Advisors
Dr Stephen Faulkner
Dr Stephen Faulkner is a former medical doctor in the days when doctors delivered babies (over 400), anesthetized patients for surgery (over 10,000), worked in the ER, counseled many dying patients, facilitated men’s circles (15 years) and generally worked far too hard until semi retiring after being diagnosed with leukemia at age 53.
After his midlife crisis, diagnosed as ‘clinical depression’ at age 35 by conventional medicine but what the Cowichan elders called ’Spirit Sickness’, he redirected his energies into the nature of consciousness, how belief systems hold people into patterns of illness and explored the healing wisdom of indigenous peoples from Africa (Malidoma Some), New Zealand (where he is from) and Northwest First Nations peoples (especially the Cowichan Coast Salish) through the use of ceremony and ritual.
Stephen has conducted workshops on spirituality and healing for many groups including medical doctors at a time when this was still a new frontier. He spends his retirement counselling young leaders in their chosen field of body/spirit healing and enjoys living on his 35 acre piece of Vancouver Island rain forest in his unique off grid straw bale house with his partner of 15 years, Marianna.
Robyn Fila
Robyn hails from a long line of dissidents and truth tellers, and has a strong line of Slavic women at her back. Her work in experiential learning crosses epistemological, ontological, mythical, geographical and temporal boundaries.
Since 2010, Robyn has facilitated over 200 international internship placements focused on education, community engagement, governance, development and migrants’ and refugee rights for UVic students and graduates from across Canada. Robyn has managed large externally funded projects and has worked with grassroots, regional and international partners in over 15 countries.
Robyn has an BA in Human Geography and an MA in Adult Education and Global Change. She is adjunct professor in Pacific and Asian Studies and a sessional instructor with Global Development Studies and the Intercultural Skills and Practice program at The University of Victoria.
Tad Hargrave
For over a decade, Tad has found himself drawn to conversations about politics, folklore, mythology, whiteness, history, ancestry, healing and how those all intersect.
Between Sept 2004 – Feb 2006, Tad dedicated himself to learning his ancestral language, Scottish Gaelic, in both Nova Scotia and Scotland. He can speak Gaelic with conversational fluency. He also runs a blog called Healing from Whiteness as well as a Facebook group of the same name. He is a co-founder of the Nova Scotia Gael's Jam and co-starred in Canada's second Gaelic language film The Fiddler's Reel.
Tad currently lives in Duncan, BC, though he hails from Edmonton, AB (traditionally known, in the local indigenous language of the Cree, as Amiskwaciy (Beaver Hill) and later Amiskwaciwaskihegan (Beaver Hill House) and his ancestors come primarily from Scotland with some from the Ukraine as well.
Rob Southcott
Rob is an anchor and bridge builder in his community, seeking to connect meaningful stuff happening in one part of the community to the other parts. Rob has been engaged in village-building and culture-tending work for decades.
For over 30 years Rob was a paramedic. He is currently serving his second term as an elected Powell River city councillor.
