Hi! I’m Amelia. It is so good to have you here. Let me introduce myself. I am a queer single mother, living as a settler in the territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit – a land that was once also claimed by the Haudenosaunee and the Chonnonton peoples.
I have been working in social and environmental justice circles for over 20 years. I have learned from so many people throughout the years but claim rain crowe, Kai Cheng Thom and Paula Drouin as my teachers in conflict transformation and resolution.
I have taken so much wisdom from the writings and talks by Joanna Macy, Stephen Jenkinson (though this is a complicated relationship), adrienne marie brown, Octavia Butler, Miriame Kaba, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Mia Mingus, NK Jemisin, Frank Herbert and Louise Erdrich, Michael Stone, Malidoma Some, and so many others. I also receive wisdom from my dear friends and communities all the time and believe we all have access to wisdom and can receive it from many sources.
I take a restorative justice and abolitionist approach to conflict, believing deeply in everyone’s ability to change. I believe everyone has a redemption arc available to them, should they chose to do the work to achieve it.
I practice interest-based conflict facilitation and coaching which seeks to help parties to understand each other’s perspectives and needs and ally against a shared problem working towards win-win solutions for both parties.
I also strive to approach conflict from a trauma-aware place, understanding that we live in an inherently violent capitalist system where trauma is the norm, not the exception.
I believe in, as much as possible, connecting with the body through conflict though I am not trained in body based modalities like somatics.
The last thing that I will share with you is that I believe in the interconnectedness of life. I believe our relationships with each other, the beyond human world and ourselves cocreate the broader world and that these relationships have impact on the world.
EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS:
Mediation training (in progress): ADR Learning Institute under the teachings of Paula Drouin
Art of Conflict certificate: ADR Learning Institute under the teachings of Paula Drouin
Embodied Conflict Certificate: Kai Cheng Thom
Trauma Aware Conflict Transformation: rain crowe
Yoga teacher certification, specializing in trauma-aware practice: Heather Greaves
Grief counselling training: through Western University
Non-violent communication training: Wendy McDonnell
Cultivating Peace training: James O’Dea