Who We Are

Our Team

Sara Austin

Founder and CEO, Children First Canada (ex officio Board Director)

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Sara Austin

Founder and CEO, Children First Canada (ex officio Board Director)

Sara is a world class champion for children, with more than 20 years of experience advocating for the rights of kids in Canada and on the global stage. As the Founder and CEO of Children First Canada, she leads a national movement to make Canada the best place in the world for kids to grow up.

Sara’s work has taken her into the top circles of power in the United Nations, national governments, and boardrooms around the world, leading highly successful advocacy, public awareness and philanthropic campaigns and shaped major public policy efforts.

Her leadership has impacted the lives of millions of children. Most notably, she led a global campaign that resulted in the UN General Assembly adopting the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child for a Communications Procedure (OP3). This ground-breaking law allows kids or their advocates to hold governments accountable for violations of children’s rights, and is currently being used by Greta Thunberg and 15 of her peers in a complaint against their governments concerning their right to a sustainable future.

Sara also co-hosted the global children’s summit at the United Nations General Assembly’s Special Session for Children that brought more than 500 kids from every corner of the world to the UN Headquarters as official UN delegates for the first time in history to set ambitious goals for A World Fit for Children.

Closer to home, Sara has led the creation of the Canadian Children’s Charter – a plan by children, for children, to ensure the protection of their rights; launched the Young Canadians’ Parliament to give children a voice at the highest levels of government; and created the Raising Canada report, released annually to put a spotlight on the top 10 threats to childhood and mobilize Canadians to take action.
Sara has previously served as the CEO of the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (formerly the Sheldon Kennedy CYAC), the Director of the President’s Office of World Vision Canada, and several global and national roles including serving on the UN’s Global Advisory Council on Violence Against Children. As a vocal advocate for kids, Sara Austin is a regular contributor to national media and is a go-to source for trusted and reliable information on the state of childhood in Canada.

In recognition of her leadership and impact, Sara has twice been awarded the Top 25 Women of Influence, and in 2017 she was the youngest person to be inducted into the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame. She is a finalist in RBC’s Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards and will soon be one of 100 inductees into the Government of Canada’s Women of Impact in Canada.
Sara holds an MSt/LLM with Distinction in International Human Rights Law from Oxford and an Honours BA in International Development and Women’s Studies from Dalhousie University. She has completed the Governance Essentials Program for Non-Profits with the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Maytree Foundation’s Public Policy Program and the University of Alberta’s Indigenous Partnerships Program.

Joanne Gosselin

Joanne Gosselin

Educator in Residence

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Joanne Gosselin

Educator in Residence

Joanne has been a compassionate and enthusiastic educator for 38 years. She has been an advocate for “student voice” for the past 25 years: coordinating and organizing student summits, and leadership and peer assistance camps. Student engagement and empowerment through “student voice” initiatives have been at the centre of her recent work, especially since retiring from her full time position with the Ottawa Catholic School Board in 2013, as the Coordinator of Student Success for Intermediate and Secondary Schools.

She has been Ottawa Coordinator for the Keep the Promise National and Ottawa Student Summits related to ending child poverty. She was the Program Manager for Global Solutions with The Learning Partnership and initiated this program with local school boards and coordinated the Global Solutions Student Summit in Ottawa. Joanne has also been a Navigation Learning Partner, assisting our most vulnerable students with exploring college and university programs. In addition, she also worked with elementary students as a Special Education Assistive  Technology Coach. She continues to work in Guidance as a counsellor in schools where extra assistance is needed.

Joanne was a finalist in the Women of Distinction Awards in Ottawa in the area of Education and was a recipient of the Director of Commendation Award in the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Joanne received the Pathways Star recognition from the Ottawa Catholic School Board for her contributions establishing specialized pathways, transition programs and providing student voice opportunities.

She has been volunteering with Children First Canada for the past three years, coordinating retired educators to assist participants – both children and adults – at their Ottawa events.

Joanne has two energetic and adventurous adult sons who live in Toronto. She lives in Ottawa with her supportive partner Michael.  She is also a competitive dragon boat paddler (whose club qualified for the 2020 world championships).  When not on the water, she is on the courts playing pickleball or tennis.

Cicely McWilliam

Research and Program Strategist

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Cicely McWilliam

Research and Program Strategist

With more than 25 years as a human rights advocate (LGBTQ2+, women, children) with experience in advocacy, communications, and government relations for the non-profit sector. As a Partner with Patricia Erb & Associates, Cicely is now focused on helping organizations achieve social impact through development and community engagement.

Working for Save the Children Canada (SCC) for almost a decade, as Director of Policy and Government Relations, she designed and implemented advocacy campaigns and government relations strategies and led and participated in policy development for the global organization.

Non-profits must do more than address immediate needs to achieve an equitable and sustainable world. They must work to address the root causes and fix the broken systems that create or sustain injustice. They must advocate for change and amplify and support the voices of the most marginalized.

Successful social movements and political campaigns require community engagement and mobilization. Cicely is an expert with more than 25 years of volunteer and professional campaign experience. She has coordinated hundreds of community advocates in the struggle for equal marriage and civil rights for 2LGBTQ+ Canadians. She has trained and marshalled volunteers to campaign for political candidates. Training volunteer and professional advocates on campaign strategy and implementation has allowed her to share her experience and support movements for children’s rights around the world.

Cicely’s LinkedIn profile

 

Stacie Smith

Education Outreach Specialist

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Stacie Smith

Education Outreach Specialist

Stacie Smith is an award-winning children and youth health advocate from Saint John, NB. She completed an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology from Dalhousie University in 2020 and a professional degree in Education from the University of New Brunswick in 2022. She is pursuing her Master’s in Arts in Education at Mount Saint Vincent University. She is based in Halifax, NS.

Stacie has been involved with the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health since 2020 in various roles, including the former Executive Director. She is also a Fellow with Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. She was a Co-Chair of the Youth Advisory Council of the Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Services Review conducted by the NB Child and Youth Advocate’s office. She is also the founder of the Mental Health Student Support Network and a Board Member of the Women’s Nonprofit Network.

She was named one of 30 Young Impact Leaders across Canada in 2022 by Future of Good and both an Emerging Leader (Atlantic Region) and Under 30 Innovator in 2024 by the Government of Canada and Atlantic Business Magazine. She is passionate about school food, food insecurity, youth mental health, and youth engagement.

Simi Sahota

Special Events and Program Planner

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Simi Sahota

Special Events and Program Planner

Simi Sahota has been involved in advocacy, leadership and child rights work for many years, notably serving as Children First Canada’s Youth Advisory Council Chair from 2022 – 2023. Now in her third year of studies at the University of British Columbia, Simi is pursuing a degree in Political Science with a Minor in Law and Society. She is currently Children First Canada’s Special Events and Program Planner.

Farah Mahmoud

Communications Specialist

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Farah Mahmoud

Communications Specialist

Farah Mahmoud is currently in her final year at the University of Toronto, completing a Bachelor’s in Digital Management. With extensive experience in crafting data-driven promotional materials, optimizing marketing campaigns, and managing digital content across multiple platforms, she has developed a strong foundation in digital strategy and communications. Farah applies these skills to her current role as a Communications Specialist at Children First Canada, contributing to the organization’s mission.