Meet the Stewardship Group
Members of the Stewardship Group were recruited to lead a transformation of Edmonton’s network of seniors serving organizations. This work includes action around supporting coordination of services for Edmonton’s older adults. Together, we are reimagining how services are delivered to help Edmontonians age well in their communities.
The diverse Stewardship team members boast backgrounds from various sectors (e.g. not-for-profit, health, education). By bringing together diverse perspectives, the team will help drive the network forward.
Thank you to our former Network Leadership Group members: Michael Alpern, Jann Beeston, Jan Carlson, Earl Choldin, Dr. Jennifer Njenge, Mary Whale, and Marlene Mulder.
Carole Alves-Cornell
Carole is a Volunteer Coordinator and project lead for the Senior Caregiver Ambassador program with Caregivers Alberta.
Before this role, Carole coordinated the volunteer program at Alberta Health Services Home Care in the Edmonton region, matching volunteers with senior Home Care clients for assistance with transportation, grocery shopping, and friendly visiting.
With over a decade of experience providing direct client service, primarily to seniors, she champions a person-centered and strengths-based approach to both client care and collaborative community outreach.
As a passionate advocate for volunteerism at any age, she has been deeply involved in community engagement initiatives throughout her 18-year career in the nonprofit sector with The United Way and the Edmonton Early Years Coalitions, in addition to serving on various senior sector committees and working groups with an aim of improving access to health and social supports for seniors.
Dr. Stephanie Chamberlain
Stephanie is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. She received her PhD from the University of Alberta in 2019 where she studied the characteristics and unmet needs of nursing home residents under public guardianship. Her work focuses on loneliness and older adults, specifically how social vulnerability can influence their access and use of health services.
Stephanie is excited to join the Stewardship group to learn about ways to support older adults and promote collaborations between community organizations and the university.
Dr. Karenn Chan
Karenn is a physician with training specific to care of the elderly and specializes in looking after older adults with complex needs.
Karenn is an associate professor with the University of Alberta who is passionate about looking at whole community collaboration for solutions to helping seniors age well and manage chronic disease in the community setting.
As part of her role on the Stewardship Group, Karenn seeks to learn more about the resources in Edmonton and help to promote collaboration between the health, not-for-profit, and private sectors.
Naomi Fowler
Naomi is Health Promotion Facilitator with Alberta Health Services.
As an Occupational Therapist, Naomi spent the first part of her career in various community settings in Ontario, Connecticut, and Edmonton, working directly with older adult clients (and their caregivers) in their home environments. With a desire to be more involved in preventative programming, Naomi joined the Edmonton Zone Population Health Promotion team nearly three years ago. She has continued to work with older adults (both directly and indirectly) by being involved in two projects ("Spot the Hazard" and "NOT Falling For You") relating to falls prevention and aging in place.
She is passionate about working towards system level changes to promote the health and well-being of older adults in the Edmonton Zone. This is what motivated her to join the EAFA stewardship team.
Amanda Harriman-Gojtan
Amanda is the Edmonton Regional Community Developer with Healthy Aging Alberta.
Amanda is originally from the lands of the Robinson-Huron Treaty but now call the lands of Treaty 6 home. She has a background in gerontology and has worked within a broad range of settings that have contributed to her passion for creating connections and opportunities to build unity, cohesion, and wellbeing within communities. Before joining Healthy Aging Alberta, Amanda was a Community Animator with Sage Seniors Association in Edmonton, and worked with diverse communities, multiple collaborators, and a variety of funders using asset-based community development approaches. Amanda's passion project is Men’s Sheds and she collaborates with community champions to support the development of the initiative in the Edmonton area. Amanda looks forward to connecting with those within the Edmonton region to make Alberta one of the best places to grow older! (she/her)
Sheena Jaffer
Sheena Jaffer is a Certified Aging Services Professional (CASP) and a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS). Her appreciation for aging services technologies began as a caregiver for her parents. She has worked with a federally funded assistive technology program in the US and is highly committed to making assistive technology a household term. She describes herself as a fierce advocate for persons with disabilities and older adults. In addition, she is also serving on the American Society on Aging - Network on Environment, Technology and Services (NEST) and the General Assembly of Partners (GAP). Sheena has also played an integral role with the Arlington Commission on Aging and as an Ambassador for the DC Office on Aging.
Wendy Keiller
Wendy Keiller is a Social Planner with the Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) program at the City of Edmonton. In this role she works closely with the Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council, community based social service organizations, citizens and other stakeholders to support the wellbeing of seniors and adults in Edmonton. Prior to joining FCSS, she worked as a Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator at the City of Edmonton supporting neighbourhood-based organizations to build physical and social infrastructure that bring neighbours together to create safer vibrant neighbourhoods. Wendy's commitment to listening to stakeholders; asking important questions; acknowledging strengths and assets; and linking ideas had led to many exciting collaborations and pilot projects. She has a Master of Education degree in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts in Human and Social Development from the University of Victoria.
Dr. Haidong Liang
Dr. Haidong Liang is a gerontologist who devoted his three degrees in Canada to the specialty areas of physical activity, recreation, and gerontology. Over the years, Dr. Liang has gained a reputation as an innovative practitioner dedicated to helping seniors achieve healthy aging in communities.
Dr. Liang has brought 12 years of gerontology research expertise to the seniors serving network, having created the WeSeniors.ca platform, which actively connects older citizens to services provided by the public, private and non-profit sectors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this platform reached out to 3,500+ Alberta seniors to keep them healthy and engaged.
Currently, Dr. Liang also serves as a board member of the Alberta Association on Gerontology, initiating changes from a provincial policy level. In 2019, Dr. Liang was named one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40. He is the executive director of Westend Seniors Activity Centre, which won the 2019 Minister’s Seniors Service Award.
Dr. Liang joined the Stewardship Group to apply his gerontology knowledge into practice, make a difference in the seniors network, and share his knowledges of building multi-sectoral partnerships.
Dorothy Lowrie
Dorothy spent her 34-year career working in roles that varied from sales to project management. A life-long learner, she continually upgraded her education while working - finally completing a Masters Degree in Adult Education at age 58. Since leaving the corporate world, Dorothy has pursued a number of challenges - teaching within a college, setting up her own company to provide presentations and programs to encourage healthy aging and exploring her own creatiivity through art, poetry and oral story-telling. Committed to giving back, Dorothy also gives her time and creativity to a number of volunteer positions, including Co-Chair of the Age Friendly Hub for the last 2 years.
Karen McDonald
Karen’s career has focused primarily on the field of gerontology, including a decade in seniors’ supportive housing and more than a decade with Sage Seniors Association, where she currently serves as the executive director. Sage is a community-based seniors serving organization that provides social services, primary health care, community development, and life enrichment programming. Additionally, Karen acts as the chair of the Interim Community Leadership Council, working with community-based seniors serving organizations across Alberta to advance sector development.
To support older adults facing barriers to employment, Karen co-founded MatchWork in 2015. This interactive employment training and assessment tool is now used by employment support organizations to guide and support those who face barriers to employment, including older workers and caregivers.
Karen completed her MBA and BA at the University of Alberta.She recently joined the Board of the Muttart Foundation and is a past Rotarian.
Energized by team-based work, Karen enjoys working collectively with passionate, capable people toward a shared vision. “I believe that if we hope to truly move the needle on complex social issues that impact the wellbeing of older adults, transformational change is required across systems and services,” she says. “I sincerely believe that community-based seniors' serving organizations are uniquely able to lead and contribute to this transformational change.”
Eric Storey
Eric Storey, BCom, BSW
Eric grew up in Montreal, where he pursued his university education and began his professional career in the industrial packaging industry. Throughout his career Eric volunteered with non-profit and social development programs.
Following his 2007 retirement he was able to increase his community involvement and obtained a Bachelor of Social Work degree as one of his retirement projects. He combines social work skills with his previous management, governance, and volunteer experience to be engaged in the community. He is focused on social justice issues, primarily in the areas of at-risk and in-care youth, poverty, seniors, and sexual and gender minority populations. Eric is currently a Board member of the Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council and a member of the Age Friendly Edmonton Leadership table.
Shelley Williams
Shelley Williams started in December 2022 as the Executive Director of South East Edmonton Seniors Association (SEESA). She has extensive experience and has worked hard to develop positive productive relationships with the community, staff, board and funders. Shelley has 26 years of experience as Executive Director with HIV Edmonton, Bissell Centre, YWCA of Edmonton and the Edmonton Women’s Shelter – WIN Houses.
Shelley is passionate about her work and strives to ensure people’s voices are heard. Her work has been recognized numerous times including YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award, Edmonton’s Global TV Woman of Vision, a Muttart Foundation Fellowship Recipient, and Canada’s 125th Commemorative Medal for significant contributions to her community.
Shelley has a Bachelor of Physical Education (B.P.E.) from McMaster University, an Honorary Doctor of Sacred Letters (D.S.L) from St. Stephen’s College and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching (C.E.C.) from Royal Roads University.
Shelley is proud to be part of the 2SLGBTQ+ family and enjoys an active lifestyle whether it’s walking her dog in the river valley or playing badminton. She has bicycled across Canada unsupported and then raised funds for breast cancer by biking across the United States.
Sonja Zacharko
Sonja joined Edmonton Meals on Wheels in the role of Executive Director in 2022. Her career has spanned more than 20 years as a registered dietitian focused on creating dynamic, client-centric service models. Sonja is an advocate of food security, aging in place, and human connection.
As part of the Stewardship Group, Sonja is eager to collaborate and learn about the supports available to older Edmontonians and minimizing barriers to seniors-centric services.