Don Giesbrecht, President

Don Giesbrecht is President of the CCCF and is also Executive Director of Assiniboine Children’s Centre (ACC) in Winnipeg. Don has been President of the CCCF since March 2006 and was appointed to the Federal Government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Child Care Spaces in September 2007.  He has also been working with the CCCF on diversifying its funding and revenue base and as such, has been very active in its fund development work. Prior to his work at the CCCF, Don was President of the Manitoba Child Care Association, Canada’s largest provincial early childhood professional association.

Graduating with a BA (Hons) from the University of Manitoba in 1990, Don first worked in early childhood programs in 1991 and became an Executive Director in 1996. He has been at ACC, which provides quality care and education for over 200 children ages 1 ½ to 12 years old, since 2005. His current work at the community level includes working on a broad-based community governance model for early learning programs in the St. James community in Winnipeg. Don is married with two very active children and actively volunteers as a coach of his children’s various sports teams.

Marni Flaherty, Director

Marni is the C.E.O. of Today’s Family Early Learning and Child Care in Hamilton and Burlington. She is a recipient of the Ontario Premiers Award for her work and dedication in the social services sector. Marni is known locally, provincially and nationally for her commitment to early learning and child care.

Marni is an active participant in numerous community initiatives designed to improve the lives of children. Her many professional and voluntary community activities include:  9 years on the board of United Way of Greater Burlington and Hamilton, former member of the McMaster Children’s Hospital Family Advisory Committee, board member of the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton, member of the Best Start Network, co-chair of the Parent and Family Engagement Committee, board president of the Home Child Care Association of Ontario (HCCAO), member of the Ontario Early Years Centres Provincial Network, and member of the Quality Early Learning Network.

Marni is also a Registered Early Childhood Educator. She has fashioned a remarkable career and a lasting legacy for families and children.

Linda Skinner, Treasurer

Linda has been the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the CCCF since 2006. Prior to Linda’s appointment to the Board, she represented the Home Child Care Association of Ontario on CCCF’s Member Council. Linda is a member of the Business Planning Committee that oversees the financial health of the organization.

Linda has worked in the child care field for over 25 years. Her expertise is in the management of family child care agencies. She also worked for 20 years in a large municipal program in Ontario and now works independently as a consultant and workshop facilitator.

April Kalyniuk, Chair, Member Council

April has been an active member of the Early Childhood Education community since 1978 when she applied as a young student to Red River Community College to the Child Care Services Program. Over the years, she has participated in and continues to serve as a committee member with her local association (Manitoba Child Care Association) in many different roles, such as President, committee member, and Ethics mentor.

As long standing member of the CCCF, she has been an integral part of the National Ethics project and has been on Member Council and Board since 2002. She is currently sitting as the Chair of Member Council. April has participated on many working committees at a provincial and national level working for a better system of Early Learning and Child Care.
Currently, April is Executive Director of Lord Roberts Children’s Programs in Winnipeg, which is a multi-site program for 119 children, 18 months to 12 years of age.
April is married with 2 teenage girls, making life very interesting and busy.

Antoinette Colasurdo, Director

Antoinette is the Executive Director of the Funville Early Childhood Centre, the workplace centre for the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

She has extensive experience in marketing and sales within the publishing, financial and electronic industries, but maintains a vivid interest in the early learning and childcare field.

When she started a family, child care became her passion, and for the past 20 years she has been a preschool teacher, program co-ordinator, home daycare provider, and a centre director. She has been on the Board of the CCCF, since 2007 and she is also a board member of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Quebec.

Antoinette is actively involved in the Association québécoise des CPE, the Quebec Association for Preschool Professional Development, and is a voting member of the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee on Children’s Playspaces and Equipment.  Her community endeavours have included the Allion School Library Program, St. John Brebeuf’s Faith First Program for children, and the Loyola High School Fundraising.

Antoinette is recognized by the Quebec Council of Parent Participation Preschools for dedicated service to the cooperative preschool movement, and is the recipient of the 2007 Bothwell-Smith Award for outstanding contribution to the care and development of young children and to the field of early childhood education. She is sought after by the media and other organizations for her views on childcare issues, including consultations in 2008 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Antoinette resides in Montreal with her two sons, whom she considers to be her greatest and best contribution to the world.

Carol Langner, Director

Carol has been active with the CCCF for the past five years, both as a Member Council representative and as a Board member. She feels that having a national voice to capture our strengths as early childhood professionals is a service that is necessary, particularly since our vision for Canada’s children gets shifted as government priorities fluctuate around the child care profile.

For 25 years, Carol has been privileged to share in the lives of children and families through various programs and initiatives. Providing high quality educational experiences to young children is something she is passionate about. The more she discovers about how children develop and how our brains grow; the more strongly she feels about the importance of the work that we all do – as parents, caregivers and teachers.

Carol has worked as a teacher and director in day care, preschool and ECS settings. She has also worked as a consultant to preschool/child care programs through day care licensing and the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement.

Carol supports the early childhood community and indulges her interest in young children by actively participating in organizations such as the CCCF. She feels deep gratitude to the leaders who have ‘blazed the trail’ by setting high standards in accomplishing work the CCCF has produced. The visionary leadership that the staff and affiliates demonstrate in supporting the Federation’s goals continues to inspire her.

Christine K. MacLeod, Director

Christine began her child care career as a licensed family child care provider 20 years ago.  She completed her ECE certificate program while operating her family child care business.  Currently Christine is the Family Child Care Coordinator at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Douglas College.  She also facilitates the “Good Beginnings: Professional Development Skills for Family Child Care Providers” and teaches the Child Development component of the One Year Family Child Care Certificate Program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She sits on the advisory group for the “Good Beginnings” training program with the BC Family Child Care Association (formerly Western Canada Family Child Care Association of BC).

Christine has held many positions on the board of the BC Family Child Care Association such as President, Director of Education, and currently is Vice President of Administration. 

She represents family child care on numerous committees and sits as a ministerial appointment to Provincial Child Care Council.  She has been a board member of the CCCF since 2005. 

Christine and her husband Don have two grown sons, Ian (26) and Colin (20).  She has been trained as a parent advocate for the school district. Christine was awarded the “Spotlight on Child Care Award” regionally for making a positive difference in the lives of children and their families, and was nominated for the Prime Minister’s Award of Excellence by her child care families, as well as the Provincial Child Care Award of Excellence.

Christine truly believes in a quality environment for children that will prepare them for life and their future opportunities and believes that working closely and enabling families is a responsibility not to be taken for granted.  She believes child care does have a huge impact for children and their families and strives to advocate for the family child care profession.