Speakers

Christopher Gavigan

Executive Director/CEO

Christopher Gavigan is Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Child Healthy World. For more than a decade, he has dedicated himself to improving the lives of children and families. He holds degrees in environmental science and geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has extensive graduate training in child psychology and education. He has worked as an ecology and sciences teacher in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, and as a children and family specialist. He is the founder of Pinnacle Expeditions, an outdoor leadership program for teenagers.

Since joining Healthy Child Healthy World, Gavigan has launched public awareness campaigns and educational programs that have educated millions about daily choices and actions that impact our children’s health and our planet’s future. He most recently wrote the book, Health Child Healthy World with forewords by Meryl Streep, contributions by Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, Tom Hanks and Kate Hudson.

Dr. Chantelle Mitchell

Healthy Routes Naturopathic Clinic

Dr. Mitchell is a graduate from the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine. Prior to attaining her doctorate at Boucher, she completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at the University of Victoria. In between her studies she participated in a women’s medicinal plant co-operative program in Guatemala – an experience that in part motivated her to become a Naturopathic Physician.

Dr. Mitchell’s focus is family naturopathic medicine, treating all ages and all diseases, with a special interest in children’s and women’s health. Pediatrics is an area that Dr. Mitchell finds very fulfilling given the dramatic rise in childhood ailments such as hyperactivity, digestive disorders, asthma and eczema. She enjoys providing parents with a new perspective on these conditions and the importance of age appropriate food introduction and allergy avoidance in the prevention and treatment of these health conditions. She has completed further training to expand her knowledge and services to women and their babies with the completion of the Douglas College Breast feeding Course for Health Care Providers and the Labour Support Training Course. She also works with many hormone imbalanced conditions: infertility, PMS, PCOS, menopause, endometriosis, hypothyroidism, depression and autoimmune disorders.

Lisa Frack

Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Lisa connects with parents online to share EWG's research and activism opportunities on kid safe products, environmental health and toxics. She holds a BA in history from
Princeton University and a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University. Lisa's two young children inspire her to make choosing safe products a simple task for even the busiest of parents. EWG specializes in providing useful resources (like Skin Deep and the Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce) to consumers while simultaneously pushing for national policy change. Its two organizational goals are 1) to protect the most vulnerable segments of the human population—children, babies, and infants in the womb—from health problems attributed to a wide array of toxic contaminants and 2) to replace federal policies, including government subsidies that damage the environment and natural resources, with policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development.

Margaret Evens R.N., B.Sc.N., C.P.C.C.

Registered nurse, certified professional life coach

Margaret Evans is both a pediatric nurse and certified life coach with a passion for working with families.  She is the proud mother of 4 grown children and Nana to 19 month old Alex.  For 25 years Margaret has been supporting parents as they unravel the mysteries of both their own health and the health of their children.  She offers both the wisdom they need to find the answers and the ongoing support they need to be successful.  She has created a unique and successful program to identify the cause of both physical and behavoiur symptoms in children and a step by step program for successful diet change.  Because she has lived a dairy free and gluten free life herself for many years and has raised 4 children through all the different stages of life on a dairy free, egg free and gluten free diet, she has loads of wisdom to share.  She is currently completing a book on the topic and is committed to spreading the information on the huge impact diet change can have on the health, happiness, and future potential of children.