Principal Investigator
Dr. Barbara Lee
Barbara Lee is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia – Vancouver campus. She was the recipient of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) Transforming Child Welfare Dissertation Award in 2016 for her mixed methods and longitudinal research examining the service provisions and trajectories of Asian children and families involved in the child welfare system in Canada. Barbara’s area of research builds upon her practice experience as a child protection worker, child and youth care counsellor, and youth worker for new immigrant youth. Her research interests include racial disparities and disproportionality in child welfare and social services, cross-cultural social work practice, evidence-informed practices with children, youth, and families, and the use of simulation in social work education. When she is not engaged in research or teaching, Barbara enjoys running, biking, gardening, and spending time with her family.
Research Assistants
Marko Berrak-Tinaz
Marko is a second-year graduate student at UBC studying a Master of Arts in Human Development, Learning and Culture. Marko is a former youth-from-care and adoptee from Toronto. He has had the honour and privilege of serving many child welfare organizations across Canada. Marko brings his lived, professional and academic expertise to his work. When not working, he enjoys spending time outdoors or at a local cafe/ restaurant with close friends and loved ones.
Min Kim
Min Kim (she/they) was born in Seoul, Korea and immigrated to the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, or so-called Vancouver, when she was 10 years old. She is going into her fourth year of the Bachelor of Social Work program and holds a previous degree in Global Health with a Minor in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies from UBC. She has worked with Korean diasporic communities to provide one-on-one support, to organize for tenants’ rights movements and liaise with legal aid, and to empower political engagement. As an emerging social worker, she is interested in continuing to work with diasporic communities in the realm of wellbeing, community development, and political empowerment.
Research Advisory Committee Members
Toronto
Dr. Anna V. Wong
Executive Director
Community Family Services of Ontario
CFSO’s Executive Director Dr. Anna Victoria Wong is a Certified Health Leader, with over 20 years in health and social service leadership. She is a community advocate and a consulting stakeholder in the Canada-Hong Kong Pathway, along with an Advisor on the Toronto Vaccination Table and Violence against Women Table in Toronto. She also serves as a Newcomer Advisor for the health equity table in the Central East LHIN. A registered speech-language pathologist and doctor in speech-language pathology, she has served and published research on vulnerabilities of populations with invisible disabilities.
Kennes Lin
Lead, Youth & Family Services
Hong Fook Mental Health Association
Kennes Lin, MSW, RSW, is a 1.5 generation Asian Canadian immigrant woman living in tkaronto, Dish with One Spoon Territory. She is the Lead of Youth and Family Services at Hong Fook Mental Health Association, and past co-chair of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter. She is the recipient of the 2021 Ontario Association of Social Workers Beverly Antle Leadership Award. She works with a social justice approach to mental health and wellbeing, with particular interest in providing counselling that understands racialized individuals’ experiences of trauma from the internalized violence of systemic injustices. She works to address stigma, access and equity issues in the Canadian mental health care system for racialized youth and families.
Dr. Tanya Morton
Quality Assurance and Research Coordinator
Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto
Dr. Tanya Morton is a fourth generation Chinese Canadian, with mixed ancestry. She is a Quality Assurance and Research Coordinator at the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto working on program planning, development, implementation, and evaluation and analysing data on agency trends to inform policy and practice. A UBC Faculty of Social Work alumna, she was a child protection worker in British Columbia. Her work history also includes working in Universities and in community-based programs on programs pertaining to youth development and the prevention of injuries and child maltreatment.
Vancouver
Sherman Chan
Director, Family and Settlement Services
MOSAIC
Sherman Chan has a Master of Science in Applied Social Studies Degree from United Kingdom, and is a registered social worker. He has worked in the field of social service for more than thirty years in Canada, Hong Kong, USA and Britain. Sherman takes a leadership role with immigration matters in Canada. He is currently Co-chair of Corrections Canada Pacific Region Ethnocultural Advisory Committee, a member of the Transit Police Chief’s Community Council.
Catherine Kwan
Family Support Worker and Chinese Settlement Counsellor
South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
Hi, my name is Catherine Kwan. I currently work as a Chinese Settlement Worker and Family Support Worker at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House. I have previously worked as a behaviour interventionist, an interpreter, and a victim support worker for women experiencing family violence. My life experience and my diverse work history motivate me to advocate for and help newcomers and families to access information and resources, help individuals and families build stronger connections with the community, and empower them. Hope I could make a meaningful contribution to this project.
