bio
Kathleen Hilchey is a conflict specialist. Her expertise is a combination of formal study, two decades of work in education, and lived experience with her own family.
Kathleen completed the Concurrent Education program at Queen's University. She has a Masters in Education from Brock University in which she focussed on aggression, bullying, and peacebuilding techniques. She has a Certificate of Conflict Management from Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo. She is also working towards being an accredited General Mediator.
Kathleen completed the Concurrent Education program at Queen's University. She has a Masters in Education from Brock University in which she focussed on aggression, bullying, and peacebuilding techniques. She has a Certificate of Conflict Management from Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo. She is also working towards being an accredited General Mediator.
Kathleen has been a teacher in Ontario's public school system for over 10 years, at both elementary and secondary levels. Whatever the subject, she consistently empowers youth and staff to create more positive schools. Her desire to create inclusive spaces has led to institutional changes for LGBTQ+ and indigenous students, and shifted her school culture towards restorative (rather than punitive) responses.
Her decade of work in outdoor education has taken her to all corners of the earth. She has worked with at-risk youth in Iqaluit, Nunavut, learned about sustainability in Kenya, worked with underprivileged teens in the Tim Horton Youth Leadership Program and the Brantford Boys and Girl Clubs. She volunteered with the Otesha Project which biked a message of sustainability across Canada.
Kathleen is also the daughter, sister, and friend of targets of bullying. She has seen first hand the pain that bullying creates and the lasting impact of these traumatic school or work experiences.
All of this has led to two foundational beliefs:
Kathleen's present focus is helping children, adults and families through complex bullying or harassment relationships. She has developed multiple programs and counselling techniques to help resolve these seemingly impossible conflicts. She has programs to help everyone involved: the person targeted, the person doing the assault, the bystanders, and family members.
When Kathleen isn't working, she's busy at home with a partner, a 4 year old, and twin toddlers! (If and when she ever has any free time again in the future, she would enjoy getting back to yoga, dragonboating, and reading fiction.)
Her decade of work in outdoor education has taken her to all corners of the earth. She has worked with at-risk youth in Iqaluit, Nunavut, learned about sustainability in Kenya, worked with underprivileged teens in the Tim Horton Youth Leadership Program and the Brantford Boys and Girl Clubs. She volunteered with the Otesha Project which biked a message of sustainability across Canada.
Kathleen is also the daughter, sister, and friend of targets of bullying. She has seen first hand the pain that bullying creates and the lasting impact of these traumatic school or work experiences.
All of this has led to two foundational beliefs:
- Bullying is a global issue with impacts that extend far beyond the moment of aggression.
- If we can teach people the skills to better handle conflict, bullying ends.
Kathleen's present focus is helping children, adults and families through complex bullying or harassment relationships. She has developed multiple programs and counselling techniques to help resolve these seemingly impossible conflicts. She has programs to help everyone involved: the person targeted, the person doing the assault, the bystanders, and family members.
When Kathleen isn't working, she's busy at home with a partner, a 4 year old, and twin toddlers! (If and when she ever has any free time again in the future, she would enjoy getting back to yoga, dragonboating, and reading fiction.)
