Presenter bios

Kim Zebehazy is a professor at UBC, co-coordinating the Masters program in blindness and low vision and the O&M certificate. Prior to working in personnel preparation, Kim was an itinerant teachers of students with visual impairments and O&M specialist working with birth through high school aged students. 

Steering Committee Member 

Adam Wilton is the Program Manager of PRCVI and ARC-BC. He is a COMS and an enthusiastic BC leader of the Annual Braille Challenge, which is hosted at UBC annually in February. 

Becky Norton Vandevenne has been a teacher at the W. Ross Macdonald School for the last 20 years. Her teaching experiences include 11 years teaching within the Deafblind department, a year as a Deafblind Resource consultant, and 8 years teaching a variety of classes and programs within our Elementary department (Kindergarten - Grade 8). Becky currently enjoys leading the Connections Program, Kinder Connections, and the Empower Reading Program at W. Ross Macdonald School. She is married with three children and loves to spend time outdoors.

CDBA-BC supports children/youth with deafblindness, their families and professional teams. Theresa Tancock, Executive Director, continues this support to 24 years, through our various programming, such as the Intervention Program.

Hi, I am the Program Lead for Children and Youth at CNIB BC-Yukon, and I have had the pleasure of serving in this role for the past two years. My educational background includes a certificate in Marketing Communications from BCIT, and I later continued my education to align with my passion for mission-driven work by completing a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Simon Fraser University.

In my current role at CNIB, I manage programming both online and in person, with events taking place across our four offices in Victoria, New Westminster, Prince George, and Kelowna.

Dr. Stewart holds a Master’s and Ph.D. in Special Education (Visual Impairment and Orientation & Mobility) from the University of Northern Colorado. He has over 30 years of experience teaching students with visual impairments, including those with additional disabilities, from preschool through high school, and served as an administrator overseeing a multidisciplinary vision services team. He has also contributed to provincial policy as a consultant for Ontario’s Blind–Low Vision Early Intervention Program and helped develop its guidelines.

Marisa Parker is the Educational/Curriculum Coordinator at W Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, Ontario. Part of her role includes providing programming and resources for successful transitions to students, families and educators. As a teacher, she brings a student‑centered approach to her work, with a commitment to blending ECC skills with academic skills to empower learners to achieve their goals. 

Anna is a second year Masters of Science student in Applied Health Sciences at Brock University in St. Catharine's, Ontario, Canada and is a part of the Injury Prevention, Clinical Intervention, and Implementation Science lab (I3 lab). She is also a student member of the Concussion in Para Sport Group. Her research interests include concussion management for athletes with disabilities, and her current work aims to improve concussion assessment and rehabilitation for athletes with visual impairments.

Shawn Marsolais is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of Blind Beginnings, a BC-based non-profit supporting children/youth who are blind/low vision and their families since 2008. Shawn was born with a degenerative eye-condition, and is also a registered Clinical Counsellor, host of the Limitless podcast, and a disability advocate.

Angela Leavens has been a TSVI for 21 years. She added COMS to her toolkit in 2020.  Blending braille with maps and Smartphones with outdoor exploration are two of her favourite things to do.

Shawna Lawson is a parent of a child who is blind and a strategist with Inclusive Experiences (IX), specializing in disability justice and systems change. Her work bridges lived experience and professional practice, supporting educators to examine power, storylines, and partnership in blind and low vision education.

Lynn Langille has been a TSVI in British Columbia since 1988. This also included being an O&M instructor, as well as my career highlight of creating CLVP-BC – Children’s Low Vision Program of which I am the Educational Coordinator.

CLVP-BC is in its 20th year of providing comprehensive low vision services throughout BC that includes 6 clinics a year. An interdisciplinary team of educational and medical vision specialties to enhance the quality of life, visual access and independence for our students. The CLVP-BC team is so fortunate to have the support of our BC Shared Vision community partners who attend our clinics when possible, to provide a value added community support for our students and their families.

Debbie Klassen is a TSVIs at SET-BC. She supports students in K-12 and their teams with their vision tech. Supports includes feature matching, exploring new tech, and supporting access to the curriculum. They host a monthly TSVI Tech Talk to connect and keep BC TSVIs up to date.

Jen Jesso is a TSVI and has a certificate in teaching English as a Second Language. Jen has worked as an itinerant vision teacher for students in kindergarten to grade 12; as an instructor teaching adults with visual impairments at Vancouver Community College; and as an Assistive Technology Specialist with CNIB. Currently, Jen is a Vision Outreach Coordinator at the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI) and supports vision teachers and students throughout the province of BC. She is the secretary for Braille Literacy Canada. 

My name is Barb Hysniu.  I am a TSVI in Chilliwack and I have been a teacher for the last 25 years. I am learning to work smarter, not harder, by integrating skills into lessons so that students are supported in learning the functionality of the skills they are learning rather than learning them in isolation. Using student interests to boost engagement leads to better buy-in and targeted learning.

Danielle Amyot Howe is a Teacher for the Blind and Partially Sighted at W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, Ontario. She has received her Specialist in the field and is continuing to make improvements to her credentials whenever possible, especially in the area of outdoor education. 

Kim Heinrichs is a TSVI at SET-BC. She supports students in K-12 and their teams with their vision tech. Their support includes feature matching, exploring new tech, and supporting access to the curriculum. They host a monthly TSVI Tech Talk to connect and keep BC TSVIs up to date.

Heather is a Teacher of Students with Visually Impaired (TSVI), a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), and is also certified as a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TDHH). Prior to becoming a teacher, she worked as a Tactile Specialist creating braille and tactile graphics. While in this position, she completed her degree in Fine Arts, with a focus on graphic design, sculpture, and drawing. The development of 3D printing design technologies have allowed Heather to bring together her professional expertise and creative background to develop meaningful, accessible learning materials for students with sensory disabilities.

Susan is the Program Manger at BC Blind Sports.  Susan leads the schools program, providing equipment advice, demonstrations and experiences in many sports for blind or visually impaired students in PE and their sighted peers.  She screens, trains, and supervises volunteers.  She organizes Multi Sport Camp Abilities Programming.  

Steering Committee Member 

Stephanie is a TSVI in Calgary, AB. 

CDBA-BC supports children/youth with deafblindness, their families and professional teams. As Early Intervention Program Director, Sue Gawne supports children (birth- years) and families to navigate the new world of deafblindness. 

Ioana is a peer trainer at CELA. Herself a longtime CELA user, she is passionate about accessible technology and enjoys teaching it to others. She also provides support to public libraries in using CELA services to promote accessible reading. Ioana is a professional concert guitarist, performing and teaching music internationally.

Steering Committee Member 

Erika Fundelius is a TSVI, COMS, sexuality health educator, currently teaching as an assistant professor in the Blindness and Visual Impairments program at UBC's Faculty of Education. She brings over two decades of teaching experience to teacher preparation. Her areas of research are means of effective teacher preparation, instruction of ECC, and consent. 

Sofeya Devji is a TSVI and COMS in the southern interior of BC. She is an avid cross-country skier and loves playing in the snow. She is a regular mentor for UBC's training programs. 

Beth Conly-Edwards, Specialist Teacher of the Blind and Special Education Specialist, has over 30 years in vision education, including 15+ years as Educational Coordinator for Vision Resource Services, Ontario. She previously taught as a vision itinerant teacher, Special Education Resource Teacher, and Vision Consultant at W. Ross Macdonald School. She is also a parent to a daughter who is a braille user.

Keynote #1

Stacey earned her M.Ed. in Visual Disabilities from Vanderbilt University and has dedicated 15 years to serving as an Itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in Texas. She is the co-author of Sensing and Learning with Millie Smith and the author of Tools for TVIs: The Itinerant Teacher’s Handbook.  

With 16 years in education, spanning roles from the classroom to the principal’s office, Céline has seen every side of student success. After being diagnosed with Macular Degeneration at 39, she felt a new calling: returning to the classroom to work directly with the blind and low-vision community. Today, she teaches grades 7 and 8 at Consortium Centre Jules-Léger in Ottawa, dedicated to proving that vision loss is simply a different way of seeing the world. 

Keynote #2

Dr. Casias is an Associate Professor in the Orientation and Mobility Program at Cal State LA. He is a certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist with a doctorate in Educational Leadership. He brings extensive K-12 experience, serves as Board President of the Southern California Association of Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and has supervised O&M candidates at Portland State University and Cal State LA. 

Stephen Burke is a leader in inclusive sport and education with 25 years’ experience supporting athletes & students with vision impairment and advancing adaptive sport nationally. His background spans school-based support, national program leadership, and provincial sport consulting, with a strong focus on safe, inclusive, developmentally aligned programming.

The Deafblind Resource Services & Outreach Program at W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario, is dedicated to making learning accessible, meaningful, and joyful for all learners who are deafblind. Our team of deafblind consultants support students across the province within their home school boards, collaborating with educators to design individualized, functional programming rooted in each learner’s strengths, needs, and communication preferences.

Danielle is a second-generation Teacher of the Visually Impaired dedicated to creating accessible hands-on learning experiences for students with visual impairments. With expertise in tactile design and emerging technologies, she supports educators to improve access, engagement and meaningful participation in the classroom for students with visual impairments.

Steering Committee Member

Jane is the Executive Director at BC Blind Sports.  Her blind and para sport programming experience includes early motor learning to PE, to international competition.  She supports blind, partially sighted, and deafblind participants in a variety of physical activity endeavours and also has experience working with participants with a neurological impairment.  

Cindy started her health and movement journey as a certified aerobics instructor 35 years ago.  Today she combines her love of how our bodies move with a love to serve people.  Health is about more than the perfect diet and the best exercise routine.  It's about finding the right movement for your body and lifestyle. She is a Certified fitness instructor with CFES and a transformational health coach. Cindy believes FUNctional Fitness is about having fun, connecting with your body, your mind and your community through sports and movement.