Directors:
Fadhilah Balogun
Fadhilah Balogun has made Waterloo Region her home since 2007 after moving with her family from Fredericton, New Brunswick. She has lived experience with perinatal issues with no knowledge at the time of community supports. She relied on the help of a good friend. Her community work and volunteering journey began in 2009 when she was introduced to the local women’s group – Focus for Ethnic Women. She took classes, helped with translation, and began to discover more about Waterloo Region.
Through Focus for Ethnic Women, Fadhilah rediscovered her passion for working with women. She joined the board of the African Women’s Alliance of Waterloo in 2009. Since then, Fadhilha has volunteered with countless other community-based organization where she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is integral to understanding the needs and concerns of newcomers in our region. Fadhilah also works one-on-one in the community with diverse members and from all walks of life.
For Fadhilah, volunteering in her region has been about growing and engaging in unique opportunities by meeting the wonderful people that call the Region of Waterloo their home. It has opened up different avenues to experiencing life and travel through the eyes and knowledge of other people.
Leanne Charette
Leanne Charette (she/her) has cerebral palsy and writes poetry grounded in her experience as a disabled adoptee and mother. Her work has been published by Vallum Magazine, the League of Canadian Poets, PRISM International, and more. She lives on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee Peoples, in so-called Kitchener, Ontario, with her husband and twin sons.
Meagan Snyder – Interim Chair
Meagan Snyder (she/her) is an uninvited guest on Turtle Island. She has lived experience with Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and a life-long history of depression and anxiety, resulting in a passion for de-stigmatizing mental health and advocating for peer-led mental health support. For many years Meagan worked at Our Place, Family Resource and Early Years Centre (now sadly closed), where across different seasons of life she witnessed the birth of the first-of-its-kind peer support perinatal mental health program Stork Secrets, later participated in the program as a parent, and later oversaw its transition to SHORE Centre in 2022. Now a pedagogical consultant, she is a passionate advocate for socially just pedagogies in early learning settings, and is a Registered Early Childhood Educator and Ontario Certified Teacher (P/J) with a Masters degree in Child Study and Education (JICS/OISE/UT).
Sophie Zivku – Secretary
Sophie Zivku is a mother of three, two of which remain earthside. She was born and raised in Waterloo Region and has called the land of the Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-show-nee), Anishinaabe (Ah-nish-nah-bay) and Neutral People home her entire life.
Sophie has navigated life through a lens of reproductive challenges since early teenagehood. She was officially diagnosed with stage four bilateral endometriosis in her late 20s. After two surgeries, a miscarriage loss, and a year after the birth of her son, Sophie’s mental health called for her attention, loudly. Her perinatal mental health challenges led her on a ten-year journey of mental health discovery and care. As someone who lives with chronic disease, and who knows the pain of infertility and loss, Sophie is passionate about advocating for improved mental health support and care options for menstrual and reproductive health in Waterloo Region.
Sophie has over 10 years’ experience as a communications professional in the menstrual cycle space. Her experience spans from academia with a Master of Arts in Communication Studies, which focused on menstrual discourse, to everyday life, a personal blog about her journey to endometriosis diagnosis and freelance work for various menstrual related causes. As her cycle life experience shifts, so too does her writing and support work. Sophie has been an active supporter of various community groups in Waterloo Region and is excited to continue to invest back into the community she calls home.
Available Positions
Together Waterloo is currently accepting submissions for the Board of Directors of Together: For Perinatal Mental Health Inc. The organization is actively seeking to fill positions: Chair, Development, Treasurer.
Those elected to each volunteer position will serve two-year terms, with a limit of no more than two consecutive terms in the same board position. Together: For Perinatal Mental Health Inc. continues to meet critical needs as we provide direct peer support to families, train organizations, and provide a bridge to connect them in Waterloo Region.
Requirements
- Passion for and/or lived intersectional experience in Perinatal Mental Health or supporting someone through a Perinatal Mental Health Journey. ** Examples would be experience with or support of someone who has gone through fertility journeys, pregnancy or infant loss, high risk pregnancy, parenting while living with disability, raising children with disabilities, precarious housing experience while parenting, Family & Children Services experience while parenting, pregnancy/addiction experience, and any intersectional experience of being part of a racialized , gender diverse, or marginalized family.
- Ability to attend 10 meetings a year, to be coordinated with elected board directors;
- Ability to commit 2-5 hours monthly towards the mission and vision of Together: For Perinatal Mental Health Inc;
- Committed to Together Waterloo’s mission, vision, and values and to building an inclusive organization, including striving to be anti-racist, accessible, 2SLGBTQIA+ positive, aware of class dynamics and power/privilege.
Please email cover letter and resume to [email protected].
In accordance with Together Waterloo’s feminist, anti-ableist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework, we are committed to the development of an organization that reflects the communities that we serve. We actively encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity.
If you require any form of accessibility throughout this application, please let us know.
Chair(s) Supervises the activities of the organization, presides over all meetings, selects chairpersons of any standing or special committees, acts as liaison between the board and the co-founders.
Development Supports fundraising activities of the organization and assists in establishing and seeking out community opportunities for corporate donations and sponsorships in line with organizational initiatives. Assists co-founders with grant applications. Works with the team and volunteers/support staff to coordinate annual fundraising event.
Treasurer Supports the co-founders in organizing and documenting all financial activities of the organization. Has co-signing role on organizational payments. Works with the co-founders to ensure organizational funds are spent in accordance with the organization’s financial policies, tax-exempt purposes, bylaws, and budget, presents quarterly financial statements (accounting background preferred). Supports the co-founders in the completion of all audits.