1. Mary Bishop, BSW, RSW
Mary Bishop is a Social Worker in Fort Smith and currently works for the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority as the Social Work Supervisor. Mary first came to Fort Smith from her home province of Newfoundland in 2006 to work at Trailcross Treatment Centre. Although living in the North was a new and exciting experience for her it was also a familiar experience having grown up in a small rural community.
In 2009 Mary took a position as a Community Social Services Worker with the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority. Not wanting to leave Fort Smith Mary completed her Bachelor of Social Worker Degree via distance education through the University of Manitoba and graduated in 2012.
In 2014 after five years of working in the front line of social work Mary took the position of Social Work Supervisor. While this position provides the opportunity for growth and new challenges in her career because the role is with such a small team it still allows her to work directly with clients which something she considers a privilege.
Mary has often said that the experience in being a generalist social worker in the North is truly unique and allows for workers to gain invaluable experience in many different areas. While some may see practicing in a small community as limiting, Mary actually has the opposite view and believes that her skills and experience have benefited greatly from living in a small community.
The small town way of living and strong sense of community in Fort Smith is one of the main reasons that Mary has decided to call Fort Smith home. Mary strives to promote the role of social workers in the North at a territorial level through her involvement with the ASWNC and also at a community level through working in partnerships with other community agencies.
2. Lynn Sparks, BSW, MSW
Lynn Sparks graduated with her BSW from McGill University in 1986 and later completed her MSW in 2002, also at McGill. Most of her practice has been in small communities and with Inuit and First Nations people.
Lynn’s first position involved dealing with Women's Issues in Lourdes du Blanc Sablon, near the Labrador border, along Quebec's Lower North Shore. She then moved to Ontario cottage country to practice child welfare work in Peterborough and Haliburton counties.
From 2003 to 2009 she worked for the Inuit of Northern Quebec, spending 7 years living in the remote community of Kuujjuaq providing child protection services and later doing medical social work for Inuit Patient Services in Montreal. In 2009 she moved to the NWT as clinical supervisor for the Community Counselling Services in Hay River. From there she relocated to Yukon, where she remains. In Yukon she worked for the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations in Haines Junction as Health and Social Director and currently works for Ta'an Kwach'an Council in Whitehorse as Health and Education Manager.
While in Yukon she has also been a sessional instructor at Yukon College. Lynn has been an active member of ASWNC since 2009, serving on the board as an NWT Director and CASW representative. In her role as CASW representative she has helped to keep social workers in the rest of Canada aware of the concerns of the north and the realities of northern social work practice.
3. Rachel Hollingshead, MSW