Deb Crawford
Deborah Crawford is an accomplished education and health system leader with nearly four decades of experience in public education, governance, and organizational leadership. She retired as Director of Education for the St. Clair Catholic District School Board after a career spanning roles as teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent, and director. She has also served as President of the Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers’ Association, on the Executive Board of the Council of Directors of Education, and as a System Implementation Coach with School Mental Health Ontario, supporting school boards in strengthening student mental health and multi-tiered systems of support.
Deborah currently serves as Board Chair of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, bringing extensive cross-sector experience in governance, leadership, mental health, well-being, and building healthy, sustainable systems.
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.