Claudia is a family and elder mediator. She studied Conflict Resolution at Carleton University, completed an internship with a law firm then certified with Family Mediation Canada (FMC) as a Family Relations and Elder Mediator. She began her mediation practice in Ottawa and now offers mediation and facilitation on Vancouver Island. Claudia is on the board of FMC and is the current chair of the FMC Elder Mediation Committee. She is enthusiastic to promote and develop elder mediation services in Canada because she recognises how these family conversations can change immediate situations and can improve generations of family relations. There are many reasons that now an important time to develop elder mediation, including the national demographics, stretched health care systems, the need for home support for independent living, insufficient residential care, and prevention of abuse and neglect.

Prior to mediation, Claudia trained and worked as a Public Health Nurse and received a Master’s Degree in Community Health in the UK. She has worked as a clinical nurse, a health project manager and in community development in many countries. “I have been fortunate to have had many interesting work opportunities. My first experience working in a developing country was in a refugee camp in northern Somalia with Oxfam, providing maternal and child health care services and health worker training. In Uganda I worked with The Aids Support Organization for two years, developing community based support for people living with HIV in rural areas.”

“I worked with the Department of Adolescent Health and Development at the World Health Organization based in Geneva for two years, collaborating with national and non-government organizations in over fifteen countries on programs for families and youth. In all this work I have learned to have a deep respect for people’s ability to understand their situation and to find unique ways for managing change. When people are given the opportunity to talk together, they are able to find creative solutions to their own issues.”