Staff

 

Giselle Robelin
Registrar & Director of Standards

Giselle is a mother of three sons and grandmother of three grandchildren with First Nations ancestry.  She was raised in Europe and in Africa, and was exposed early in life to issues of culture, justice and freedom.

In 1998 Giselle became Senior Bilingual Communications Officer at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and soon became Head of Communications.  From 2004 to 2009, she also served as Head of Communications at the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation.  In 2002 Giselle completed her Masters Degree in Andragogy (Adult Learning).

Giselle published Healing Words which gained readership of over 20,000, the organization of over 20 major residential school survivor gatherings, and made presentations to the Senate, universities, conferences, and she developed numerous strategies and policy papers.

Giselle contributed as Lead Coordinator at NNAPF to the Healing Our Spirit World Wide Gatherings in 2006 and 2010, and in 2006 personally raised funds to insure participation of the South American delegation.  In 2006 she also organized the Heartbeat of the Nations Project that saw over 5000 drummers participate in a chain of drumming from east to west and north to south, to celebrate the strong future if Indigenous Peoples in the destiny of the world.

With the knowledge and experience she has acquired with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis organizations across the country, Giselle is well equipped to support the vision of FNWACCB, to establish full recognition of the specific, culturally relevant experience, of our practitioners in Wellness & Addictions, and of the unsurpassed services they provide to our people.

As our Registrar and Director of Standards, Giselle is fully committed to bringing her vast experience in adult and public education, networking, communications and advocacy in the wellness/addictions field, including First Nations, Metis, and Inuit workforce development, to her role at FNWACCB.

“I believe the qualifications of the counsellor’s we certify not only attests to their ability to perform with professional standards on a par with other international certification boards, but to their capacity to apply the unique cultural knowledge and experience most needed by our people.  With better access to culturally relevant training for Wellness & Addictions practitioners, the pace and scope of recovery, and the return to prosperity in our communities can only accelerate.”

 

Alan Podsadowski
Executive Director

Alan is the proud father of two Afro-Canadian boys that he and his wife Kate adopted at birth in 1990 & 1992.  He refers to himself as a “recovering American,” and credits thirty-five years of living in Canada with helping him maintain his health and sanity.

Alan graduated with honours from the University of Central Connecticut, where he received his degree in Psychology. He began his career in the addictions field as an Addictions Counsellor and Drug Program Director with the Connecticut Department of Corrections.

Alan emigrated to Vancouver in 1977, where he continued counselling, and in 1980 became the Executive Director of West Coast Alternatives Society in North Vancouver B.C.  Through his inspired leadership “Alternatives” became a preeminent substance abuse treatment centre, renowned for their program innovation and clinical integrity.

Alan is the co-author and editor of "Recovering From Addiction:  A Guidebook for the Journey" a treatment workbook for clients in recovery.  While at West Coast Alternatives, he developed the Kids F.I.R.S.T. program, the first children’s trauma treatment and addiction prevention program in North America.

Over the years Alan’s extensive background in addictions was sought out for a number of important provincial task forces and committees.  He is one of the founding members and past President of the Association of Addiction Specialists & Allied Professionals of B.C. and in June of 2009 was honoured with the Provincial Award of Excellence in Addictions.  Alan looks forward to learning much from his First Nations colleagues about their culture, and the needs of addiction counsellors across the country.

“My appointment as the Executive Director of FNWACCB is an incredible honour that comes with an enormous responsibility.  The disproportionate prevalence of substance abuse and its related collateral damage for Indigenous peoples around the globe makes all of us here realize that we are literally one person removed from every First Nations, Metis, and Inuit family in Canada.  By fulfilling our mandate of improving the skills of the counsellors we certify, we can have a profound effect on every family across our land.  We do not take this responsibility lightly.  We are committed to assisting FNWACCB achieve this critically important goal.”