Justice For Youth and Children

JFCY Board of Directors

Dilys Haner: Chair
Dilys Haner has been working with children and youth since 1995. She has worked as a counsellor/facilitator at Kids Help Phone and Earlscourt Child and Family Centre (now The Child Development Institute) and as an sexual health educator for Healthy Body Talk. She has a BA in philosophy and performance and an MA in pedagogy. Dilys has previously worked as an actress and opera singer and currently appears monthly on TVO’s “The Space” to discuss issues such as bullying and healthy relationships with young people. She is presently pursuing an honours degree in psychology.

Stephen Lamont: President
Stephen Lamont has practiced law in Toronto since 1992. He holds an M.A. from Concordia University in 1993 and a B.A. and LL.B. from McGill University. He has been interested in legal issues concerning children and youth for many years. Stephen has served on the JFCY Policy Committee since 2000 and has written a commentary on the Parental Responsibility Act. He is married with three children.

Jennifer Schaffer: Vice-President
Jennifer Schaffer is a lawyer in Toronto who was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2006, having completed her articles at Justice for Children and Youth. Prior to getting licensed in Ontario, Jennifer was a lawyer in the United States, where she worked as a State Public Defender in Ohio from 1996 to 2000, specializing in juvenile and appellate law. Jennifer has served on the JFCY Policy and Positions Committee since 2001 and has written briefs on such subjects as “Bill 52 - Learning to 18” and “Bill 107 – the Human Rights Code Amendment Act.” In addition to her N.C.E. (L.L.B. equivalency) and J.D., Jennifer also holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from the University of Toronto. She is married with two children.

John Harty: Treasurer
John Harty is a chartered accountant, retired after many years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has a special interest in legal aid clinics having served as director/treasurer of ARCH a few years ago. John currently is director/treasurer of The Scarborough Housing Help Centre a City funded non profit agency that helps people find and maintain affordable housing, its clients include low income families, newcomers, at risk youth, people dealing with abuse and the homeless.

Jennifer Strate
For the past five years Jennifer Strate has been a television producer specializing in educational youth programming, most often working with the CBC. This past September Jennifer began legal studies at the University of Toronto with the goal of working with youth in the areas of education and justice. Jennifer has volunteered with numerous youth literacy and mentoring programs and currently holds a position on the Executive Board of Directors of Urbanarts, an organization providing free arts programming and paid career experience to youth throughout Toronto.

Jenelle Ambrose
Jenelle Ambrose is a Marketing Administrator at Captus Press Inc. specializing in textbook adoptions in business and legal studies. Prior to this, Jenelle worked as a special projects assistant in the Office of the Faculty Council- York University where she assisted students with academic difficulties. Jenelle is committed to encouraging minority youth interested in pursuing legal careers and has had significant experience as a member of the Urban Legal Planners. She is also active in a number of media and professional organizations in the GTA. Jenelle holds an Honours B.A. in Communications and Political Science and a certificate in Marketing from York University.

Sonja Williams
Sonja Williams is a lawyer practicing commercial litigation and employment law at Wilson Vukelich LLP in Markham. Sonja was called to the Ontario Bar in 2002 after earning a Bachelor of Laws degree from Queen’s University. Sonja also has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University. Sonja has previously volunteered with a youth literacy program and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Central Neighbourhood House which, among other services, offers a wide range of activities and opportunities for youth in the downtown east community of Toronto.

Bobby Singh
An energized and successful entrepreneur, in addition to having consumer packaged goods and retail industry experience, Bobby Singh is highly motivated to make an impact through his involvement within JFCY. Bobby has been a member of JFCY since 2002 as a member on the Policy Committee, and was most recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors, and Fundraising Committee. Holding an HBA in Economics and HBSc in Psychology from the University of Toronto, Bobby now expresses a strong interest in pursuing both an MBA and Law degree.

Kim Varma
Kim Varma received a PhD in Criminology from the University of Toronto (2000). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Ryerson University and teaches courses in the areas of youth justice, punishment and corrections, and introductory criminology. She has published and completed research in the areas of youth justice processing, parental involvement in youth court, public perceptions of youth crime and deterrence-based policies. She is currently working on some research in the area of social assistance fraud in Ontario, and a survey of parental experiences of youth court in Toronto.

Michael Fakhri

Michael was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2002. He holds a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School and is currently completing his doctorate at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto in the area of international economic law. Prior to entering graduate studies Michael worked as litigator focusing on social justice issues.