Spirit Bear Podcast

How do relationships and connections shape the futures of young people leaving child welfare? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries we sit down with Heather O’Keefe from StepStones for Youth to explore the power of meaningful connections in supporting youth as they transition to adulthood.

What does it take to build a community that truly supports children, youth, and families involved in the child welfare system? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries, host Cheyanne Ratnam is joined by Valerie McMurtry (CEO, Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada), Keziah Oduro (YPAC Member), and Wendy Chan (Associate Director, Program Impact, CAFC) to discuss how community, innovation, and collaboration can create lasting change.

How can youth lead the way in shaping the systems that affect them? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Rachelle Matatawabin sit down with Sharif Mahdy from the Students Commission of Canada (SCC) to explore how youth engagement is important for driving real change.

Youth homelessness isn’t about rebellion—it’s about survival. In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries: Our Stories, Our Worlds, Our Futures, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Rachelle Matatawabin sit down with Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door, to speak about the undeniable link between child welfare and homelessness.

What happens when lived experts take the lead in shaping the narrative on homelessness, youth justice, and media representation? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries: Our Stories, Our Worlds, Our Futures, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Rachelle Matatawabin sit down with Joel Zola, founder of Street Voices, to discuss how his lived experience inspired a movement to amplify marginalized voices and create real systemic change.

What happens when youth with lived experience lead the conversation on child welfare reform? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries - Centering Lived Expertise: Transforming Child Welfare in Canada, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Rachelle Matatawabin sit down with Dr. Mélanie Doucet and Jessica (Jessi) Knutson from the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates (NCYICA) to discuss how youth-led advocacy is shaping national policy and pushing for systemic change.

Why are Black children and families disproportionately affected by the child welfare system—and what can be done to change it? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries - Beyond the Numbers: Addressing Racial Disparities in Child Welfare, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Rachelle Matatawabin sit down with Vania Patrick-Drakes from One Vision One Voice (OVOV) to unpack the realities of anti-Black racism in child welfare and the urgent need for systemic reform.

What does it mean to have personal sovereignty being Indigenous having grown up in the violence of the colonial system? In this Special Guest episode of Beyond Binaries - Intersections: Indigeneity, Motherhood, Child Welfare, co-hosts Cheyanne Ratnam and Ashley Bach are joined by Rachelle Metatawabin and Kakeka Thundersky, who are incredible Indigenous women who are former crown wards and mothers.

On this episode of Spirit Bear Podcast, Dr. Cindy Blackstock is joined by Gabrielle Fayant and Alyssa Carpenter to discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Call to Action 66 and their important work to call upon the federal government to establish multiyear funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation

On this second two-part episode of Spirit Bear Podcast, Dr. Cindy Blackstock, Amber Crowe and Dr. Dr. Barbara Fallon are joined by Dr. Ashley Vandermorris, staff paediatrician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at SickKids and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto to continue the discussion and explore the complex mental health needs for First Nations children, youth and families in Ontario