Our Team

Great People - Motivated Caring Professionals

People are at the very core of everything CBI Consultants offers. Our staff are highly trained specialists with a wealth of formal and practical knowledge and experience. Our team takes great pride in being person-centered, collaborative and results-driven. By consistently ensuring our clients’ individual best interests and quality of life are positioned at the forefront of our training and consulting initiatives, we can ensure that our strategies, recommendations and implementations are highly personalized for better outcomes.

Paul Malette

President & Clinical Director

Since 1990, Dr. Malette has been a director of CBI Consultants, Ltd.  Since 1985 he has supported people with complex needs who experience challenging behaviour, and who require extensive supports in order to be successful in the community. In 1992, he and his colleagues co-authored a paper describing the Lifestyle Development Process (LDP) that was published in the Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps. He is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Vocation Rehabilitation.
Dr. Malette and his colleagues at CBI Consultants have used the Lifestyles Development Process to create an exemplary person-centered consulting and training framework. Dr. Malette continues to focus his research and training on positive, person-centered supports designed to improve the quality of life for the focus person and their support network. Dr. Malette has provided extensive training to schools, families, professionals, and support agencies throughout North America.

Mike Bote

Executive Director

Mike Bote joined CBI Consultants as Executive Director on October 1, 2018.

Mike brings 15 years of significant record of achievement in the community living sector and large-scale private organizations. His involvement in the community living sector started when he became a homeshare provider for two individuals with developmental disabilities. With the desire to provide meaningful contributions to the sector in a much larger scale, he joined Community Living BC (CLBC) in 2011. Mike held key leadership roles in Regional Operations and Finance departments of CLBC and was instrumental to the development and implementation of its major financial systems and processes. Prior to working for CLBC, he held positions involving strategic management, organizational and business development, and marketing in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), investment, international trading, and consulting companies.

Mike has an MBA from UBC and a bachelor’s degree in Economics.  In his spare time, Mike immensely enjoys singing. He has performed with prestigious choral groups in Canada and the Philippines

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Leslie Jones

Senior Advisor

Leslie Jones started her career in 1975, working as a weekend houseparent at a treatment centre for children with autism (Laurel House) while completing her degree at UBC. Leslie worked at Laurel House and the Autism Society of British Columbia prior to joining CBI in 1997. Leslie has been the Executive Director of CBI Consultants since 2006.

Nina Magee

Contracts & Procurement Manager

Nina Magee has over 30 years of experience in the public sector at the Ministry of Child and Family Development (MCFD) and Community Living British Columbia (CLBC) in positions ranging from Social Worker Assistant, Child Protection Social Worker, Guardianship Social Worker, CYSN Child and Youth Special Needs Social Worker, CYSN Resources Social Worker, CYSN Team Leader  and CLBC Quality Service Manager. She has supported individuals (children, youth, and adults) and their families in key transition periods in their lives and in crisis periods. She has experience in developing and supporting foster homes and contracted residential and non residential services.  Nina has always been motivated to develop effective and collaborative working relationships with individuals and their families receiving supports, multi-disciplinary professionals and service-delivery partners.  She is excited to now be a part of the CBI team again working on behalf of individuals  with their families, service providers and ministry partners to deliver excellent results and outcomes for those receiving consultation services with CBI.

Nina’s educational background includes BSW, University of Victoria; and M.A. Leadership and Training, Royal Roads University.  She has also participated in the Justice Institute Conflict Resolution Program and in Satir Family Assessment Training.

Sarah Gibson

Referral Screening & Implementation Specialist

Sarah Phillips has been the Executive Administrator at CBI since 2006.  Sarah has worked in the field of Administration and Finance since 1993.

Deborah Simak

Educational Advisor

Deborah has over 30 years of experience in the public education system advocating for individuals with exceptionalities.  As a special education teacher, Deborah began her teaching career in Edmonton, Alberta in a segregated school for children with developmental disabilities. Deborah taught in special education programs at both Alpha and Burnaby Central Secondary Schools prior to becoming the District Principal of Learning Support Programs and later as Director of Learning Support for the Burnaby School District.  In partnership with CBI, Deborah developed a comprehensive professional development program for learning support teachers and educational assistants focused on Positive Behaviour Support. After a successful system wide implementation of PBS, Deborah introduced and led the Response to Intervention Framework, a systemic approach for tiered intervention of instruction for all students across all Burnaby schools.  At the provincial level Deborah held various positions on the B.C. Council of Administrators for Special Education for 14 years including President for two years.

Deborah has a Bachelor of Arts major in Psychology from University of New Brunswick and a Bachelor of Education from University of Alberta and a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from University of British Columbia.

Genya Kaplun

Media, IT & Marketing Manager

Genya brings a unique blend of industry experience as a group home supervisor and a behavior consultant combined with Information Technology, Network Administration and Media Production expertise.   He takes care of CBI’s IT needs and leads our Media Production Team. Additionally, Genya helps with development and implementation of CBI’s Training & Technical Assistance Centre Marketing strategy. Genya holds a B.B.A and a B.Sci (Econ) Degrees from the Simon Fraser University.

Francesca Gorlick

Field Support & Quality Assurance Manager

Francesca has supported people of all ages and across the ability spectrum.  She has been at CBI for over 17 years and what keeps her interested is discovering the key information that makes any focus person a unique individual.

Bonita Holman

Field Support & Quality Assurance Manager

Bonita joined CBI in 1997. She began supporting individuals in 1979 and has been involved in all aspects of support services; such as institutional care, residential, educational, vocational and behavioural. Bonita is CBI’s Peer Power Coordinator and a consulting supervisor. Additionally, Bonita is a certified provider of the PEERS program for adolescents.

Andrea Gibson

Change and Project Management Architect

Andrea holds a BSc degree from Queens University, Belfast. Working as a job coach with the Teenwork Canada program, she is supporting youth gain paid employment while finishing school. Andrea has worked with youth in a variety of settings over the past 10 years including schools and sports. She has experience working with young children with ASD and other development delays. She has also worked as an employment specialist for a large recruitment company in the UK. Andrea is passionate about empowering others to realize and achieve their potential in life.

Ben Reiman

Clinical Advisor, BCBA Supervisor and Project Analyst

Joanne Kautz-Allard

L.E.A.P. National Program Services Manager

With over 20 years of experience in program management and community leadership in service-and-values-based organizations, Joanne has built multi-stakeholder partnerships and developed complex programming. She has championed and advocated for children, youth and families in community, school, and residential settings. She has worked with families who have experienced domestic violence and youth needing the guidance of a mentor. She has developed her leadership and collaborative skills that has empowered strong teams.

Sherry Adam

Consultant Supervisor

Sherry Adam works as a Behaviour Consultant and Consultant Supervisor across the province. She greatly enjoys the work she does, including supporting teams, training and presenting. She believes strongly in the principles of Positive Behaviour Support and practices them regularly in both her personal and professional life.

Candace Daku

Behaviour Consultant

Candace holds a BA degree in Psychology from the SFU. She is a Behaviour Consultant who started as an Implementation Consultant with CBI in 2010. For the last few years Candace has been supporting individuals who may have a variety of support needs and a range of abilities. Through person centered planning and the Lifestyle Development Process Candace and CBI has been providing training and support to the teams and families in the Vancouver area. Recently, CBI has begun providing support in Northern BC and Candace will be working in collaboration with several agencies on capacity building in the Dawson Creek and Fort St John area.

Kristiina Thackray

Behaviour Consultant

Kristiina Thackray has been a Behaviour Consultant since 1986 and started with CBI in 2010. She enjoys the challenges of the work and resulting positive outcomes for the individuals served and their teams. Another aspect of the work Kristiina enjoys is training teams in the Mandt Systems which focuses on developing healthy relationships.

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Tracy Baisley

Behaviour Consultant

Tracy joined CBI Consultants as a Behaviour Consultant in 2014. Prior to working with CBI, she provided early intervention to children age 0-3 and their families, as well as worked as a child care support worker and behaviour interventionist. Tracy’s passion is teaching new skills to families, caregivers and support teams as she believes that the people closest to the individual can have the greatest impact. Tracy graduated from UBC in 2001 with a B.A. in psychology.

Danielle McGill

Behaviour Consultant

Danielle has been with CBI since 2014. She has experience working with a range of children, adolescence with ASD, developmental disabilities and mental health problems. As a Consultant, Danielle trains and supports team members to implement support strategies successfully.

Alan Craig

Behaviour Consultant

Alan has worked as a Behaviour Consultant since 1996 supporting individuals with autism and developmental disabilities, their families in close collaboration with services providers on Vancouver Island. He is especially interested in training support teams to create supportive environments through PBS and Mandt Systems training. He is focused on the development of the context of support that produce positive outcomes and increased quality of life for each of the individuals we serve.

Leah Newson

Behaviour Consultant

Having always been fascinated with the way we communicate, interact with one another and learn and grow from our environments, Leah’s interest in behaviour sciences found her working with a variety of dual and complex neurodevelopmental diagnosis since 2000, with a passion for supporting others to achieve their best quality of life. Leah has been a behaviour consultant since 2012. While she is dedicated to identifying what behaviours are communicating, and teaching the skills, knowledge and confidence to implement Positive Behaviour Support Strategies with fidelity, she greatly values collaborating with the individuals who spend the majority of their time with the person of interest, to foster and maintain powerful and positive changes for a happier life.

Kaitlyn Edmonds

Behaviour Consultant

Kaitlyn is a student at the University of British Columbia in the M.ED Special Education – Behavioural Disorders program. She holds a B.A from Capilano University in Applied Behaviour Analysis – Autism. PBS, Self Determination, and person-centered practice are her professional passions. While ice hockey, hiking and exploring BC are her personal passions. “It is incredible to be a part of a team with clients, family members and agencies to facilitate, empower and support meaningful positive outcomes.”

Sara Alian

Behaviour Consultant & Consultant Supervisor

Sara joined CBI in October 2020. She worked as a Junior Behaviour Consultant, Special Education Assistant and Behaviour Interventionist under the supervision of a BCBA since 2014. Sara has worked in various school, home, and community settings implementing individualized treatment plans. She graduated from University of British Columbia and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Immunology. She has recently completed her Masters in Applied Behaviour Analysis and has all of her BCBA supervised hours completed. Born and raised in Iran, Sara is fluent in spoken and written Farsi.

Antonela Beslija

Behaviour Consultant

Antonela began her post secondary education with a focus on developmental psychology. She now holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Behaviour Analysis from Capilano University and hopes to be a life long learner. Since 2015, Antonela has had the pleasure of working with a variety of individuals with developmental disabilities in the home, school, and community settings as a behaviour interventionist. She also has experience collaborating on multidisciplinary teams. In her role at CBI, she hopes to support and empower all those she will work with and is passionate about teaching self-determination and improving quality of life. She is extremely proud to be in a helping profession and hopes to enhance her clinical skills in order to better serve her clients. Antonela has discovered a passion in making a difference in the lives of those around her and looks forward to doing so by utilizing her knowledge and experience.

Zenia Motafram

Behaviour Consultant

Jeanie Woltz

Behaviour Consultant

Bhumi Thakkar

Behaviour Consultant

Paige Leung

Behaviour Consultant & Consultant Supervisor

Paige Leung holds a masters in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) for 2 years. She started in the field as a Behavior Interventionist 8 years ago. Since then she has worked in both a clinical and community based setting as a Behavior Interventionist Trainer, Junior Behavior Consultant and Behavior Consultant. She has worked with families across the Lower Mainland from 18 months to 18 years old. She has a passion for teaching and was responsible for creating and implementing a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) course online as well as mentoring students pursing the field of ABA and their BCBA certification. At CBI she hopes to continue to support families to achieve their goals.

Alan Kane

Behaviour Consultant

Alan is a BCBA who received his Masters Degree in Applied Behaviour Analysis in Ireland, 2018. He has been working in the field of positive behaviour support with individuals of varying needs since 2015. Alan has experience working with children and adults across a variety of settings. He is deeply passionate about an integrated approach to supporting individuals to thrive in improving their quality of life.

Jill Beaumont

Behaviour Consultant

Jill has been a Board Certified Assistant Behaviour Analyst (BCaBA) for the last 2 years. She is currently working towards her Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) certification. She is nearly finished her Master’s degree in Special Education Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University. Jill has worked in the field of special education for the last 8 years and is committed to working closely with individuals and families with support needs. Her range of experience includes Early Intervention, Education Instructor at a Special Needs Autism School and working privately providing in-home services to families of young children with Autism. She has a big orange cat named Milo and enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and family.

Jacqui Munro

Behaviour Consultant

Jacqui is a BCBA who joined CBI in 2022 after relocating to Vancouver from Aotearoa (New Zealand). She achieved her Masters in Psychology, and a diploma in Applied Psychology at the University of Auckland. She has over 5 years experience working with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disabilities, and brain injuries. She has experience supporting people from a range of cultures including indigenous communities. Jacqui is passionate about positive behaviour support and enjoys collaborating with individuals and their families or staff teams to achieve a greater quality of life for the individual and their support network. Outside of work her passions include music, sport, and exploring her new hometown.

Hamta Toosirad

Behaviour Consultant

Taylor Markell

L.E.A.P. Team Lead

Taylor joined CBI in January 2019. She graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University with a BA in Psychology and a Diploma in Music. Before joining us, Taylor worked with individuals with a variety of abilities at a therapeutic horse riding facility. She is passionate about helping others discover their true potential and reach their goals.

Tadiwa Nemutambwe

Self-Determination & Customized Employment Team Lead

Tadiwa comes to CBI Consultants with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Business Studies. She has several years of experience as an Employment and Inclusive Post Secondary Facilitator in Alberta where she worked with families and individuals on the autism spectrum and with developmental disabilities. Tadiwa is passionate about incorporating anti-racism and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive practices in all of her work and personal life and is excited to continue her journey in the helping profession.

Sheila Shokouhian

Implementation and Employment Specialist

Sheila graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Joint Major Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology and Psychology. Her background involves working in schools and individual settings as a Behaviour Interventionist with a variety of individuals on the autism spectrum and developmental disabilities. She has experience in Applied Behaviour Analysis and The Early Start Denver model. In her current role at CBI, she will be working with individuals as an Implementation Consultant and an Employment Specialist. Sheila is looking forward to applying her knowledge and experience with the practices of Positive Behaviour Support to help enhance the lives of others.

Samantha Lutz

Implementation and Employment Specialist
Marisa website profile photo

Marisa Mitchell

Implementation and Employment Specialist

Marisa joined CBI in July 2021. She graduated from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2020 with a BA in Honours Psychology and completed her thesis on the relationship between loneliness, social anxiety and emotion recognition in young adults. Marisa believes that encouraging the personal growth of others in turn encourages her to grow as a person. She is looking forward to working with colleagues and clients who are as passionate about self-determination as she is. Marisa is excited for the opportunity to develop professionally and personally within her role and is very grateful to be a part of the incredible CBI Consultants team.

Aman Dulay

L.E.A.P. Employment Specialist

Aman graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University with her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Aman is extremely passionate in the field of Psychology and wanting to help others. Her background involves working as a support worker and youth support worker for a Shelter in Vancouver as well as volunteering with individuals who have eating disorders. Aman is planning on continuing her education in the field of Psychology and is excited to be an employment specialist in the CBI Team.

Herbie Campos

L.E.A.P. Employment Specialist

Herbie joined CBI in May of 2022. Herbie brings a wealth of experience having worked alongside individuals with varying needs since 2015. He has had the pleasure of supporting and empowering children, adolescents, and adults across a variety of settings. Herbie is passionate about promoting person-centred support, and true inclusivity. He looks forward to working within the CBI community to further progress a better quality of life for the individuals we serve.

Richie Reyes

Pilot Project Support Staff

Richie Reyes joined CBI Consultants in May 2019 and is supporting the project team in the development of material for the Self-Determination and Customized Employment programs and projects. Richie graduated from Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School in 2013 and has been working part-time at White Spot restaurants since then. He is excited to be part of the CBI family and looking forward to providing his input and expertise to CBI’s various projects and initiatives.

Angela Narayan

Administrative/Receptionist

Angela has been working with CBI since 2014. She is responsible for many tasks such as welcoming and greeting visitors, answering or referring phone and email inquiries, and managing incoming/outgoing faxes and paperwork.  She is dependable, patient, well-organized and friendly. She enjoys working at CBI as she is able to socialize while she is multitasking to complete assigned tasks in a timely manner.

Annette Kerr

Receptionist

Annette has been working at CBI for 13 years in Oct. She has been at CBI since 2009. Her duties include faxing, scanning, photocopying, cleaning, shredding, taking phone calls, making phone calls, putting books in data systems, and greeting visitors/guests. She works part time, and works Tuesday and Thursday. She enjoys working at CBI. She is awesome with a sense of humour, kind, friendly. She also works at Down Syndrome Resource Foundation on Fridays.

Goofy

Junior IT Supervisor and Senior Barketing Assistant

“Woof woof, bark. Woof!”

Oliver the Bird's Headshot

Oliver

L.E.A.P. Team Manager and Lead Aeronautics Engineer

[Constant shrieking]

Roxy

Purrfect Office Meownager

“Meowwwww!!!”