Our Team
Co-Founder & Lead Trainer, Leonie Smith
P. Leonie Smith is a first-generation Canadian of Jamaican heritage. She is the founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, a consultancy that uses a relational and skill-building approach to coaching, training, and mediation and co-founder of POC4NVC, which offers Nonviolent Communication training for BIPOC. Informed by modalities such as nonviolent communication and Sociocracy, she is dedicated to supporting organisations and individuals to find ways of working that create more space for humanity and generate less harm. She has more than 20 years of experience in senior management positions championing an approach to leadership that supports care and efficiency towards a shared purpose.
Co-Founder & Facilitator, catherine strickland
catherine strickland (she/her) is a white settler living on the unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səlí" lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations in north vancouver, british columbia. catherine spent 20 years as a professional climate change policy analyst and researcher consulting nationally and internationally. In 2015, she shifted her focus to supporting individuals and organisations to learn Nonviolent Communication (NVC) through the lens of power and privilege. She is a Unitarian Universalist and has led anti-racism initiatives in her faith community at the local and national level. catherine is committed to supporting a nonviolent approach to anti-racism, anti-oppression and climate justice.
Administrative Assistant, Peter Egger
Peter Egger (he/him) is a mixed-race queer man who grew up on Vancouver’s north shore. He studied creative writing and music at UBC, where much of his work focussed on themes of queer liberation and hopeful futurism. While at UBC, he was a discussion leader for the UBC Pride resource group and involved in their LGBTQ+ and anticolonial activism.
When not doing web design, note-taking, and writing for Necessary Trouble, Peter knits, lifts weights, and makes himself a nuisance to local and provincial politicians by email, phone, and at local events.
Director, John Duffy
John Duffy lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and is a program manager at BC Hydro, BC's principal electric utility, where he has worked for 26 years. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of British Columbia and a masters degree in public policy from the University of Maryland. John is married with 2 adult children and enjoys outdoor activities, particularly hiking, biking and skiing.
Director, Aisha Hauser
Aisha Hauser is an accomplished educator, curriculum developer, facilitator, author, and anti-racism advocate. She has been in the Seattle area for over ten years and has offered workshops all over the country. She has served as the DEI Trainer and Acting Vice President of DEIA at Shoreline Community College.She currently serves as part of the Lead Ministry Team of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a liberal faith community with a large prison ministry. She is a former president of the Liberal Religious Educators Association.
Aisha worked with educators from all over the country to curate resources for an open-source website for all to utilize in learning about how we are all affected by racism. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Hunter College in New York City.
Director, Sarah Parsons
Sarah started her career helping new immigrants find meaningful work in Canada. Suspecting her own career mis-match, she completed some accounting courses and discovered her next career. She was the volunteer treasurer for her children's pre-school and is delighted that she can share these skills with Necessary Trouble Collective. Sarah resides in Ottawa, Ontario and enjoys being active outdoors, in any type of weather.