ACTEW Board of Directors 2008-2009

Co-Chair
Ursule Critoph, Centre for the Study of Education and Work
Ursule Critoph, an economist by training, is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at OISE/UT in the department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education as well as teaching for Athabasca University in the Master of Arts in Integrated Studies. Her focus is labour relations, labour force development, and labour market issues, specializing in the issues of those disadvantaged by the labour market with a particular emphasis on women, and in joint union-management issues. Ursule is a former Senior Associate with the Canadian Labour Force Development Board as well as the former National Training Coordinator with the Canadian Labour Congress where she worked with a team of advocates for expanding labour’s involvement in workplace training. She has also worked extensively on prior learning assessment and recognition, apprenticeship, and unemployment insurance issues. Ursule is an alternate member of the Advisory Committee of the Work and Learning Network at the University of Alberta and serves as liaison between that research network and the Centre for the Study of Education and Work at OISE/UT.

Co-Chair
Karen Lior, Toronto Training Board
Karen Lior is the Executive Director of the Toronto Training Board, where she works to identify the prominent training and employment issues in the City of Toronto and develop partnership initiatives to address those issues. Karen has worked on labour force development policy and programs since 1992, where she was as the Executive Director of ACTEW for ten years. From 2002-2004 she was National Representative, Training for the Canadian Labour Congress. With a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies (York University), Karen is a community activist and popular educator. She is the author and/or co-author of many articles on labour force development policy.

Treasurer
Tsering Tsomo, YWCA Toronto
Tsering has worked at the YWCA Toronto since 2003 and is currently the Business Administrator of the four employment programs located at 3090 Kingston Road, Scarborough. Prior to that, she was part of a Centennial College research team working on a project “Economic Integration and Immigrant Women in Toronto: A Bilateral Perspective”. In India, Tsering was an Executive Director of the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre and a President / Vice President of the Tibetan Women’s Association. She also coordinated training programs for the Women’s, Environment & Developmental Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration in India.

Tsering has over 15 years of international and Canadian experience in the field of community and social services. This encompasses strategic and operational planning and program implementation, advocacy, research, training and facilitation, office management and budgeting. Her volunteer experience includes affiliations with the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies, head office of the Tibetan Women’s Association, the Ontario chapter of the Tibetan Women’s Association, Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Centre, and the Women’s Rights Human Rights Task Force of the Asia Pacific Forum for Women, Law and Development.

Member at Large
Charlene Dunstan, Sistering
Charlene Dunstan has been at Sistering for the past five years and is the Job developer and Contract Procurer for Sistering’s On the Path pre-employment and sewing programs. Charlene works to meet the pre-employment needs of Sistering clients, who experience multiple barriers to employment. She also brokers contracts for the advanced sewers with Toronto designers. Previous to this, Charlene was the Hostel Coordinator at Fred Victor Women’s Hostel. Charlene has a B.A. in Psychology from Carleton University and has worked in the not-for-profit arena for the last 15 years.

Member at Large
Allison Glaser B.A., M.A., LL.B., Ph.D. candidate
Allison Glaser is currently pursuing her doctorate at OISE/UT in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies with a specialization in Higher Education while working full-time for a large professional regulatory body.  Her graduate research focuses on professional education, legal training, freedom of association, and union-side labour concerns, with a particular focus on issues of class and gender.  She began her studies at York University and earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Women’s Studies and Psychology.  She then pursued a Master of Arts degree at OISE/UT in Theory and Policy Studies in Education with a specialization in Higher Education and a further specialization in Women’s Studies/Feminist Studies.  Allison then went on to earn her Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.  She has since worked for Legal Aid Ontario, a large private sector union, and a small union-side labour law firm.

Member at Large
Roland Rhooms, Skills for Change
Roland is the Manager of Programs and Services at Skills for Change. Roland holds a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from Ryerson University. He has over fifteen years experience providing employment and settlement services as a counsellor, facilitator, and administrator working with a diverse group of clients including, immigrant professionals and youth.