Staff

Our staff includes:

Catherine McKenna, Executive Director (info@cla-ace.ca)

Catherine is co-Founder and Executive Director of Canadian Lawyers Abroad. While a huge fan of Canada (and of her hometown, Hamilton), Catherine has always enjoyed working and living abroad. After finishing a degree in international relations and French at the University of Toronto, she filmed a documentary in Asia, “Real Travels: 60 days in Indonesia.” Catherine then completed a Master’s degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and a law degree at McGill. In 1997, she worked as a Trade Policy Officer at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. Returning to Asia, Catherine practiced law at a corporate firm in Jakarta and then joined the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor as the legal advisor to the Chief Minister in the Timor Sea treaty negotiations with Australia. In 2002, Catherine joined Stikeman Elliott LLP, working in the areas of competition, trade, and constitutional law. During this time she was senior counsel on the Rt. Hon. Antonio Lamer’s review of Canada’s military justice system. Catherine has written a number of articles and submissions about proposed amendments to the Competition Act and testified before parliamentary committees. She is admitted to the bars of Ontario and New York. She volunteers with a number of organizations, is actively engaged in policy debates, and recently joined the Advisory Board of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. Catherine lives in Ottawa with her husband Scott Gilmore, the founder of Peace Dividend Trust, and their three young children.

Meghan Cowan , Director of Student Internships (mcowan@cla-ace.ca)

Meghan is in her fourth year of a joint J.D./M.A. program at the University of Ottawa and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. She is the President of the University of Ottawa’s International Law Students Association chapter and has volunteered with Pro Bono Students Canada. Meghan graduated from the University of King’s College with a B.A. (Honours) in History and International Development Studies. She enjoys travelling and spent time in India during the summer of 2010 volunteering at the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore. This past summer, she was a summer student at the law firm Aird & Berlis LLP.

Johnna Van Parys, Director of Student Chapters (jvanparys@cla-ace.ca)

Johnna is a common law student at the University of Ottawa and a graduate student in international affairs at Carleton University.  She spent the summer of 2011 studying at the Queen’s Faculty of Law International Study Centre in the United Kingdom.

Matthew Ramsden, IT Manager (mramsden@cla-ace.ca)

Matthew has worked in a variety communications and IT roles in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors for the past 15 years. He currently lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.

Nicole Walton, Communications Officer (nwalton@cla-ace.ca)

Nicole is a third year student at Queen’s School of Policy Studies and the Faculty of Law. She is the Co-Chair of the Queen’s Chapter of CHLAIR and an active member of CLA.  Nicole graduated from McMaster University with a B.A. (Honours) in Psychology and Political Science. Nicole has volunteered with Queen’s Legal Aid and Pro Bono Students Canada and participated in the 2010 Kawaskimhon aboriginal law moot. Between her studies Nicole enjoys travelling and has worked as an intern on various projects abroad including a global issues course in Finland in 2008 and a computer skills course in rural Guyana.

Monica Lee, 2011 CLA Summer Student Intern, President of the University of Ottawa Student Chapter

We also have a number of volunteers that help us out with specific projects.

We are looking for volunteers to help us with the following areas:

• Accountant
• Fundraising
• Marketing

If you are interested in filling this volunteer position, please email us.