children's rights since 1996, focusing in particular on work with Indigenous children, youth participation and children and the environment. She headed up our Growing Up in Cities Canada project (GUICC) and is our lead researcher on our Creating Resilient Communities by Engaging Youth Initiative.
nbciicrd@uvic.ca

Vanessa Currie - Child Protection Manager
Vanessa has experience in child and youth participation and pyschosocial interventions. She has worked with children and communities in War Zones with War Child and assisted Taking it Global in it's infancy. She was stationed in India as an IICRD field officer on our Tsunami Project.

Renée Lormé-Gulbrandsen, Administrative Coordinator
Renee's background is in Sociology (Social Justice) and Psychology and she holds a BA with Distinction from the University of Victoria. Her academic focus and volunteer experiences focused on issues of 'marginalized' groups, but more specifically issues of women and children, and the limitations of multiple barriers. Originally joining the team as Project Assistant for the GUICC project, Renee has assumed the role of Administrative Coordinator supporting our various projects with a focus on core administration for the organization.
rlgiicrd@uvic.ca

Cheryl Heykoop, Project Officer
chiicrd@uvic.ca

Christopher Yeomans, CPP Project Manager
cyiicrd@uvic.ca

Elaina Mack , National Coordinator for YouthScape
emiicrd@uvic.ca

Our associates…

• Mira Dodig, a strong front line practitioners with experience working in war affected areas.
• Jeff Goldhagen, Academy of Pediatrics - CredPro Advisor.
• Gerison Lansdown, Director of the Children's Rights Office (now known as the Children’s Rights Alliance for England) from its establishment in 1992 to 2000, and international consultant in children’s rights.
• Jan Mackie, Director, Spiral Garden (Bloorview McMillan Centre for Children's rehabilitation, Toronto). 25 years experience in art garden therapeutic interventions with children at risk in Canada, Mexico, India and Sri Lanka.
• Brent Parfitt, Member of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Geneva and former Deputy Ombudsman for British Columbia.
• Derek Peterson,ED of ICARUS and leader in the youth development field.
• Martha Nelms, former child protection focal point for CIDA
• Julian Norris, co-founder of Ghost River Rediscovery (An Aboriginal Lead NGO based in Calgary) and Guiding Spirit. Currently working with Outward bound using his extensive experience in Wilderness Therapy and Experiential Education for youth at risk and completing his Ph.D. in International Social Work at the University of Calgary.
• Gary Robinson, Ph.D., Cred-Pro Manager, focusing on organizational development, distance learnig, higher education, research and Latin America affairs.