Experts and Speakers
Known and respected within the social services sector, FSA's expert counsellors and social advocates know the issues and their impact on real people.
Some of the issues you might be interested in:
- Client Services
- Sexual Orientation Issues
- HIV/Aids Topics
- Seniors & Caregivers
- Community Building & Social Reform
- Child Poverty
If you would like to arrange for an interview with any of our experts, contact Marketing & Communications Department, 416 595 9230 ext. 225
Client Services
Peter Crosby, M.S.W.
Director of Client Services
Peter Crosby, MSW is the Director of Client Services at the Family Service Association of Toronto, a position he has held for 4 years. His portfolio includes counselling programs for individuals, couples and families including lesbian and gay clients, members of immigrant communities, families with children experiencing separation and divorce and seniors and their caregivers. He is also responsible for the FSA Toronto Family Violence Centre which includes support for abused women, programs for abusive men, elder abuse, same sex abuse and adult survivors of sexual abuse. He has been with FSA Toronto since 1988 in a variety of senior management positions.
Peter graduated from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work with an Master of Social Work in 1975. He has worked in a variety of children's mental health settings and began his career in a children' aid society. Peter has a long-standing interest in counselling and community development practice and is an advocate for practices that welcome and effectively serve our diverse communities. He has served on various boards including Victims Services of Toronto and the Metro Woman Abuse Council of Toronto. He is married and has two sons who are young adults.
Sexual Orientation Issues/HIV Aids
Laurie C. Chesley, M.S.W.,
R.S.W.
Manager - David Kelley Services; Next Steps
Laurie Chesley is a social worker with over 25 years experience in providing therapy and counselling as well as workshops and training. In both agency and private practice settings she has provided service to general counselling populations as well as having developed specialties in the areas of childhood abuse and violence against women. As a lesbian, she is pleased to participate in the development of specific services and programs for her community.
She co-authored the booklet Abuse in Lesbian Relationships: A Handbook of Information and Resources, available on Health Canada’s National Clearinghouse on Family Violence website (search word Lesbian) at http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/hppb/familyviolence/pdfs/lesbianabuse.pdf.
Seniors & Caregivers
Lisa Manuel, Ph.D
Manager - Seniors & Caregivers Support Services; Violence Against Women
Lisa Manuel manages the Seniors and Caregivers Support Service Unit at Family Service Association of Toronto. Prior to this she was the Director of Social Services at St. Paul’s L’Amoureaux Centre. She has more than 15 years of experience working with seniors and caregivers.
Ms.
Manuel completed her Ph.D. in Sociology in 1995. It focused on how
family members identify and define the dementia process and how these
patterns of understanding impact on their ability to secure assistance
from the formal care system. Her current areas of interest continue
to be Alzheimer’s
Disease and related forms of dementia as well as elder abuse and working with "difficult
to serve" clients and caregivers.
She is co-chair of the Ontario Community Support Association’s local
sub-committee on Client Intervention and Assistance. This service is variously
referred to as community-based social work services, community work and so
on. It targets working with frail and vulnerable seniors and their caregivers,
who are at risk of falling between the cracks in the system. She is also a
member of numerous committees and consortiums.
Lisa’s recent work with the Family Service Association of Toronto has
included launching a cross-sectoral Elder Abuse Consultation Team and a Virtual
Caregivers Support Group.
Community Building & Social Reform
Laurel Rothman, M.S.W., R.S.W.
Director - Community Building & Social
Reform
Laurel Rothman is the Director of Community Building and Social Reform at the Family Service Association of Toronto and the National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, a non-partisan national coalition of more than 85 organizations committed to securing the implementation of the 1989 federal all-party resolution "to seek to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000". Partners include a breadth of organizations, for example, Canadian Institute of Child Health, Canadian Teachers' Federation, Canadian Auto Workers, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Ontario Inter-faith Social Assistance Review Coalition, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.
Laurel brings 30 years of experience as a professional, volunteer, advocate and consumer in the community services field. She has worked in the voluntary sector, municipal and provincial governments, and the union movement in direct service, planning, policy development and advocacy. As (past) president of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and Skills for Change, she broadened her knowledge about the diversity of Ontario's communities. From her thirteen years of work at the City of Toronto, she deepened her knowledge of and commitment to building and sustaining healthy communities.
Laurel is a frequent media spokesperson on issues of children's well-being. She also has published articles in professional journals and magazines including Child Welfare, Women and Environments and the Canadian Review of Social Policy.
Born in Ohio, Laurel completed her M.S.W. at the University of Pittsburgh and emigrated to Canada in 1971. She lives with her family in Toronto.
