Cynthia has a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in social work. She is a registered social worker with over ten years of experience working in the child welfare system in Manitoba. Her parents, grandparents, great-grandmother, relatives, and community members in a village in Nigeria, West Africa raised Cynthia. She has firsthand experience of “the village raising the child” and is an ardent believer in the importance of a culture and village raising children. Cynthia’s passion for taking care of people in her community where she saw great needs led her to pursue a career in the helping profession. Cynthia has a heart that reaches out to help children and their families. In addition, she has worked with thousands of youth struggling with a wide range of issues such as childhood trauma, unresolved attachment issues, addictions, gang involvement, anger problems, gambling, school attendance, and human trafficking. She is a strong advocate for youth programs. Cynthia is a proud recipient of a 2009 Youth Role Model Award from the Citizen Equity Committee of Winnipeg.

Cynthia has previous writing experience through the many academic research papers she has written throughout her undergraduate and graduate level studies. Cynthia wrote her academic papers on topics such as homelessness, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, policy analysis and the history of child welfare, policies, program design and evaluation, evaluability assessment, and individual counseling.

Colleen has a Master of Social Work (MSW) and is a qualified and registered social worker with approximately five years of experience working in the child welfare system in Manitoba, Canada. Colleen has assisted with raising and caring for many children as their biological auntie and also as an elementary school teacher. With a heart and a passion to see children reach their full potential, Colleen made a change in her career path to assist in addressing the social needs of the children in her community in Kingston, Jamaica. Colleen embarked on a career in social work, as she wanted to be a support to children and their families. Colleen is also a strong believer in the concept of “it takes a village to raise a child” and has been playing a pivotal role in making a positive impact on the lives of the children and families she has supported for over twenty years.

Colleen has previous writing experience in both her graduate and undergraduate studies where she wrote academic papers in the area of youth involvement in the justice system. Colleen also wrote about working with individuals and families using different therapeutic interventions to bring about positive behavior changes.

Kareen has a Master of Social Work (MSW) and is a qualified and registered social worker with approximately ten years of experience working in the Manitoba child welfare system. Kareen is able to identify with the concept of the village raising the child based on her own experience of being raised by her neighbor during her teenage years. Born in one of the poor inner-city communities in Kingston, Jamaica, Kareen knows what it is like to live in a community where people take care of each other’s children as they would take care of their own children. Kareen spent her early childhood with her mother and father and then lived with her neighbour and her neighbour’s husband throughout her adolescent years. Kareen had both her biological grandmother and aunties and also community “grandmas” and “aunties” who shaped and molded her into the woman she has become: a social worker with a heart and passion to love and care for children and their families.

Kareen’s previous writing experience was done at an academic level both during her undergraduate and graduate studies. Kareen’s papers focused on issues such as education, poverty, and homelessness.