Liz Lightford joined the OICC team in September 2009 as the Director of Programs, and has been involved since its incorporation in 2005. She is originally from Perth, Ontario and holds an Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma, Early Childhood Education degree, Bachelor of Education and a Master of Education. Liz has worked for over 20 years in Early Learning and Child Care, including several years as an ECE Instructor at Algonquin College , 2 years in Igloolik delivering an ECE diploma program with Arctic College, and 15 years involvement with Inuit families, communities, and organizations. She loves reading, cooking, watching movies, walking and being with her husband and 3 children, as well as volunteering in her kids’ school. Liz believes that the best thing about working with kids is their perspective on life.

Lynda was born in Nunavut, her mother’s family originates from Pangnirtung, and her father is of Scottish descent.  Her parents and 2 sisters lived mainly in Alberta and Ontario while growing up. Upon graduating from Trent University with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Native Studies and Psychology, she moved to the nation’s capital. In Ottawa, home to the largest southern Inuit community, Lynda and her husband Rob Nicholson, raise their three young children, Jacob and Camden who have graduated from Head Start, and Keely who attends Tumiralaat Childcare Centre.  Lynda loves her work with the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and is very involved with her community. She volunteers her time, primarily focussing on Inuit women and children and affordable housing. She is the President of Inuit Non-Profit Housing Incorporation, and has been serving on this board for 6 years.  Lynda participated in the 2008 Governor General Leadership Conference, and was chosen based on her commitment to her community.  Lynda is a traditional throat singer and drummer, and shares her cultural knowledge through demonstrations, information sessions and workshops.  She performs locally, nationally and internationally.   

Jessie was born and raised in Igloolik Nunavut up until the age of 17 when her family moved to Ottawa Ontario. Ottawa has been her hometown now for 15 years. She and her husband Gary are raising their first born Jonathan in an urban community but proudly keeping and passing their Inuit culture and language to Jonathan. She has been working with the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre since September 2007 and has found it has made Ottawa a homey place to live for her family. Most important to her is that her son will grow up in a strong cultural environment at OICC and that she is able to give him a sense of community in an urban setting.   

Ina is the Cultural Teacher for the Sivummut Head Start Program. Ina originally from Pangnirtung , Nunavut, has been living in Ottawa for over 20 years.  Ina has an E.C.E equivalency and is bilingual in Inuktitut and English. Ina has been teaching her culture to children for over 30 years. In 2004, she was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. Her expertise in delivering Inuktitut programming within the Sivummut Head Start is recognized by other Inuit Early Learning and Child Care programs in Canada.  Ina also helped to create the Uqausivut Language Resources, and gave her knowledge in the DVD created to share Inuit culture.

Fred has been teaching with the Inuit Head Start since 2002. Fred grew up in southern Ontario and after university he spent three years working across the country with mining exploration. His decision to change careers to early childhood education brought him to Algonquin College here in Ottawa in 1985.
Fred has two grown stepchildren living in Calgary and Montreal while he and his wife, Suzanne and his 15 year old son live in Old Ottawa East in a house with lots of trees. He enjoys sharing his love of the natural world with the children and his commitment to preparing the Head Start children for Kindergarten and Grade one is evident.

Sarah was born in Iqaluit and moved to Ottawa in 2000. She graduated from Osgoode Township High School in 2006. Sarah began volunteering in the Head Start Program and was hired as a Teacher’s Assistant in 2007. Sarah is learning more about her Inuit culture and heritage through the Head Start program.  She loves listening to music, quoting funny things said by the kids and eating muktuk.

Ulayuk is originally from Pond Inlet, Nunavut. She has also resided in Arctic Bay for a school year, Clyde River for 4 years and 16 years in Iqaluit. She moved to Ottawa in July 2006.  Ulayuk has two daughters who currently attend the Tumiralaat Daycare Centre.  She was introduced to the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre because of her older daughter who began attending the Head Start Program at the age of two.  Ulayuk started working at the Tumiralaat Daycare in January 2009, as Administration Assistant for a maternity leave replacement and is now working for Sivummut Head Start as of April 1, 2010.  Her favorite thing to eat is country food, and she loves to spend time with her family.  She believes that the best thing about working with kids is playing with them, as you get to use your imagination. 
 

Natasha obtained her Early Childhood Education Diploma from Algonquin College in 2008.  She started her journey with OICC in the Sivummut Head Start Program while on placement for her ECE diploma.  Upon graduation, she was hired as a teacher for HS, and eventually took on administration duties as well as teaching.  Natasha now works with the toddlers of Tumiralaat Inuit Child Care Centre, and has some administration duties.  She believes the best thing about working with kids is seeing them every day.  She enjoys watching hockey, especially the Chicago Blackhawks, watching TV, reading books and shopping.  Natasha has roots in Ottawa, Portugal and Italy.

Bea was born in Bogota, Colombia, South America. Her family immigrated to Ottawa, Canada when she was very young. Bea has also lived in Montreal and Toronto, but is very happy to be in Ottawa with her family.  She recently completed her Early Childhood Education at Algonquin College and Bachelor of Education at Ottawa University, after a 20-year career in graphic arts and printing.  Bea began her career at OICC at the onset of the child care centre as the ECE Teacher in the Toddler room, and is now Coordinator of the Tumiralaat Inuit Child Care Centre. 

 

Bea enjoys reading, swimming, knitting, drawing, painting and watching movies.  She is a volunteer at Roger’s House, which enriches the lives of children, youth and their families facing progressive life-limiting illnesses.  She believes that her creativity has led her to this exciting and important new role as a teacher.  Bea’s favourite thing about working with kids is that they keep her in the moment with surprise, laughter and curiosity.  

Jessica was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and she loves it out west, visiting family there whenever she can.  Jessica has a psychology major, her Early Childhood Education (ECE) Diploma and Bachelor of Education.  She first came to OICC through her ECE placement with Sivummut Head Start 2 years ago, assisted with childcare for evening events and has been the preschool teacher at Tumiralaat since November 2009.  She loves to watch a movie with close friends and family, she also can’t miss a lazy day on the couch watching Friends reruns.  She has danced since the age of 3, and has also taught jazz and ballet for almost 10 years. She believes the best thing about working with children is seeing them light up when they have accomplished something.

Christine has been involved with the Ottawa Inuit Community ever since she can remember. She remembers going to community Christmas parties, attending the stay in school program and during her high school years she worked at the Family Resource Centre. One summer she was the Inuktitut teacher for the Inuit community centre. She later graduated from Algonquin College in the field of Corrections and is now back where she began, working with the Inuit community and she couldn’t be happier. She loves working with children and has her entire life. 

Allison was born in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and moved to Ottawa when she was young.  She graduated from Rockland District High School, and began working for Tumiralaat Inuit Child Care Centre when it opened in July 2008.  She and her partner Phil are raising their first child, Brooke, and they are looking forward to her joining Sivummut Head Start in September 2010.  Allison is a proud Inuk at OICC and keeps everyone on track with her excellent administrative and organizational skills.  Allison is a self-taught throatsinger over the last six years, and she loves to share her skills locally and nationally. 

Barbara is First Nations, Algonquin descent, from Kitigan Zibi. Her work as a cook has been a rewarding experience and has given her a chance to expand her knowledge of Inuit culture and language.  Two of her grandchildren attend OICC programming, with a grandson in youth programs and a granddaughter attending Sivummut Head Start.  In her spare time, she loves spending time with her grandchildren, researching her family history and drumming and singing. 

Heidi enjoys working at the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and has been involved with the organization since 2003. She participates in several committees including the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Health Nexus Advisory Committee Preventing Obesity in Aboriginal Children.  She believes strongly in empowering parents and advocating for children and youth. While working at a National Inuit Organization Heidi gained experience and knowledge of issues affecting Inuit and the North. Heidi has four children who attend four different schools and is experienced in advocating for children within the school system. Originally from Nunatsiavut she has traveled across the North meeting new people and learning from them. Heidi has given many presentations and interactive demonstrations on Inuit culture, heritage, values and beliefs including traditional throatsinging.

On June 19th, 2010 Heidi had the extreme honour of being named one of 12 National Aboriginal Role Models for 2010-2011. The National Aboriginal Role Model Program celebrates the accomplishments of First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth aged 13 to 30.

Dion Metcalfe is a life-long urban Inuk.  He was born in St. John’s, NFLD, and raised in Ottawa.  His Inuit ancestry comes from his dad’s side, Samuel Metcalfe originally from Hebron, Labrador.  His mom hails from Den Haag, Holland.  Although he does not know the language, he is learning a little Inuktitut from his partner, Sarah, and his kids.  He has two children currently in the Tumiralaat program, Samantha and Damian.  His oldest, Kyle, who is now a Leader in Training at OICC, graduated from the program seven years ago.  Dion has been working with youth since the age of 15 when he took a Leadership in Training position at Christie Lake Camp for Boy’s and Girl’s, where he enjoyed two great summers.  Since then he has worked with many other camps, including hockey camps, and March Break camps.   For the past three years, he’s been working with teenagers at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health.  All of his experience working with youth comes from life experiences.  He enjoys his work immensely. Dion received the Man of the Village Award in 2005, and was a part of the United Way Speaker’s Bureau.  In 2010 Dion was awarded the Community Builders Award.  He holds the OICC in the utmost respect for helping him become sober (January 7, 2007), and making him a stronger parent and a better person.

Originally from Apex just outside Iqaluit, Nikkutai loves working in Ottawa with OICC’s kids. She especially finds the laughter of the kids most enjoyable. Nikkutai has now been working for OICC since May of 2009. She loves vegetarian dishes, watching movies, reading, working out, listening to Hip Hop and attending Hip Hop concerts. One of Nikkutai’s fondest memories of northern life is playing outside while enjoying the beauty of the Northern Lights. Nikkutai is currently upgrading her High School education and plans to attend Nursing School in September 2010 at the University of Ottawa. When asked what Nikkutai’s favorite thing to do on her day off she answered, “On my day off I...Between school and work there are no days off!!” Nikkutai is a definite asset to the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and has established a great connection with the kids she serves every day.  

Zehra is Inuk and originally from Montreal.  She is currently finishing her high school diploma while working part time with the youth program.  She enjoys spending her time in the gym playing volleyball or basketball, reading and writing.  She loves to work out and spend time with her friends and family.  Zehra has 1 sister and 6 younger brothers, several of which attend OICC programming.  She believes that the best thing about working with kids is their enjoyment while being at OICC with their friends. 

Geoff has his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and is obtaining his Masters of Education while working part-time as a youth worker with OICC. He is originally from Toronto, and loves living in Ottawa. He loved playing sports while growing up, and likes playing a game of basketball or ball hockey with youth, who keeps him on his toes. He enjoys spending his leisure time reading and cooking. Geoff believes that the best thing about working with kids is the smiles, and his favorite kid quote is “I’m not picking my nose, I’m cleaning it!”

Sherry is originally from Nain, Labrador and has lived in Main Brook, Newfoundland, St. John’s Newfoundland and Ottawa.  She joined the OICC Literacy program in October 2009.  Sherry has 2 children, and loves to spend time watching movies, flying or just being outside.  Growing up, Sherry loved to play ball and read, which is why literacy is important to her.  She believes that the best thing about working with children is that they are non-judgmental.