President – Blair Dwyer
Blair Dwyer is a lawyer, practicing tax and estate planning law since 1985, first on Bay Street in Toronto and since 1992 in Victoria. Blair has been on ACT’s Advisory Council since its inception over 12 years ago. He also presents an online workshop for ACT and has contributed a chapter on wills and estate planning to ACT’s Autism Manual for BC.
Vice-President – Anne McCaw
Anne McCaw has a background in event facilities management and marketing and was General Manager for the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University for a number of years. Now retired and living on Vancouver Island, Anne and her husband, Mike Rekis, are the sponsors for ACT’s annual Herring for Autism Sale. Mike and Anne have two adult daughters, one is autistic and both are valued ACT volunteers.
Treasurer – Brent Shirley
Brent Shirley is an independent management consultant. He has over 35 years of experience in accounting and information technology and is the president of his own consulting firm, BVS Advisory Inc. Brent has worked with a wide-range of businesses and has held senior roles on specialized and complex financial systems projects for large regulated public utilities, transportation companies and financial institutions. He has an adult son on the autism spectrum.
Board Directors
Kenzie Curby
Kenzie is an autistic and multiply neurodivergent self-advocate. She has worked both in homes and schools for over 8 years, supporting autistic youth. Kenzie also works as an autistic consultant; providing feedback, ideas and collaboration with other autism service providers through a neurodiversity-affirming lens. Kenzie has a love for public advocacy and has spoken at numerous events providing insight of her lived-experiences and perspectives. Kenzie is passionate about voicing the importance of understanding demand avoidant profiles and co-occurring mental health disorders in autistic individuals. Ultimately her goals are to help bring acceptance and understanding for all neurodivergent individuals.
Brenda Fossett, PhD, BCBA-D
Brenda Fossett, PhD, BCBA-D is on faculty in the Applied Behavior Analysis-Autism Department at Capilano University. Brenda began her career in 1993, teaching Deaf children with developmental disabilities, including autism, at the BC Provincial School for the Deaf. Brenda has a Masters in Special Education from UBC. Her doctoral program focused on Family-Centered Positive Behavior Support. Brenda conducted two studies centered around the provision of PBS services to Deaf children with developmental disabilities and their families, including training Deaf service providers to do this work. Along with her scholarly work, Brenda continues to provide consultative services, primarily to Deaf children with developmental disabilities and their families, and provides training and support to staff working in home, school, and community settings.
Juliani Kusmanto
Juliani Kusmanto was brought up in Indonesia before emigrating to Canada as an adult, where she was diagnosed with autism. She has thought deeply about the challenges of explaining her diagnosis to her Indonesian family and the disbelief she has met when communicating her diagnosis both in Indonesia and in Canada because she is a skilled professional. Juliani is active in a number of autism-related organizations and especially interested in the challenges facing women with a late diagnosis.
Izabelle Stevens
Izabelle Stevens is an autistic, neurodiverse advocate and certified Social Support Worker. Her strong sense of justice and passion for the betterment of services and treatment for the disabled and neurodiverse community has led her to become the Youth Representative on the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s Minister’s Advisory Council for Children and Youth with Support Needs; and a board member for the Family Support Institute of British Columbia. Izabelle’s experience with ACT includes being a member of the Self-Injurious Behaviour Committee. Izabelle uses her lived experience to advocate in her community and is also a member of the SD46 Accessibility Committee.
Marna Nelson
Marna Nelson is a family physician with an interest in young adult health. She was the Director of UBC Student Health Service from 2016 to 2021. Marna continues to work at the clinic part time providing health care for university students. She has been an active volunteer for many years with schools and community organizations that support individuals with autism. She has an adult daughter with autism.
Siyu (Suzanna) Chen
Siyu (Suzanna) Chen is an Autistic Vancouverite who is passionate about disability equality and youth leadership. Her advocacy involves everything from performing in a fundraising concert for a local Chinese-Canadian autism non-profit to representing disability-inclusive Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) campaigns by international charities during United Nations events. Siyu is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (BASc) degree at University College London (UCL), where she is the Disabled Students’ Officer. Her academic and career interests include public policy, journalism, data visualisation, and interdisciplinary disability studies.