Council Member

Kimberly van der Woerd

Kimberly van der Woerd is a member of the `Namgis First Nation from Alert Bay, BC. and completed her PhD in Psychology at Simon Fraser University. Her dissertation research focused on a comprehensive participatory evaluation of a First Nations substance abuse treatment centre. Dr. van der Woerd's Masters thesis focused on risk and protective factors related to school retention and dropout for Aboriginal youth. Dr. van der Woerd has over 10 years of experience conducting program evaluations, conducting research in the area of Aboriginal health, and youth health issues; has taken graduate level courses in program evaluation and statistics; has prepared undergraduate courses in program evaluation; has worked with the `Namgis Substance Abuse Treatment Centre on obtaining Accreditation through the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation; and has taken all of the Canadian Evaluation Society's Essential Skills workshops. Dr. van der Woerd has had extensive community-based research experience administering interviews and working with Aboriginal people who have dealt with sensitive issues. Dr. van der Woerd is the sole proprietor of Reciprocal Consulting, a company that endeavours to work in a consulting capacity for Aboriginal communities interested in program development and program evaluation, as well as provide mentorship to Aboriginal undergraduate students wanting to pursue graduate studies in the Health and Social Sciences. Active in her community, she also serves as a member of the Women's Health Research Institute Board of Directors.