Julia Kaisla – She/Her

Julia Kaisla MA has over 15 years of experience working in BC’s mental health and substance use sector.  Prior to joining CAI, Julia worked as the Executive Director at the Canadian Mental Health Association North Shore branch where she worked alongside the provincial office of CMHA to co-create the province’s crisis response program (now called CRCL). She also worked closely with partner communities and knowledge keepers across the province to build a curriculum for Indigenous peer support, and was instrumental in launching a regional peer program across the Nations in the Southern Coast. Before her secondment into the non profit sector, Julia worked for over ten years in the private sector. Throughout her career, she has served on several Boards including the Aboriginal Mothers Centre, Raincity Housing, CMHA BC, and Burnaby Community Connections. Julia holds a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Analysis from Royal Roads University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UBC. Outside of work, Julia’s passions involve everything to do with food, being in the forest with her family, and travel. She is a mixed race settler living and working on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam),  sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and  sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.