Elevating Women To New Heights
Our small, but mighty, team...
Stephanie Atwood
Founder and Executive Director
Bio: Stephanie (she/her) is the Founder & Executive Director of ElevateHER and a dog mom to two Chihuahua's, Bender & Fry. Stephanie was born and raised in Shelburne, NS and has had the privilege of living in many rural towns throughout Nova Scotia & New Brunswick, while experiencing employment and volunteer roles in a variety of roles in the Mental Heath & Correctional Services fields.
Stephanie initially studied Counselling, Human Services & Correctional Services (NSCC) before receiving a numerous number of diplomas and certificates with ivy league universities such as Stanford, Harvard and University of Michigan all in the Mental Health field. Stephanie also went on to study logotherapy and became a certified life coach within the last 2 years. Stephanie is consistently upgrading her education and values continuous learning.
Stephanie has been featured in numerous business magazines and newspaper articles for her work. Most recently, Stephanie was featured as one of the top 30 Female Entrepreneurs globally for Disruptors Magazine, and as the cover story of Success Pitchers Magazine for top 10 female entrepreneurs.
When Stephanie isn't working, you can find her on her ATV, at the beach with her dogs, enjoying new foods or travelling. Stephanie is a miniatures enthusiast and enjoys building doll houses during the winter.
Mary-Sarah
Program Coordinator
I am a Program Coordinator at the Truro Program Centre located at 69 Brunswick st. I have been here since the Fall of 2021. I am also a dog mom to my Chocolate Lab, Ruger and soon to be human mom, too! Being from Rural Nova Scotia, I have a passion for reaching rural communities, creating connections, and building opportunities for folks in these areas to participate in meaningful activities. My goal is to empower others to take control over their lives AND their health-both mental and physical.
With a degree in Health Promotion, my role here is an interesting one and changes on a day to day basis- I do a little bit of everything! My main role is facilitating the Girl Code Program on Monday and Wednesday evenings. This is a closed space empowerment program for female identifying youth and their teen mentors!
Outside of Girl Code I do wellness programming specifically tailored to how we can build routine, empower ourselves, practice self-care, find healthy ways to cope with mental health, etc. These topics are covered in monthly programming as well as one on one sessions. I hope to see many new faces around the office partaking in programming!
Shania Jacklyn
Program and Outreach (Shelburne Area)
Bio: My name is Shania Jacklyn, my pronouns are she/her, and I am 26 years old living in Shelburne, NS. I am a mother to a beautiful 18-month-old baby girl and enjoy spending my summers in nature with close friends and family. I have 10 years experience working directly with people and 2 years experience in a coordination role. I am currently studying with the Behavioural Institute of Psychology, and will soon be finished my first diploma, which is a Diploma in Child Psychology. I am so grateful to be apart of the ElevateHER team, and use my lived experience to help empower rural female-identifying parents/caregivers who are at risk of or have experienced gender based violence. I am excited for a new field of work and the opportunity that ElevateHER will provide to so many along the South Shore.
Karin Scott
Programming Assistant (Wolfville)
Bio: Hi there everyone, my name is Karin and I am the programing assistant at ElevateHER. I am an ambitious 23-year-old woman from Shelburne N.S. I have been studying Psychology at Acadia University for the past 5 years and will graduate with my undergraduate degree in Science Psychology in May of 2023! After this, I plan on taking a career in education in order to become a guidance councillor and substitute teacher at an elementary school in the valley.
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to work with others in order to help them through their struggles and educate others to help them grow. Working at a daycare for the past 4 summers has taught me that I want to help and educate children, which is an area that I excel and take great pride in.
Some of my favourite things to do are spending time outside, working on art projects (I am currently sketching a tattoo for my younger brother), going on adventures with friends, and going thrifting with my Mom.
I really enjoy being the Programming Assistant at ElevateHER. This is a very exciting opportunity for me, and one that I am very grateful to have. I am thrilled to be part of the team!
Marlee Johnston
Hello! My name is Marlee Johnston, I am a 22 year old woman from Brookfield, N.S. In May, I graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and I have recently been accepted to begin my Masters of Art (MA) in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville university in September! I am eager to begin my position with ElevateHER and broaden my knowledge in order to uplift female identifying individuals—as well as learn a thing or two about myself.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with friends and family, exploring new locations, hanging at the lake, or going to the gym! One thing I have been particularly focused on lately however, is my new puppy Frannie! She is a four month old golden retriever and has been keeping me super busy!
If there was anything I knew growing up, it was the power and sense of security that a community holds. Therefore, one thing I am looking forward to with ElevateHER is growing my skills and building more supportive ties within our community!
Darcie Nickerson
Bio: Darcie is a loveable weirdo living with her partner and her sweet fur-babies, Bean Cat and the very naughty Dan Cat. As a member of the LGBTQ community, she often struggles with defining how she identifies as her gender and sexual identity is always evolving. Currently, Darcie uses She/Her pronouns exclusively and uses the term “Queer” as her adjective.
She grew up in rural Nova Scotia, mainly Yarmouth and Shelburne Counties, but also attending High School in Lunenburg County. With some traveling, hitchhiking and short stays in between, she has called Halifax home for most of her adult life before moving to Colchester County.
As a child, Darcie has always had a knack for caring for others. Growing up, she would be a beacon for her peers who always came to her for help. As an adult the trend would continue, and she would often find herself being stopped by random people on the street looking for an empathetic ear.
Darcie has always dreamed of a career in helping others. After High School she attended MSVU in Halifax intending to study psychology and child and youth studies before realizing that modern academia wasn’t for her. Still committed to growth and learning, she spent her 20’s enriching her lived experiences with Spirituality and Activism.
She is a strong advocate for survivors of sexual trauma, mental illness, adverse childhood experiences, LGBTQ issues, body autonomy and acceptance, social justice, and homelessness. She is also learning about and advocating for the different ways of learning and processing information, having had a difficult experience in university but finding herself thriving in the more holistic approach at NSCC.
In 2021, Darcie was a successful “pandemic graduate” of the NSCC Social Services Program here in Truro!
She is a volunteer Trauma Informed Abortion Support Doula and does peer and volunteer suicide intervention. Currently Darcie works casually with CRSS as a support worker in a group home for with adults living with disabilities.
Darcie lives with mental illness, ADD and fibromyalgia and is unapologetically open about her experiences. Her career goals are to facilitate and empower “community care” as an alternative to our reliance on the mental health care system, which she believes is strongly lacking in accessibility and effective resources. She strongly believes that when community can take care of one another, we remove “othering” and the harmful stigmas and injustice that follows. And then can finally begin to heal at the roots.
Darcie loves eating her partner’s food, visiting with her young siblings, and going on adventures and long car rides. She enjoys the idea of gardening, but her cats tend to eat her plants and the ones they don’t inexplicably pass away. She enjoys thunderstorms, making up silly songs on the spot, wiggling, and creative writing.