Social Justice Workshop Leaders

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Workshop Leader Biographies:

Baker, Naomi

Naomi Baker is the founder and Chief Operating Officer of Canada Fights Human Trafficking which is a national organization based out of Toronto.

Buist, Steve

Steve Buist is an investigative reporter and feature writer for the Hamilton Spectator newspaper. He has more than 25 years experience in the newspaper business and a passion for uncovering difficult stories.

Dryfhout, Ken
Ken Dryfhout is the Director of Youth Programming and Youth Culture Specialist at The Dam, an organization working with youth and young moms in Mississauga, ON. Ken, a Redeemer alumni (2000), received his M.Div. from Tyndale Seminary in 2003 and has been working at The Dam ever since. Working with youth both at The Dam and at a group home prior has truly been an experience in working with a marginalized segment of our society. It is grace that given Ken the privilege of realizing the beauty of community with those pushed to the peripheries of society and often of the church.

Epp, Timothy

Dr. Timothy Epp is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and the Chair of the Sociology Department at Redeemer University College. He earned his Phd at York University in 1999. He teaches extensively on justice issues including crime and deviance, disability and society, restorative justice, and more. Click here to read more about his professional experience. Click here to read more about his personal background.

Forbes, Sharon

Sharon Forbes graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Minor in Strategic Intelligence Analysis. Following graduation in 2009 she became the Investigations Intern with the International Justice Mission in South Asia where she spent almost a year working to fight for the oppressed and rescue them from bonded slavery. She is now working on a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Law Enforcement and Investigations and volunteering to speak about her internship with IJM.

Kaastra-Mutoigo, Ida

Ida Kaastra-Mutoigo works with Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) as the Director in Canada. She works out of the CRWRC office in Burlington and travels worldwide to give oversight to the work CRWRC does in 30 countries related to community development, disaster response and justice programs. She lives with her husband James and children in Hamilton, an active member and elder at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church.

McConkey, Robert

Robert (Bob) McConkey is the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Hamilton and is leading the Robert Land Project which is building homes for 8 families near the Eva Rothwell Centre.

Norris, Helen

Helen Norrisis the Founder and Executive Director of Helping Hands Street Mission located in the north end of Hamilton, ON. Helping Hands Street Mission provides clothing, shoes, bedding and hygiene products to individuals and families in Hamilton.

Paul, Greg

Greg Paul, author of God in the Alley: Being and Seeing Jesus in a Broken World, and The Twenty Piece Shuffle: Why the Poor and the Rich Need Each Other, is the founder of Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto, the current Executive Director of the organization and pastor of the Sanctuary community. Sanctuary makes a priority of welcoming and caring for some of the most hurting and excluded people in Toronto, including addicts, prostitutes, homeless men, women and youth, gay, lesbian and transgendered people. In addition to maintaining and perpetuating the vision for Sanctuary, Greg’s role includes pastoral care, counseling and leadership, organizational partnerships, fundraising, and representing Sanctuary to the public.

Difonzo-Ross, Trevor and Monica

Trevor and Monica Difonzo-Ross are ambassadors for the Voice of the Martyrs. VOMC is an organization dedicated solely to assisting the plight of the persecuted church around the world. Trevor is a graduate of Redeemer University College. They speak at churches and Christian events about the devastating suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, and our biblical responsibility, based upon Hebrews 13:3, to assist them.

Witteveen, Fred

Fred Witteveen is the Country consultant for CRWRC Kenya based in Nairobi.

He has been with CRWRC Kenya since 2008. Prior to working with CRWRC, he was the pastor of Friendship Community Church in Toronto, Canada for 17 years. His areas of focus in development are organizational development in complex environments and conflict mitigation and resolution.

Zajdlik, Anne-Marie

Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik is a mom, a family doctor and an HIV physician in Guelph, Ontario. In 2005, she founded and now directs the Masai Centre for Local, Regional, and Global Health, in response to the growing numbers of HIV/AIDS patients in the Guelph area. The birth of an HIV negative boy named Masai to two HIV positive parents from Ethiopia in 2003 turned Anne-Marie into an international AIDS activist.