STAFF & BOARD

Meet our Team

We are extremely fortunate to have a dynamic and dedicated team of staff and volunteers

Joellen McHard
​Executive Director

​Joellen McHard was the former Executive Director of LCCJ from 2010 to 2014. Accordingly, she was able to smoothly step back into the part time position of Executive Director in June of
2019. She comes to us with a wealth of experience in program and agency development, as the first Executive Director of Victim Services Lanark County, the first Program Coordinator of the Lanark County Volunteer Hospice Visiting Services. Furthermore, she was also the Supervisor of Addiction Services at Ottawa Detox. Most recently, she was with Primary Care Outreach to Seniors at the North Lanark Community Health Centre. Joellen has a degree in Sociology and a degree in Gerontology. She also has another very important position as, “The Supreme Commander of the McHard Household”, where she oversees her twins, Brianne and Brent and husband Paul.

Sheri Halladay
Community Justice Court Diversion
​Program Coordinator

Sheri began as a volunteer with Community Justice in 2000.  In 2001, she was honored to become a staff member.  Sheri has witnessed restorative practice broaden to include communities of care with victims’ & offenders’ families and friends participating in collaborative processes called forums, conferences or circles. Sheri holds restorative practices in very high regard as you can tell by the passionate way she speaks about the process.  She is amazed at the authentic and genuine emotions that are shared, the body language that is translated and the positive attitude that steps out.  Sheri has endorsed and supported the relationships that are mended and strengthened in our community. Sheri is the mother of two adult daughters whom she adores… because they make her so proud. 
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Dave Burkett
Finance Coordinator

Dave joined the board as Treasurer in 2019.  He is a retired management consultant and, prior to moving to Almonte, a co-owner of an art gallery in Kitchener.  A long-time resident of the Kitchener Waterloo area, Dave and his wife Alison moved in 2019 to be closer to grandchildren.
 
Dave was previously on the board of Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region, where he served as treasurer.  Dave and Alison are active in several community service activities, including church and Civitan. 
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​Aisha Toor
Chair of the Board

Aisha has been a Restorative Justice Facilitator with our organization for many years. She is a former business owner, Program Coordinator at The Table Community Food Centre and has her Masters in Conflict Studies from St. Paul's University.Aisha has been very active in the community as a volunteer and service provider in a multitude of capacities and her dedication to Restorative Practices is evident in everything she does. She is the proud mother of three with her husband Anthony and strives to make our community restorative so all families and individuals of every age can thrive.

Ross Dickson
Director 

Ross Dickson, B.Sc. 1964, and M.Sc. 1967, Carleton University (Chemistry); Ph.D. 1970, Cambridge University (Physical Chemistry), was a research scientist (1972 to 1977) with the National Research Council of Canada, He owned and published Pontiac County’s weekly newspaper, The Equity (1977 to 2017);  co-founded the Association of Quebec Regional Media (1979) and its successor, the Quebec Community Newspaper Association (1983); co-founded (1985) and was president until 2015 of CNRIE, a libel insurance company for community newspapers, magazines and web news sites; and co-founded the Hill Times (1989) and the Ottawa X Press (1993). He designs databases for a wide variety of purposes, ranging from ad sales and circulation management for newspapers, to most recently, supporting the fund-raising activities of the Stewart Park Festival. He has lived in Perth with his partner, Diana, for 20 years, with whom he shares five children and eight grandchildren. He enjoys canoeing on the Tay, sailing, four-wall handball, and playing with the Blue Skies Fiddle Orchestra and the Lanark Fiddlers Guild.

Mark MacDonald
Director 

Mark is a Barrister at MacDonald Law Office. MacDonald Law offers comprehensive legal advice and counsel in matters relating to criminal defence, real estate and wills.​
Mark MacDonald has practiced locally since 2002. He has appeared before various levels of court and tribunals. 
He received his Law Degree and Economics Degree from Queens University . 

Elsie Stresman
​​Director

​Elsie joined the Board of LCCJ in 2021. She is a secondary principal from Thunder Bay, now
living in Perth. Her final 5 years in education were spent on loan of service to the Department
of National Defense as the Director of AFNORTH International School in The Netherlands.
Elsie and her husband retired to eastern Ontario where they grew up. Elsie has been active in refugee resettlement. She was an energetic member of the executive of CARR (Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement) in Perth.
She is involved with a group planning to bring Afghans to our area. In addition, Elsie is a member of the executive panel of
the Refugee Ministry Office of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa – a settlement agreement holder (SAH) with the government of Canada.

Stephen Graham
​​Director

Stephen is a graduate engineer (Queen’s University, 1969) with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies (York University, 1975). The last 4 decades of his career were spent as a Professional Engineer providing consulting services in sustainable energy and on issues relating sustainable energy to international development and climate change.Through his firm SGA Energy Ltd. (1980 – 2016) he has worked both in Canada and nearly 20 developing countries on these issues.
In the past Stephen has volunteered for over 20 years with the Re-evaluation Counseling community as a participant and teacher.  In early 2000 he sat on the Board of Salus Corporation of Ottawa. Stephen is retired living with his wife on 100 acres in Lanark Highlands.

Carol Anne Deneka
Director 

Elected in the Fall 2021, Carol Anne Deneka is one of three new Members of the Board.
She has a B.A. in Economics, Trent University, 1978 and is a Certified Association Executive and a Certified Gemologist. Carol Anne is recently retired from a 16 year career in communications in the Federal Public Service, following almost a decade managing member services at the Canadian Dental Association, and 15 years in management and merchandising at Henry Birks and Sons.
Passionate about social justice and eager to put her energies to the challenges at hand.
​Carol Anne lives in Lanark County on a farm with her partner in Poland, Ontario.​

Our Volunteer 
Forum Facilitators
The Heart of our Organization
The very essence of community justice centres on the participation of community volunteers- we could not do anything without our team of amazingly talented and dedicated volunteers.
LCCJ volunteers commit to extensive training, case conferencing and continuous learning to keep their skills sharp. They give their time and energy because they genuinely care about the kind of community we build together.
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​We are extremely grateful and very proud of our team of volunteers and all of the incredible things they do for our agency, our clients and most importantly, for our community.
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