Melanie Bania – Executive Director (she/her/elle)

Melanie joined CCFSC in 2023 and supports the development of Community Safety & Well-Being plans across Canada, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of plans and programs. Melanie was part of the team at the Institute for the Prevention of Crime that launched the CMNCP in 2006. She is thrilled to be back as part of the team! Melanie holds a PhD in Criminology and her areas of expertise include collaborative governance, community-based crime prevention, youth violence prevention, youth justice, program evaluation and performance measurement. Melanie has a unique blend of front-line, senior management, and academic experiences, allowing her to see issues and solutions from various angles. Melanie’s approach relies on genuine engagement, authentic relationship-building, and focuses on continuous learning. She grew up in rural Northern Ontario, is fluently bilingual in English and French and is committed to working from community-centered and anti-oppressive lenses.

Melanie resides on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People, colonially known as Ottawa, Ontario.

Contact: melanie@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Jade Brazil – Director of Operations (she/her/elle)

Jade joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities (CCFSC) in 2023 and currently serves as the Director of Operations. A strategic multi-disciplinary professional, she oversees the organization’s operational infrastructure with a focus on efficiency, scalability, and mission-alignment.

Jade’s professional trajectory includes over three years of specialized funding coordination and a successful tenure as a virtual consultant for small businesses—experiences that honed her ability to navigate complex administrative landscapes. Her interdisciplinary academic foundation, featuring a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Sociology, provides her with a distinct analytical framework; she approaches operational challenges with both meticulous precision and an understanding of the broader societal contexts in which the CCFSC operates.

Driven by a commitment to decolonization and intersectional equity, Jade ensures that the organization’s internal systems are as inclusive as its external work. To Jade, operations are not merely a series of tasks but a vehicle for fostering a diverse, growth-oriented environment.

Jade resides on Treaty 6 Territory (ᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ — amiskwacîwâskahikan), the traditional meeting ground and travelling route of the nêhiyawak, Anishinaabe, Niitsitapi, Métis, Dene, and Nakota Sioux.

Stacey Colliver – Director of Research and Services (she/her/elle)

Stacey joined CCFSC in 2023 and supports the development of CSWB plans across Canada. With a master’s degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice Policy, she understands the importance of fostering upstream approaches to prevent and reduce crime in communities. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Waterloo in the Sociology & Legal Studies department focusing on the regulation of online space and has worked in various fields including non-profit leadership and restorative justice (Community Justice Initiatives), online crime and safety (Kik Interactive Inc.) and has taught courses at the University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University. Stacey is passionate about igniting the untapped assets of communities that are often ignored in favour of formal structures and responses to crime and harm.  

Stacey resides on the traditional unceded territory of the Mississauga, Anishinaabew, and Attiwonderonk (Neutral) peoples, colonially known as Mitchell, Ontario. 

Contact: stacey@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Katie Cook – Director of Knowledge Exchange (she/her/elle)

Katie joined CCFSC in 2020. Her work involves managing a range of projects, including the development of community safety and well-being plans, creating documents to support communities in their own work (i.e., the Practitioner Guide for the Development of CP/CSWB Plans and topic summaries), and conducting research. She is a criminologist with experience in youth justice and community crime prevention. She completed her PhD in sociology at the University of Waterloo where her research focused on youth crime prevention and campus law enforcement. She has worked with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council on projects to support marginalized youth, reduce problematic substance use, and prevent violence, and was a member of the Youth Justice Committee with the John Howard Society of Waterloo Wellington for several years. Her work is guided by the principles of equity, collaboration, and long-term investment in the social determinants of health to ensure all members of the community can thrive. 

Katie resides in Kitchener, Ontario, which is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral peoples.

Oeishi Faruquzzaman – Project Manager (she/her/elle)

Oeishi joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities in 2025 and supports the development of community safety and well-being plans across Manitoba. She brings a diverse set of experience including frontline work supporting individuals experiencing mental health challenges, addictions, and housing insecurity alongside experience as a community-based researcher. She holds an MA in Community Psychology and has been involved numerous research projects centered around homelessness, mental health, addictions, and gender-based violence.

Oeishi resides on the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas people, colonially known as Hamilton, Ontario.

Contact: oeishi@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Vicky Laprade – Project Manager (she/her/elle)

Vicky joined CCFSC in 2025 and coordinates the UPSTREAM project. A historian by training, she holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history from the Université du Québec à Montréal. During her studies, she focused on the Irish revolutionary movement of the 20th century and, more specifically, on the recognition of women’s participation in armed conflict. Vicky then completed a second master’s degree at the Université de Montréal, this time in International Studies, where she explored the concept of gender in the prevention of violent extremism.

She has held various research positions at a university, in a museum, and at the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, based in Montreal, where she notably worked on misogyny and the prevention of gender-based violence.

Passionate about international relations, human rights advocacy, and culture, she was also a member of the Youth Advisory Group of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO for several years. In this capacity, she represented Canada at the 13th UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris in 2023.

Vicky resides in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Quebec, a historic gathering place for many Indigenous nations. The Kanien’kehá:ka are the traditional custodians of these lands and waters.

Contact: vicky@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Alexis Marcoux Rouleau – Knowledge Exchange Coordinator (they/them/theirs)

Alexis is a writer, educator, activist, content creator, and award-winning scholar who holds a PhD in criminology. Their research on leisure in women’s prisons and on epistemology within the field of victimology has merited local and international recognitions. Alexis has also led a variety of grassroots initiatives centered on knowledge exchange, as they firmly believe evidence should be leveraged to impact and improve communities. As a non binary, trans, queer, and disabled person, Alexis is deeply committed to social justice and community-building. For this reason, their endeavors generally aim to improve the lives of marginalized and justice-involved populations, namely trans people, incarcerated women, Indigenous peoples, youth, and victims of crime.

Alexis joined CCFSC in 2025, after a decade working in academia, at Public Safety Canada, and as Research Director at a national non-profit (JusticeTrans). At CCFSC, their responsibilities include event planning and communications.

Alexis is a white settler who lives, works, and plays in unceded Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang, also known as Montréal, Québec. The Kanien’kehá:ka are the traditional custodians of these lands and waters.

Jess McKeown – Director of Evaluation (she/her/elle)

Jess joined CCFSC in January 2026 to lead strategic efforts in evaluation, evidence-building, and storytelling that advance the organization’s mission of promoting community safety and well-being.

With nearly a decade of experience in the social purpose sector, Jess brings a strong foundation in sciences, a Master’s in Education, and formal leadership training. Her career spans independent consulting, senior leadership at a national non-profit addressing complex public policy challenges through evidence-based solutions, and research roles within a government agency focused on strengthening Ontario’s post-secondary system. Passionate about community engagement, Jess actively supports local non-profits, including through board work. She works to make evidence-building inclusive and accessible, meeting partners and community members where they are, reducing barriers to participation and interpretation, and driving meaningful change through storytelling.

As a settler working in Canadian contexts, Jess acknowledges the ongoing impacts of colonialism and approaches her work with accountability, openness, and dialogue. She strives to challenge dominant knowledge systems, create space for diverse ways of knowing, and foster authentic, trust-based relationships. Jess works from the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, colonially known as Vancouver.

Contact: jess@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Audrey Monette – Director of Community Planning (she/her/elle)

Audrey joined CCFSC in 2016. She leads diverse projects related to community safety and well-being (CSWB), including facilitating training sessions, conducting research, and developing CSWB plans. With a master’s degree in critical criminology, she advocates for non-carceral approaches to ending gender-based violence, preventing victimization, and improving victims’ and prisoners’ rights. Audrey is passionate about community-led approaches to safety and well-being that are rooted in equity, social justice, and dismantling systems of oppression. 

Audrey resides on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People, colonially known as Gatineau, Québec. 

Contact: audrey@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Hayley – Researcher (She/Her)

Hayley joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities in 2024 and supports research on Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) plans across Canada. Their professional journey reflects a balance of frontline support work with survivors of violence, individuals experiencing addiction, and 2SLGBTQ+ youth, alongside roles advocating for systemic change. She holds an MA in Social Justice & Community Engagement and has been involved in numerous academic and community-based research projects centering community-led responses to safety and wellbeing.  

Hayley resides on the traditional and treaty territory of the Anishinabek Nation, specifically the Chippewas of Saugeen and Chippewas of Nawash, colonially known as Owen Sound, Ontario. 

Contact: hayley@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Jazlyn O’Bonsawin – Project Coordinator (she/her/elle)

Jazlyn is a master’s student in the Community Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University. As an Abenaki woman, Jazlyn has experience doing research with Indigenous communities in a way that ensures reciprocity Indigenous people and communities. She joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities (CCFSC) in June of 2023 and has been working on the community and urban safety monitoring project, specifically working on identifying indicators of safety that are relevant to Indigenous people and communities. Jazlyn uses a culturally sensitive community-based approach that ensures that Indigenous voices are heard and represented in the community and urban safety monitor.

Jazlyn currently resides in Waterloo, which is located on the unceded territory of the Chonnonton (Neutral), Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. This land has been cared for and stewarded by these Indigenous communities for generations. Indigenous communities have an enduring presence and have made vast contributions to the region.

Contact: jazlyn@ccfsc-cccs.ca

Sabrina Paillé – Researcher and Evaluator (she/her/elle)

Sabrina joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities in 2025 as a researcher and evaluator, where she supports evaluation activities for the UPSTREAM project—a national initiative to strengthen multisectoral collaboration at the local level to prevent hate, social polarization, and violent extremism. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from UQAM and has pursued doctoral studies at York University. Her academic interests have included sociological theory and the history of ideas, political sociology, nationalism and ethnicity, and the study of social movements.

Sabrina has experience in both academic and community settings and has studied and conducted research in various parts of Canada and Europe, including Montreal, Toronto, Germany, and Hungary. Prior to joining the Centre, she worked with the Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV) and the UNESCO-PREV Chair at the University of Sherbrooke, contributing to research, program evaluation, and capacity-building in the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE).

Sabrina resides in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, on the traditional lands and waters of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. She is committed to work that bridges theory and practice and strongly values collaborative approaches responsive to local contexts.

Contact: sabrina@ccfsc-cccs.ca