Dr. Gail Markin
Dr. Gail Markin is an educator, counsellor, author, and leader in workplace well-being, social and emotional learning, and mental health in education. She serves as Director of Leadership and Workplace Well-Being at the Werklund Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence Canada Ltd., where she supports school and system leaders in creating healthy, relationally strong, and psychologically safe workplaces.
Dr. Markin is the author of Beyond Self-Care: Leading a Systemic Approach to Well-Being for Educators, which challenges schools to move beyond individual approaches to wellness and consider the organizational conditions that shape educator well-being. Her work focuses on practical, evidence-informed approaches to strengthening psychological safety, belonging, trust, relationships, and sustainable leadership.
Drawing on extensive experience in education and counselling, Dr. Markin works alongside leaders and organizations to build cultures where educators feel valued, supported, connected, and able to thrive.
First Day Oct 28
Pre-Conference Wellbeing & Flourishing Symposium
1:00–2:00 PM | Keynote: The State of Youth Mental Health in Canada: Navigating an AI-Enabled World (Speaker: Michael Cooper, Mental Health Research Canada)
- Michael will explore the current state of youth mental health and well-being in Canada, sharing new research on how AI is impacting youth well-being.
2:00–2:10 PM | Break
2:10–3:00 PM | System-Wide Universal Mental Health in the Age of AI: Building Human Skills Through SEL (Speakers: Former Superintendent Deb Crawford & Christine Preece)
- Designed for school and system leaders, this session explores how universal mental health promotion through Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) can strengthen the human skills students need to thrive. Participants will discuss how a system-wide approach fosters belonging, empathy, resilience, and critical thinking.
3:00–3:10 PM | Break
3:10–4:00 PM | Leading Healthy Systems: Psychological Safety, Well-Being, and Belonging (Speaker: Dr. Gail Markin, Workplce Wellbeing Speciaist and Authout of Beyond Self-Care)
- Gail will shift the focus to the adults and systems supporting young people. She will explore how leaders can intentionally create safe, healthy workplaces where staff feel valued and connected, offering practical leadership practices to strengthen trust and relationally healthy school systems.