Passages Centre is governed by a Board of Directors - a dedicated group of volunteers who believe in the centre and all we’re working towards. We are always looking to expand our board. If you’re interested, please reach out.

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sarah Miller, MSW (she/Her) - Chair

After a fairly typical path through school and university, Sarah spent her twenties following her interest in community-engaged media and art-making. This led to encounters in many places and with many people, including rural Maine where she interviewed poets for a radio documentary, a squat in North Philadelphia where she lived with pirate radio pioneers, and Durban, South Africa where she made art and audio recordings with young people. She landed in Toronto almost ten years ago and got involved in the community-engaged arts community, co-creating performances and productions with diverse groups of people and professional artists. The through-line in this meandering path is an interest in hearing and telling stories, and a belief in the power of stories to affect personal and social change. 

Sarah is now a mother to two young girls and a disability advocate fighting for inclusive spaces for all in schools and communities. The latest step in her personal learning journey was a Master of Social Work. Sarah is now a Registered Social Worker supporting young people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and their families.

Dieter Limeback, CPCC (He/Him) - Secretary

Dieter has over 20 years of ex­pe­ri­ence as a soft­ware de­signer, ed­u­ca­tor, and se­nior leader in the fast mov­ing tech­ in­dus­try. On the side he has a coach­ing prac­tice, which helps highly cre­ative in­di­vid­u­als grow ful­fill­ing ca­reers, am­bi­tious en­tre­pre­neurs reach the next level, and build high func­tion­ing teams in com­pa­nies of all sizes.

After a ca­reer spent grow­ing in­di­vid­u­als, as well as be­ing mar­ried for 20 years and homeschooling/unschooling two teenagers, Dieter now be­lieves that achiev­ing re­sults you can be proud of starts with know­ing and con­nect­ing to your au­then­tic self, and striv­ing for a sense of deep ful­fill­ment and whole­ness.

He looks forward to bringing his tech and coaching specialties to the Passages Community and supporting families with this important lifestyle choice.

Ivan Beeckmans (he/Him) - Communications Lead

Ivan is a veteran international school teacher with experiences taking him from the Canadian Arctic to Mexico, China, Thailand and back to Toronto. His interest in teaching was sparked by his love of being a camp counsellor where the hours were long, rewarding and fulfilling. Throughout his career the initiatives he liked the most were project based, ungraded and learner directed.

Recently, in roles that involved pursuing innovation, Ivan has become more aware of the unschooling movement and the idea of self-directed learning. One of the key aspects to this type of learning is allowing learners to control their learning; what they learn, when they learn it, with whom they learn it, how long they commit to the topic, and a myriad of other choices made when exploring the world. These options have always challenged Ivan as both a teacher and a learner, but now he is excited about the possibility of making self-directed learning a reality for others.

A father of two boys, Ivan tries to instill a love of learning through an appreciation of our natural environment, a commitment to communities, and an understanding of self. He sees the use of modern technologies as an asset to achieving these ends.

Ivan plans to bring his wealth of world experiences, sprinkled with ample amounts of kindness, to Passages with the goal of making this type of learning available for all.

Heather Burke (she/her) - Fundraising lead

Heather is an experienced non-profit program manager, happiest when she is supporting her community through innovative projects and inclusive teamwork. With 10 years experience in the human services sector, Heather has been fortunate enough to wear many hats, including her current role as Community Programs Manager. Heather currently works in youth mental health, with previous experience in youth employment and skills development.

Heather has a Social Service Worker diploma, a BA from York University, and is currently completing a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace.

Tara Evans (she/her) - Passages Parent Rep

As a mixed-race Black woman, Tara's embodied commitment to anti-racism, anti-oppression, and decolonization is rooted in her lived experience as a survivor of gender-based violence, a racialized queer, single mother, a mental health consumer/survivor as well as a Neurocomplex.

Sitting at the intersections of multiple identities, particularly the newly discovered ancestral connection to Acadia and The Mi'kmaq (1600s), has been both painful and traumatic for Tara; however, as well as empowering and transformative.

For over 10 years, Tara has been honoured to provide Advocacy, Case Management, System Navigation, Release Planning and Court Support and Crisis Intervention to a diverse population of youth and young adults in Mental Health and Justice, Child Welfare and Permanency, Mental Health and Addictions, and currently, youth and adults accessing crisis support from the Toronto Community Crisis Service. As a helping professional, Tara's commitment to providing client-centered care with empathy, compassion, and dignity is unwavering!

Tara proudly calls herself a lifelong learner and a nerd. On her bucket list is to one day take another shot at a PhD. Tara has an inquisitive mind and an innate desire to gain as much knowledge as possible about the multiple forms of oppression she is committed to dismantling. This knowledge aids in taking steps toward building equitable systems (health, education, judicial, mental health and addiction) while at the same time dismantling oppressive structures to build systems rooted in an embodied commitment to always striving to see each other's humanity, first and foremost, and to improve the quality of life for all those whose basic needs and dignity have been denied.

Tara is a graduate of The University of Toronto with an Honours BA in Criminology and Women's Studies and a research-based Master of Arts in Criminology.