Speakers – 2023 Mental Health and Wellness Seminar

Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe

Described as one of the most sought-after, engaging, thought-provoking, and truly transformative international speakers and scholars in her field, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is a multi-award-winning education and psychology instructor. She specializes in resiliency, navigating stress and change, wellness in the workplace, and optimal performance, both at home and work. Hanley-Dafoe’s keynotes offer accessible and practical strategies, grounded in global research, that help foster resiliency and wellness within ourselves and others.

Hanley-Dafoe’s work is inspired by personal experience. She learned resiliency from the ground up as someone who has experienced significant obstacles throughout her life. This, combined with more than 18 years of university teaching and research experience, makes Hanley-Dafoe’s work both accessible and relatable while providing realistic and sustainable strategies for understanding and practicing resiliency and wellness.

Stéphanie Rochon Perras

Stéphanie Rochon Perras is ACFO-ACAF’s Director of Job Evaluation and Equity and has spent more than a decade supporting ACFO-ACAF members with labour relations and workplace conflict support. Rochon Perras has also appeared before House of Commons committees and served on various NJC committees.

Rochon Perras boasts a deep and comprehensive understanding of the mental health supports and services available to public service workers, as well as a familiarity with many of the common challenges and stresses facing ACFO-ACAF members, particularly after nearly three years of pandemic life.

Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa

One of Time magazine’s “2021 Next Generational Leaders”, Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa is a medical trailblazer spearheading change in healthcare and beyond. She is an accomplished physician, spoken word poet, and advocate for racialized and marginalized populations. Oriuwa draws on her personal and professional experience to share insight and actionable strategies into transformative leadership, mental health and wellness, and igniting change to build a more equitable future for all.

Dr. Oriuwa is currently a resident doctor in psychiatry at the University of Toronto (U of T). When she arrived as an incoming medical student to find she was the only Black student in her cohort, she channeled this disappointment into action, becoming a vocal advocate for improving disparities in Black health and confronting institutional discrimination. Since then, Oriuwa has become the first Black woman to be named sole valedictorian of the department and has spoken at numerous national and international events on the topics of DEI, leadership, mental health, and her journey as an underrepresented minority in medicine.

Kellylee Evans

Internationally acclaimed Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Kellylee Evans has been making waves around the world with her energy-charged performances.

With multiple albums to her name and a gruelling touring schedule, Evans experienced life altering events in 2013 and 2015 affecting her heath. For the next two years, the mother of three dedicated herself to recovery so she could get back to making and sharing her music. In the summer of 2017, Evans triumphantly returned to the stage, and in 2018 her album Come On was nominated at the Juno Awards for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. Her long awaited recently released EP, Greenlight, is being met with rave reviews.