Neela Ward, Chair

Neela Ward was born and raised in Trail, BC, but has called Calgary home since 1988 when she began her career in Early Learning and Child Care.  Neela has experience working in both the private and non-profit sectors and since 2002 has held the position of Executive Director with Thornhill Child Care Society.

Neela believes strongly that families should have access to quality child care and that parents should be supported in their role.  She is very involved in the child care community and participates in many child-care related associations and projects.  One such project is the Family Resource Facilitation Project, which provides support and resources to families and staff in  participating child care programs.

Overseeing centre-based care, family child care and out-of school care programs has given Neela the opportunity to directly see the positive impact that accreditation is making for children, families and for staff.  She is proud to have been on Governing Council since its inception, and is thrilled to be able to continue to support the process that has brought such growth and professionalism to the Early Learning and Child Care field.

Dori Wearmouth, Vice Chair

Dori Wearmouth is from the Edmonton area. She is a graduate of MacEwan's Early Childhood Development Program and has been a front line caregiver for 11 years. Dori  now provides support to child care programs and families in the area as an Early Childhood Resource Worker with Leduc County FCSS and is an active participant in community-based coalitions in that region.

As a parent herself, she has experienced many of those same challenges faced by families currently seeking quality care and is committed to working with programs and families to enhance children's early learning experiences. She is excited to be a part of Canada's first province-wide accreditation system.

Brad West, Treasurer

Originally from Regina, SK, Brad and his wife Brenda have lived in Edmonton since 2001.  Brad has 5 children; 4 sons and 1 daughter. Brad also became a proud grandparent in the Spring of 2010.

 Brad has worked in Early Childhood since 1984 , holding positions of Early Childhood Educator, Assistant Director, Director of Child Care Services for the YMCA and is currently Executive Director with Glengarry Child Care Society.    Brad graduated with Honours from the Early Childhood Development Diploma through Lethbridge Community College in the Spring of 2007.

He is strongly committed to ensuring that children receive the highest possible care and that families are comfortable with the environment that they leave their children in while they pursue educational and employment opportunities. He also enjoys working with staff to help them develop their own strengths and experience growth in their work with young children.

Brad feels that the accreditation process is an amazing step forward for child care in Alberta. After completing the process for his centre and knowing what other centres and Director's were going through, he put his name forth as an ARCQE Mentor. When the call came out for nominations to the Governing Council, he felt that this would be a great opportunity and would allow him to become more involved in the accreditation program.

Shannon Phelan, Secretary

Shannon Phelan resides in Calgary and has 2 children. She has her diploma in Early Childhood Education from Mount Royal College and has worked as a front line childcare staff, Daycare Director and Childcare Manager. Currently she is the Southern Alberta Program Coordinator for Little Warriors.

Joanne Baxter, Member

Joanne Baxter is from the Calgary region. She teaches at Mount Royal College in the Early Learning and Child Care Program.  Joanne has taught in the ELCC Program over the last ten years. Previous to that, she taught in the Disability Studies Program where she focused on children with special needs.

Joanne Baxter represents the provincial Early Learning and Child Care Programs across Alberta.

Robyn Smith, Member

Robyn Smith is originally from Vancouver, BC. but has been in Calgary for approximately 30 years.

She has worked in the early childhood field for 24 years in a variety of positions including: an early childhood educator, a school age child care worker, a child development facilitator, an Assistant Director, a Program Director, a Director, and most recently as an Executive Director of two child care facilities on campus at the University.

Robyn is a strong believer in Professional Development so she prides herself on keeping up-to-date with current best practices. She is an advocate for staff, children and families. Robyn chairs both the MRC Early Childhood Advisory Committee and the MRC Child Studies Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Family Resource and Facilitation Project. In the past Robyn has mentored with ARCQE. Robyn and her staff went through the Accreditation process at the Main campus location, in a very team-oriented way, and successfully achieved accredited status in March of 2006.

Robyn is very honoured to be a new member of AELCS Governing Council. She feels very strongly that the Accreditation process is an extremely important one that needs to be delivered to and accepted by the child care community in a positive way. Accreditation ensures that children in licensed and accredited child care facilities will receive higher standards of care. Accreditation recognizes and values Early Childhood Education's contributions to children and families. Increasing standards can only make our delivery of child care systems better, our early childhood field stronger, and therefore have better opportunities and outcomes for children and families.

Noreen Guenter, Member

Noreen Guenter was born in Taber, Alberta.  She moved to Lethbridge with her family and has been living there for 23 years.  Noreen has been involved with childcare for 21 years.  For five years, Noreen operated her own Day home and for the past 16 years she has operated her own family day home agency. Noreen has been a member of the Southwest Director’s Association for the past 5 years. She feels honoured to accept a position on the Governing Council as she believes strongly that accreditation offers the tools for child care programs to attain and maintain quality standards.

 

Annalise Yuzda, Member

Annalise was born in Edmonton and was raised in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta and currently still resides there.  She graduated from Early Childhood Development at Grant MacEwan in 1991 and has worked for the YMCA of Edmonton since then.  After many years and many different positions, Annalise is currently the General Manager of Child Care Services for the YMCA in Edmonton and Grande Prairie overseeing numerous child care and out-of-school care programs.

 

Annalise understands the importance of the early years for children and wants to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to grow and develop physically, socially and emotionally.  She is thankful for the commitment by the Province in regards to accreditation.  It has raised the bar and recognizes child care programs that are above minimum standards and families are benefitting from it.  As a Governing Council member, she is excited to be more involved with accreditation, which impacts a field she is extremely passionate about.

La Vonne Rideout

La Vonne Rideout got the "best possible start" in life, growing up as the fifth of six children on a mixed farm near Pincher Creek. Helping the next generation get a good start has been a motivating goal during her 25 years in early learning and child care.

In her numerous years working in the early years of human development
La Vonne has worn many hats among them: she has run her own day home as well as being a home visitor, she has been a preschool teacher, a daycare worker and director, a home visitor with Parents as Teachers (a developmental support program for parents with young children), and an early childhood education instructor at Lethbridge College. She was a story teller at the Lethbridge Public Library and a child care coach with Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement, an agency that provides professional development and training to the early learning and child-care sector.

Rideout served as an early learning and child-care specialist with Southwest Child and Family Services Authority (CFSA). At the CFSA, she helped to draft and implement the new Child Care Licensing Act and Dayhome Standards in Alberta. She also helped to get Parent Link Centres established in the southwest corner of the province. As part of the provincial government’s drive to increase child-care spaces, she was given a mandate to create 500 new child care spaces in her region over three years. Within two years, Rideout and her team created more than 2,000 new spaces by engaging communities’ right from the start of the process. She is currently working on the exciting new Early Child Development Mapping project as the Southwest Community Development Coordinator.

Rideout is the mother of five boys, aged 15 to 25.