MEET OUR TEAM

  • Executive Director

    Liz (she/her) joined the YWITT team in 2020 as the Program Coordinator and became the Executive Director in 2021. She is a settler, born and raised on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario before coming to work in the Yukon in 2015.

    Liz has worked in a variety of educational and non-profit management roles and grounds her work in feminist theory, place-based education, sustainability, and community leadership. Liz has spent 500+ field days leading remote backcountry expeditions worldwide where she developed her pedagogy and mentorship approach, as well as her risk management and problem-solving skills. Her published works include the intersection of experiential education and feminism.

    As Executive Director, Liz is passionate about establishing lasting relationships through reciprocity and puts people at the center of her work. Liz is excited to be growing YWITT as an organization, and considers her life’s work to be supporting sustainable change in individuals, organizations and communities, which she is thrilled to do alongside this incredibly talented team.

    Liz tries not to be stuck to her desk all the time and acknowledges a job in non-profit leadership can be anything from digging a car out of the snow and transporting equipment, to supporting staff and students.

  • Community Coordinator

    Julaine (they/them) is a settler, born and raised on Sǫ̀mbak’e - unceded territory of the Yellowknives Dene, Chief Drygeese, Treaty 8 and traditional territory of the Tłı̨chǫ, Treaty 11.

    Coming from a large, blue-collar family, Julaine has always cherished the act of gathering folks over food, conversation and a common goal. They developed an interest in community building through co-creating the NWT Creative Collective (NWTCC), an arts organization to foster engagement and enjoyment of art at any stage.

    Julaine’s relationship with the Yukon began in Dawson City’s School of Visual Arts (SOVA) Fall of 2019, where they felt and witnessed the strong intersection of creativity, culture and industry in the small northern community. Julaine credits YukonU’s SOVA for providing the stepping stone of navigating the shop and tools, to make art with wood, which led to curiosity of exploring the trade of carpentry.

    YukonU’s Women in carpentry program in Whitehorse provided a tuition-free pre-apprenticeship, which acted as Julaine’s introduction into the trades. After six months of being taught by inspiring instructor, Meagan Christie, and learning in a class for women and gender diverse folks, Julaine felt more energized and engaged with the trades.

    After working in construction for a year and utilizing YWITT’s support in navigating the challenges of the trades, Julaine is excited to join the team as a Community Action Leader (CAL). Julaine is grateful for the opportunity to bring trades folks together to build a more equitable future for the trades environment in the Yukon.

  • Programs

    Meredith Pritchard (they/she) is a settler of Italian, Celtic, and Metis ancestry, born and raised in Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary, AB) on Treaty 7 territory.

    They have called Yukon their home since 2020, where they are grateful to be a guest living on the traditional lands of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.Meredith holds their BFA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Lethbridge (2014), and is currently a first-year welding apprentice under the mentorship of Luc Tweddell (Whitehorse, YT). In the summer of 2023, Meredith took part in the Women of Steel program with Yukon University in partnership with CWB Welding Foundation and YWITT, where they discovered their love of the trades.

    As an artist, Meredith has spent the last 10 years directing, performing, and producing theatre that celebrates queer identity, youth experiences, climate impact, and social change. These themes and ideas are key values that have translated throughout Meredith’s professional career path.

    Meredith is thrilled to join the team at YWITT as Leadership Coordinator and help to develop and facilitate YWITT’s Building Strong Leaders program. In their free time, you can find Meredith riding their bike and making complicated baking recipes.

  • Research Lead

    Monica (she/they/siya) brings a community engagement perspective to the YWITT team. Although she has never worked within trades, Monica brings twelve years of experience working in education and community contexts. She is on track to completing studies to obtain a PhD in Social Work and is also a certified educator. Monica's studies have provided the opportunity to take on project management and leadership roles on applied community research like YWITT's Doing it Right project, where Monica is the lead community researcher.

    Studying and researching is continuous for Monica, whether that is at McGill University in Quebec or through community projects. Monica is set to begin a tenure track Assistant Professor position to continue her career in academia.

    Monica brings to YWITT the ability to observe emerging opportunities whilst identifying people's strengths within the Community Action Leaders (CAL) team. Monica is most excited about community networking while creating safe(r) spaces to gather and share experiences. Monica would like to experience the changes the pilot projects will create, with the ultimate goal of shifting cultures to make workplaces better. She looks forward to communicating YWITT’s successes to create greater community understanding about the work YWITT does.

    Monica's passion is creative writing. She is also a great home cook, often hosting dinner parties to be the ‘buzzing bee’: helping others make meaningful connections through food and sharing stories

  • Programs

    Lisa Kozakewich (she/her) is a Red Seal carpenter residing on the unceded traditional territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, in Atlin, BC. Born and raised on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, she moved to Whitehorse in 2007 and, after working a series of jobs in the service industry and despite not having had any prior exposure to the trades, decided to give carpentry a try. After taking the Carpentry Pre-Apprenticeship program at (then) Yukon College in 2013, she discovered the joys of working with her hands and the

    satisfaction that comes from being able to see the direct results of hard work. Upon completion of her apprenticeship in 2018 Lisa moved to Atlin and has been a self-employed contractor ever since, enjoying the challenges of working in a tiny, remote town and using her skills to help members of her community.

    Lisa was first exposed to YWITT and their work during her apprenticeship, where she volunteered as a

    helper in the carpentry shop for the Youth and Women Exploring Trades conference three consecutive

    years. It was here she discovered a passion for instructing and for helping to empower youth, women, &

    gender-diverse folks to feel more comfortable in a woodshop/carpentry setting. Lisa is grateful for the

    opportunity to join YWITT in a part-time mentorship capacity, particularly as a way to honour the

    contributions of women who paved the way for carpenters like her.

    When not working, Lisa enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and two dogs, gardening and

    paddling in summer and cross-country skiing in winter.

  • Programs

    Robin Reid-Fraser (she/her) was born and raised in Whitehorse on Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council territories. One of her early introductions to trades environments was as a teenager, when she got a job at Raven Recycling (now called Raven ReCentre) and learned to operate heavy equipment. After finishing high school she moved to Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, where she completed an undergraduate degree in environmental studies at McGill University. Robin’s interest in tool use and equipment operation continued, however, and in the fall after graduating from McGill she enrolled in trade school to learn to become a millwright. Around that same time she also joined the Right to Move coop bike shop, where she first learned to fix her own bicycles and then developed enough knowledge to become a volunteer mechanic and share those skills with other shop users.Since finishing millwright school in 2016, Robin has continued to work in trades environments and grow her own skills outside of work, both while in Montreal and since returning to Whitehorse in 2020. Robin believes strongly in the ways that peer support and skill-sharing in trades can help people build confidence, develop community, and solve problems big and small. She is thrilled to be part of the YWITT team and help even more people access those skills and support.
    Studying and researching is continuous for Monica, whether that is at McGill University in Quebec or through community projects. Monica is set to begin a tenure track Assistant Professor position to continue her career in academia.

    Monica brings to YWITT the ability to observe emerging opportunities whilst identifying people's strengths within the Community Action Leaders (CAL) team. Monica is most excited about community networking while creating safe(r) spaces to gather and share experiences. Monica would like to experience the changes the pilot projects will create, with the ultimate goal of shifting cultures to make workplaces better. She looks forward to communicating YWITT’s successes to create greater community understanding about the work YWITT does.

    Monica's passion is creative writing. She is also a great home cook, often hosting dinner parties to be the ‘buzzing bee’: helping others make meaningful connections through food and sharing stories

  • Research Team

    Ruth Wilson is a community-based researcher and a PhD Candidate with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Her work supports racialized communities, most notably racialized immigrants and refugees, in their efforts to engage in participatory forms of research. Ruth is also a social worker. A vital component of her practice includes mobilizing community knowledge to inform program/service development through participatory facilitation.