Gordon Hawkins - President
Gordon has been working with youth since 2004 in various roles and capacities. He currently Heads The Child Youth Care and Addictions Support Worker Program at Keyin College, St John's, and is the school's primary CYC instructor and trainer for the program.
Gord is very excited about CYC education and practice and wants to see more educated helpers working in CYC. Having originally worked with community organizations and youth outreach he also wants to see a tighter CYC community and better relations between all practitioners and the organizations they inhabit.
Gord comments, "I am honoured to serve CYCANL to the best of my ability, and I look forward to working with our community to build tighter bonds and help us all meet the demands of a changing world".
Kathyrn Colford (She/Her) - Vice President
Kathryn Colford has been a Child and Youth Care Practitioner for over 13 years. She currently is a Child and Youth Care Counsellor at Tuckamore Youth Treatment Centre in Paradise, Newfoundland. Kathryn has been at this agency since 2014 and has previous experience working at other youth serving agencies around St. John’s. Kathryn has been a member of the CYCANL since she was a CYC student in 2008. Kathryn is often the person that updates our Facebook group.
Kathryn’s comments on the Association: “I love the networking aspect that being involved with the association provides. I enjoy interacting with cyc’s and students at training and social opportunities. I look forward to being a part of the association for many years to come.”
Kathryn’s comments “I absolutely love being a CYCP. I can't imagine doing any other job. No two days are alike and I enjoy that. I love seeing youth learn new skills and being a part of their life, doing what I can to help support them in the short time I’m a part of their life. As Dr. Seuss said: To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.”
Deanna King (She/Her) - Secretary
Deanna King is currently the Secretary of CYCANL. Deanna has been a Child and Youth Care Worker for over 8 years. She spent 6 years at Waypoints working in a group home setting with at risk youth between age 12-18 years old. Deanna was awarded Child and Youth Care Worker of the Year Award by her coworkers at Waypoints in 2022.
Deanna works presently at Tuckamore Youth Treatment Centre for over 2 years with youth struggling with complex mental health and addictions. Working with the younger population is a passion of hers, specifically in mental health and addictions. Deanna is eager to further her knowledge in this field and plans to go back to school to continue her education.
Being apart of the Child and Youth Care Association of Newfoundland and Labrador has always been a goal of hers since Deanna started the CYC program as a student in 2016. When she attended her first training and conference through CYCANL, Deanna knew she had to be involved however she could be. Deanna volunteered at first with events and then was voted into the executive. Deanna says “It is an honour to be apart of such a fantastic association with the best executive team!”.
Jennifer Kettle - National Representative, Treasurer
Jennifer has been a Child and Youth Care Practitioner for the past 20 years in residential care. She is currently a Program Coordinator with Waypoints in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Jennifer has been a member of the CYCANL for the past 19 years, all of which she has held committee roles.
Currently, she holds the role of National Representative to the Council of Canadian CYC Associations. Jennifer’s comments on the Association: “I would like to see an increased presence in membership outside of the metro area, to see the certification process continue to grow and to continue to offer quality training to members so that they can continue to grow”.
Jennifer’s comments on CYCP, “I am very proud of being a youth care worker. I recognize the importance of the work we do and think it is a field that is continuously evolving. That means our skills and knowledge base should always continue to evolve. I see the Association as being an important part of the process”.
Lesley Goodyear - Student Liaison
Lesley Goodyear has worked in the child and youth care field for the past 18-plus years. She is currently the Manager of Family Engagement with Amal Youth and Family Centre.
Lesley is known for her passion and commitment to working with families and is currently helping to develop a provincial intensive family engagement service within the Amal organization. She has worked within a variety of areas in the Child and Youth Care field including: Out of home care, family support, and out-of-home treatment, as well as providing family-based care to children in her own home.
Lesley also has an extensive background in teaching both Child and Youth Care and Psychology at the post-secondary level. She is currently a facilitator of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) training, a trainer of the Person Brain model and an avid student of developmental and growth culture practice.
