Executive Team

Cathy Morris, B.Ed., BSW, MSW. RSW, CCPA – Cathy has worked with children, youth and families for more than 34 years in many capacities across the Province & Nationally and prior to assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer, Cathy was the Provincial Director and Founding Coordinator for the development of the Child & Youth Advocacy Centre for Newfoundland & Labrador. Prior to joining Key Assets NL in 2019, she was a Program and Policy Consultant for In-Care with the Provincial Department of Children Seniors and Social Development. It was in this position that Cathy had the pleasure of initially working collaboratively with KANL to develop, pilot, evaluate and regulate some of the program that continues to be an important KANL services available to children, youth and families in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Cathy brings a multitude of expertise and experience as an administrator and leader, particularly in supporting families in child protection and in-care at the regional, provincial, and national level. Cathy is highly skilled and knowledgeable in trauma response, assessment, investigations, policy and program development, child protection programming, legislation and regulatory requirement in the provision of services to vulnerable children, youth and families. She was instrumental in developing the first Child, Youth and Family Regulations for family-based and residential care in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2019.

Cathy cares deeply about the well-being of children, youth, and families. She is a provincial, national, and global trauma responder and a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association in Canada. Cathy currently volunteers with several agencies and boards both at the provincial and national level and is a member of the national Sexual Assault Investigations Review Committee with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Sherry joins Key Assets NL from the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development where she spend over 30 years at the regional and provincial level providing services to children, youth and families in several capacities including: Child Protection, Youth Corrections, Youth Services, Kinship Services, In Care and Residential Services. She is a graduate from Memorial University earning degrees in Education and Social Work, and has an affiliation with the University of Manitoba and Memorial as a field instructor.

Sherry is a trained facilitator and has provided both staff and external stakeholder training in many areas of best practice including risk management, and collaborative interviewing. In 2011 Sherry moved into the area of Information Management Services and in 2014 she joined the team that designed, developed and implemented the Departments newest electronic case management system and subsequently took on the role of Manager of Information Services holding the responsibility for the disclosure of departmental records in accordance with legislative requirements.

Sherry has held the position of Subject Matter Expert with the Quality Management division responsible for design of program reports, and ensuring legislative and policy requirements could be measured through reports, as well as completing disclosure requests.

Jaime has worked with children, youth and families for over 17 years and holds a post graduate study in Child and Youth Care through the University of Strathclyde, she has previously worked in mental health and addictions within the health care stream, group care and treatment settings. Jaime is the President of the Child and Youth Care Association for Newfoundland and Labrador and the recipient of the 2017 National Child and Youth Care Worker Award.

Jaime and her husband are adoptive parents through Key Assets and continue to provide family-based care to children in their home. Through this program Jaime and her husband have spoken at multiple provincial, national and international conferences on family-based care and the dynamics within families.

Nicholas Whelan is a Director of Alternate Care Services with Key Assets NL. With a combined total of 15 years of frontline and leadership experience working with children, youth and families, Nicholas uses his knowledge and expertise in the field to develop policies and to design and implement therapeutic programs and services for vulnerable populations. His educational background has helped immensely in fulfilling his current role. Having completed a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a focus on policing/criminology, he takes a multidisciplinary approach to issues pertaining to child and youth care. Throughout the years, Nicholas has completed specialized training in crisis intervention, trauma-informed practice as well as the implementation of harm reduction-based programming. In his leisure time, Nicholas is an avid musician and outdoor enthusiast. He also enjoys time with his family and friends.

Nichole graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador with a Bachelor of Education in 2010 and completed her Bachelor in Special Education in 2014. She spent 5 years teaching within the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District, one of which was in rural Newfoundland. Grades taught ranged from k-12, various subjects. Nichole spent most of her time working with the middle school grades (7-9) as an Instructional Resource Teacher.

Nichole started her journey with Key Assets as a family-based carer, which evolved into teaching part-time. As time moved on Nichole made a switch to full time teaching duties, which eventually moved to Head Teacher duties. Nichole is committed to providing educational support to the children and youth within our community, while also ensuring that they experience a positive educational experience. Nichole also strives to provide educational support and advice to the support teams wrapped around the children, youth, and their families. In addition to providing educational support and opportunities for young people Nichole also helps oversee other programs at the Learning Centre, which include Youth on Track, Visual Arts, and Learn to Play.

Jill has worked with children, youth and families for over 20 years and is passionate about prevention and early intervention approaches when working with families. She has a special interest in change management, child and youth holistic health and employee wellness. Her experience includes program development and expansion, strategic planning, leadership development, conflict resolution, trauma informed practice and working from a harm reduction lens. Jill is a certified trainer in Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burnout as well as Critical Incident Debriefing. She is a registered Social Worker with the Newfoundland and Labrador College of Social Workers, is trained in Women’s Leadership as well as Child and Youth Care. Jill enjoys learning, working collaboratively with teams and is always up for a new challenge.

Amy joins Key Assets NL from The Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association where she spent 4 years as Administrative and Financial Assistant. Amy has over 15 years of administration experience, an extensive background in finance and core knowledge of the non-profit sector which makes her a great addition to the Key Assets team. Amy skillfully manages executive administration duties and supports the Chief Executive Officer of Key Assets Canada to ensure the smooth operation of organization fundamentals with enthusiasm, expertise, and dedication. Amy thrives on being exceptionally structured while delivering strong performance in a dynamic and exciting environment.