Who’s on our board?
Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg (SJ), President (She/her) is a trauma recovery coach in private practice. She has extensive education & experience in most forms of trauma including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and traumatic brain injury as a consequence of accident, addiction, or violence. Susannah-Joy lived seven years in the Middle East and is proud to have been part of a larger multi-disciplinary team changing the cultural perspective and the treatment of mental illness. SJ’s current clients are scattered around the globe from Adelaide to Zagreb – a reality she loves. She has extensive experience serving on boards including five years as Chair of the Board of a charitable organization with a global service mandate. SJ has two daughters, four grandsons, and has lived the past 40+ years with a beloved partner who epitomizes benevolent masculinity.
Erin Fox, Director (She/her) – Erin is a manager at Public Services and Procurement Canada. In 2018, a few months after receiving a severe concussion as a result of IPV, Erin reached out to SOAR as part of her journey to recovery: she wanted to find ways she could help improve the support available for women who have suffered similar experiences. Since then, she’s balanced her 20+ year career as a procurement professional and life as a mom with providing advice and input on several SOAR projects. In 2020-2022, Erin was an active steering group member in the JLA Concussion Priority Setting Partnership, which established the top 10 questions for research in Concussion. Erin is currently also working with a team of health practitioners and industry representatives on an initiative that aims to answer many of those top 10 questions.
Jules Taschereau, Director (She/her) – Jules has been an entrepreneur and business owner for the last 3 decades. For the majority of her career, Jules’ professional activities have centred around the commercial design build industry, with businesses in the design, furniture, space measuring and project management areas. With an education in psychology, Jules’ passion for sharing knowledge and educating not-for-profit organisations, particularly within the area of child and youth mental health has formed a portfolio deeply concentrated in new paradigm projects and ventures with strong community impact, most notably with Foundry, BC, and Child Advocacy Centres across BC and Alberta, amongst many others. Jules is also the owner of Limey, The British Shop, with stores in Kelowna & Victoria, BC, and online. In her free time Jules enjoys travel, outdoor exercise, and spending meaningful time with family; her husband, Lee, daughter Amelie, bonus daughter Emily, and sweet dog, Finn
Muireann Meiklejohn, Director (They/them) – Muireann is a music teacher at Kelowna Community Music School and a violinist with Okanagan Symphony. They are also a community service worker, and passionate volunteer with Kelowna Friendship Society and mutual aid collective Solidarity Sundays. They are certified in Mental Health and Emergency First Aid, San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety, and Applied Suicide Intervention. Muireann has a lifelong passion for social justice and community collaboration, and believes strongly in SOAR’s mission, vision, and values. As a neurodivergent person, and queer and nonbinary trans woman, they bring a breadth of knowledge and perspective about the tremendously diverse needs of people SOAR aims to serve in its work.
Calen Janzen, Secretary/Treasurer (He/him) –
Calen is an associate with Pihl Law Corporation who practices in family law as well as civil litigation.
Calen grew up in the Okanagan Valley, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples. He subsequently obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia and attended law school at Thompson Rivers University. Calen began his career in family law working as a legal aid lawyer and was an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence. Calen’s background in science gives him a passion for neuroscience and research. In his free time, Calen enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and their pup. As a hiking enthusiast and avid downhill skier, Calen can be found on any number of local trails, sun or snow alike.
