Meet the 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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Theresa Bradford
Finance Coordinator

Theresa  started work as an accountant in a Municipal Office.  She then moved on to work in Public Accounting for 16 years and worked with Corporations, Partnerships, Sole Proprietors and Not for Profit Organizations.
Theresa then had an  opportunity to change paths and worked in Manufacturing as an Accountant and HR Manager.
When the Manufacturing Plant closed she semi –retired and now works with two local non-profit organizations. She has really enjoyed her work over the last 35 years in accounting.
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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.

Christine Perenger
​Vice Chair

Christine has been involved in LCCJ since it was first incorporated in 2001 when she served as the first chair of the board.  Christine is a facilitator, mediator and communications trainer consulting to non-profit organizations in Canada and internationally.  She leads multi-stakeholder processes in the environmental, health, justice, social services and other fields.  Since graduating from law school, she has held a number of positions as staff or board member of peace and community- building organizations locally and nationally.  She lives in Lanark Highlands with her husband Randy Weekes and they have two children now living in Toronto.  When not attending meetings she can be found gardening, dancing or just staring out the window in awe of the beauty of Lanark County.​
Steve Brown
Director
Steve Brown has been a long time resident of Lanark County. Steve graduated from Carleton University with a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and concentration in Criminology. Steve has been a Police Officer for over 26 years in Lanark County. Steve has been a supporter of Lanark County Community Justice Program since its inception in 2000

Dave Burkett
​​Director

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. 

Margo Bell
Secretary

Margo joined the Board of LCCJ in November 2015.  Margo is recently retired from Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville where she was involved with Community Outreach for a number of years and most recently was on contract to work on the CPIN (Child Protection Information Network) Program.

​Margo is a member of the executive committee for The CARR (Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement) and is coordinator of their fundraising as well as is involved in many aspects of their undertaking.

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.
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.

Scott Ferguson
Past - Chair of the Board

Scott brings executive management experience from both the public and private sectors to the organization. He currently runs his own consulting practice dedicated to business and management support to innovative start-up companies. Previously he was a senior manager overseeing operations and business development in the public sector. His earlier career included scientific research, product line management, policy development, venture capital and marketing and sales management functions. Scott holds graduate degrees in both Business and Science and is a member of the Licensing Executives Society.
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Our Volunteers
The Heart of our Organization

The very essence of community justice centres on the participation of community volunteers- we literally 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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