Our Team

The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre is made up a group of dedicated, passionate, caring and profession individuals including:

Staff

We have 36 professionals on staff including counsellors, victim service workers, prevention educators, development and administrative staff. Our Leadership Team consists of our Executive Director, Direct Client Services Manager, Prevention Co-Directors, Research Manager, Accounting Manager, and Resource Development Manager.

Volunteers

We have a range of committed and fabulous volunteers ranging from Sexual Assault Response Team members, Office and Event Volunteers. Find out more about how you can get involved.

Board of Directors

Ram Aheer – Co-Chair

Ram was born on the land of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, currently known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. They are an uninvited guest on this land, just as their father, great uncle, and great grandfather were. Ram calls this land their home, and they genuinely enjoy playing, working, and living on this land. As a person of colour, it is with great sadness they have experienced racism on this beloved colonized land. 

Ram is a firm believer in the tools and supports the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC) provides those who have been victims of and are recovering from sexual violence. Over the years, they have contributed to meaningful fundraising efforts for VSAC. In one action, they were able to locate 50% of the funding for windows in the counselling offices and continues to seek out funding in meaningful ways. 

Ram is in a position where they have the desire, energy, and passion required to give to the community in a meaningful way. Ram has been described as a caring and altruistic person; and is happiest when giving back and caring for others.

Ram desires to use their Master’s Degree in Leadership from Royal Roads University and the skills they have developed during their career as a leader, organizer, strategic planner, analytical thinker, and effective communicator as a Director VSAC. 

Anna Bruce – Co-Chair

Originally from the unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh (colonially known as Prince George), Anna has been a visitor on the land of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples for over 10 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Victoria and a Masters in Global Affairs from the University of Prince Edward Island where she concentrated her studies in gender equality and wrote a thesis on the use of Syndemic theory and the theory of intersectionality to advance the understanding of the increase in rates of gender-based violence resulting from climate change-related natural disasters.

Anna deeply and unequivocally believes that everyone has the right to live a life free from violence and free from the threat of violence. During her three years of experience as a member of VSAC’s sexual assault response team (SART), she experienced first-hand the imperative need for this service to exist in the community and remains dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual violence. Previously, Anna worked at the University of Victoria in sexualized violence prevention, response, and education and at a global non-profit in women’s empowerment program management, communications and fundraising in Canada, the United States, and India. Anna currently works for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Team as a junior policy analyst.

Constantly inspired and fueled by others, at every chance possible, Anna loves spending time with her friends and family and being outside and on the move, hiking and camping in the mountains, swimming, surfing, and biking. You can also find her reading feminist literature or an autobiography and attempting to re-learn the piano.

Susie Bowles – Treasurer

Susie Bowles is a BC Certified teacher of settler ancestry living as an uninvited guest on lək̓ʷəŋən territory, colonially known as Victoria. She has spent the last decade of her career supporting health practitioners and nonprofit organizations to build and create innovative programs, transforming the way Canada treats mental health. Having had the privilege to work alongside health care teams at the forefront of groundbreaking trajectories in health and healing, Susie endeavours to continue this work with VSAC. 

Susie is also a fat activist, passionate about empowering people in larger bodies to live fully embodied, juicy, pleasure filled lives. She has worked with the School of Consent, including running technology for Wheel of Consent online courses, since 2020. She also works with an international community running online and in person erotic healing temples. 

Outside of work, Susie spends hours reading on Victoria’s beautiful beaches and enjoys being the crazy cat lady of her street. When her cat, George, isn’t stealing the limelight on zoom, he’s begging to go on leashed walks to climb trees and get treats from his favourite neighbours.

Susie is excited and honoured to bring everything she’s learned on her personal journey and in her professional career to contribute to VSAC’s important mission.

Eva Arriaga – Director

Eva (she/her) is a Toronto-native author, certified death doula, and human resources professional. No stranger to a fast-moving world, she managed some of Toronto’s most renowned restaurants and nightclubs before moving to Victoria in 2021 and becoming the CXO for Rogers Society. She has always sought positions and places that allowed her to make an impact within the community and is fueled by being able to create spaces for people to be their most authentic selves, in any form. Eva spent several years be-tween Toronto and New York, cultivating events and multi-disciplinary art shows to benefit marginalized artists, as well as CAMH (The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). Making art, and artists more accessible, while providing resources and outlets to the community, is a priority in the work she does. Having released her first book in the last year, Eva’s next artistic venture is focused around providing publishing and printing resources to other artists, through PWR Publishing. Being able to serve on the VSAC Board would allow her to support a cause close to her heart, using her diverse skill set and life experience. Eva is honoured to be able to aid in creating a safe space for others to find healing and hope within.

Sara Beam – Director

Sara was born and raised on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit River and settled here as a guest on the lands of the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples in 2001. She is honoured to serve a grassroots community organization that does such vital work. Sara is the mother of two amazing young adults, a sexual assault survivor, and a professor of History at the University of Victoria. At UVic, she has served on the university Senate, chaired a number of administrative committees, and participated in strategic planning processes. She is deeply committed to inclusive decision-making and finding solutions that address the needs of all stakeholders. She teaches a popular History of Human Rights course at UVic that explores how women and other marginalized groups have had to fight for their rights in a global context shaped by centuries of colonialism. In her free time, Sara enjoys yoga, hiking, swimming and the company of good friends and family.

Felix Gilliland – Director

Felix Gilliland is a white, trans settler. They were raised in the territories of the Snuneymuxw nation, and spent about a decade on the territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, before moving home to the island and the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples of the Esquimalt and Songhees nations. Felix has a background in frontline social services, working in addictions and housing services in Vancouver’s downtown east side, as well as youth services and sex worker supports. They often say that working overnights in the DTES taught them everything they know about systems of violence, and they are grateful to have a foundation in frontline services. Felix first found feminism as a crisis line volunteer in their early 20s, and was hooked. They believe deeply that feminism can and should re-align with trans people and sex workers, and they have worked across the feminist antiviolence sector nationally to help address harms and co-create a queer understanding of sexual violence. In their spare time, Felix is a crafter and a cat dad, and is often spotted in Cook Street Village asking to pet strangers’ dogs.

Roshni Narain – Director

Roshni is privileged to lived on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples. She holds the position of Director of Hu-man Rights at UBC. She has spent over two decades working in the anti-violence field, and in various positions, including direct sup-port to survivors, developing curriculum and training, and developing feminist-framed services, policies, and programs that emphasize an intersectional understanding of the differing impact on survivors. Much of her career has been in non-profit organizations, and comes to VSAC with a strong understanding of how non-profits work and the challenges they face. She is commit-ted to and excited to contribute to furthering the mission and values of VSAC.

Alaya Simpson – Director

Before moving to the traditional and unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples, Alaya (she/her) grew up on the Sunshine Coast, on the unceded lands of the shíshálh peoples, where she gained a love of the environment and community. She be-came interested in feminism through the strong women in her family, and began reading about it as a teenager. This drew her to study gender studies, which gave her a deeper and more broad understanding of intersectional feminism. As a recent graduate from the education program, she is very passionate about dismantling systems of oppression that allow for sexualized violence. She teaches English, and hopes to integrate more inclusive gender and sexuality education. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, yoga, and playing with her little black cat, Bagheera.