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Joanna Ashworth, Facilitator
 Biographical Statement
Joanna is the Program Director, Dialogue Programs at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Early in her career she served with the United Nations World Food Programme in Latin America and upon returning to Canada established a successful consulting practice, directing many projects and programs at the Open Learning Agency, Simon Fraser University's Public Policy program, community colleges in BC, professional associations, numerous provincial and federal ministries, business, and community organizations. Her professional practice has centred on developing professional programs and media production. Joanna has spent many years as a program designer, writer, researcher, facilitator and project lead for numerous multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary teams. As a filmmaker, Joanna has directed several documentaries on issues related to the new economy and the rural and remote BC, addictions, adolescent health, suicide treatment, and nursing professional education. Joanna completed her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at UBC and her Master's of Education with a specialization in adult learning and community development at the University of Toronto (OISE). Joanna's research interests include innovations in leadership education, dialogue and deliberation as hermeneutics, and uncovering tacit knowledge through reflective practice and narrative.
Personal Connection
I grew up on the North Shore of Vancouver under the shadow of Grouse Mountain on a street where the roar of Cleveland Dam filled could be heard while we played in the street. Behind our house was uncut forestland. It was a great place to grow up but I couldn't wait to escape and travel the world. That I took it all for granted I discovered many years later when I spent two years in Bolivia involved first hand in tree planting projects to repair the deforested, unforgiving moonscape on the outskirts of La Paz that offered no protection from regular mudslides and erosion. After working and traveling on UN related assignments for several years in Latin America I came to appreciate my own country and my province almost to the point of idealizing it; where the vastness, infinite wealth and order stood in stark contrast to the scarcity, fragility and disorder that characterized life in the barrios of Bogotá or Cochabamba. Yet it was among my friends in Latin America that I learned the simple pleasures of sharing music, meals and stories—experiences that have made a lasting imprint.
Since returning to Canada in the late 80s my work in education, planning and filmmaking has taken me to every region of the province. I've had the privilege of working with school principals in Fort St. John, community leaders in the North Island, mill workers in Squamish and nurses in Salmon Arm. I spend time every summer on South Thormanby Island up the Sunshine Coast, and look forward each year to walking the trails of Helliwell Park on Hornby Island. I enjoy working in Vancouver at SFU's downtown campus on the edge of the downtown eastside yet despair over the increasing evidence of urban decay and hopelessness of too many people without homes or apparent care. My British Columbia is a place of contradictions—of prosperity and struggle, of growing opportunities and potential unfulfilled, of belonging and disconnection—ocean, the mountains, and the natural abundance of our province.
Nancy Hall, Onsite Coordinator
 Biographical Statement
Equipped with a Ph.D. in medical sciences from McMaster University, I have worked across the country developing provincial health care strategies for women and children, seniors, youth and people with disabilities. My work brings people together to plan, implement and or evaluate change. Action learning and dialogue have always been part of my process and typically I work across sectors.
I have always been an innovator in community health. For example, I helped the BC Minister of Health develop guidelines for their healthy communities initiatives (1988), then assisted one health authority to implement specific programs in Healthy Communities, Heart Health, Injury Prevention and Violence Prevention (1989-1996) and finally, taught health promotion skills to health care workers, mangers and community members so the change was sustainable (1997). From 1995-2001, I served as a member of Advisory Committee for the Provincial Health Goals.
My focus is on the individual and healthy public policy. A theme I continued with when I served as BC's first Mental Health Advocate from 1998-2001. Because I am comfortable with the middle zone of diversity, I frequently get asked to facilitate large-scale dialogues such as the 2004 Western Canadian Consensus Conference on Methamphetamine Use. Currently I consult on a provincial child and youth mental health program and sit as an appointee to the BC Mental Health Review Board.
My connections to British Columbia are personal and professional. Although originally from Manitoba, I have lived in British Columbia for over 25 years. I raised my family in Vancouver. I have a deep connection to the province's natural beauty and explore that through ocean kayaking and skiing. I also have a strong connection to the performing arts community as a Board member of CirKids, a circus school for young people located on the Hastings Park site.
As a professional I have worked all around the province building capacity and creating cross boundary partnerships for health. Specifically, I have worked in small and rural communities with families, health and social care workers and the police to improve crisis services. I have had the opportunity to visit almost every psychiatric unit and jail in the province. As such I am familiar with our dark side and work to bring it into light.
As a Director of Health Promotion for North Shore Health and BC Women's Hospital, I developed provincial initiatives related to heart health, women's health, First Nations health, violence prevention, injury prevention and addiction. While at BC Women's, I developed the community partnerships and secured funding to establish a National Centre of Excellence for Women's Health that involves UBC, University of Victoria, UNBC and community groups.
Last year I was a delegate to the inaugural Imagine BC dialogue and it is an honor to be asked to return and work with Dr. Ashworth to co-facilitate this year's dialogue.
Freydis Welland, Facilitator
 Biographical Statement
Freydis was a founding director and vice-chair of New Media BC and a co-founder of the BC TEL New Media and Broadcast Fund, and was on the Advisory Boards of the Greater Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture and the Telefilm Canada New Media Fund.
She has a BA in philosophy and theatre from Dalhousie, and a bachelor of journalism from Carleton University. Born in Victoria, she came back to the West Coast to work at BCTEL in corporate communications, corporate development, law and regulatory matters, and government relations.
Active in building partnerships she became a director of the BC Community Access Program, chair of the founding committee of the Quality Council of BC, a founder of the BC Utilities Advisory Council and chair of the government relations committee of the Business Council of BC.
She was director of Canada Place Corporation and the Pacific Association for Continuing Education, chair of the BC Chapter of the North American Society for Strategic Planning, and a member of the Canada-British Columbia Treaty Negotiation Advisory Committee and the Parliament, Business and Labour Trust.
An honorary life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, she is an author, editor and publisher, and is a director of The Darcy Foundation of The British Library, A Room of One's Own Press and Goldie Hawn's Bright Light Foundation.
Freydis' wide-ranging interests embrace diverse organizations and advisory boards including RVYC, North Vancouver District Community Services, tri-municipal funding committees, the Arts Alliance and juried festivals and events. She was an organizer of the Roundtable Dialogue at the Chan Centre on Balancing Educating the Heart and Educating the Mind during the Dalai Lama's 2004 visit to Vancouver, and is a member of the founding committee of the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. She is co-editor of two books: 9 Years on the 7 Seas, and Life in the Country, both published in 2005.
She enjoys skiing, biking, hiking and sailing.
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