Together We Give Hope

Our Staff

Click on Staff Names for Bios


Administration – all staff can be reached at 604-872-1811


Stacy Ashton
, MA – Executive Director

Jeffrey Preiss, MATS, MA – Director, Development & Communications

Neil Stajkowski – Director, Finance & Administration

Tamara Guyon – Manager, Administration


Community Learning & Engagement – all staff can be reached at 604-872-1811

Mark Sheehan, MSc – Interim Director, Community Learning & Engagement


Distress Services – all staff can be reached at 604-872-1811


Liz Robbins
, MS, RCC – Director, Distress Services, Crisis Response & Operations

Akhila Blaise, MA – Director, Distress Services, Training & Quality Assurance

Alain Bedard-Gibson – Manager, Distress Services Training Development and Quality Assurance

Ryley Unrau – Manager, Distress Services Crisis Response & Operations

Thaddee Bergler – Manager of Distress Services Training and Quality Assurance

Carly Southern – Manager, Distress Services Volunteers

Thomas Maloney – Manager, Distress Services Transition


Staff Biographies

Stacy Ashton, MA – Executive Director

Stacy started her career in the non-profit sector as a volunteer on the Crisis Lines, prior to completing her Masters in Counselling and working in the field as a Suicide Intervention Counsellor. She spent over a decade focused on non-profit management and volunteer engagement as the Executive Director of Community Volunteer Connections, and as the Provincial Coordinator of Volunteer Resources with the Alzheimer Society of B.C. She is thrilled to be bringing her experience and skills back to the place she started. In her spare time, Stacy serves on the New Westminster Public Library Board, makes movies, and hangs out with her husband and cats.

Tamara Guyon – Manager, Administration

Having experienced a suicide within her personal life, Tamara wanted to work somewhere that made a difference to those who are in distress and need someone to listen to them. Tamara joined the Crisis Centre in 1998 and currently supports all staff to help achieve the organization’s mission. She is happy to help you in any way she can, and always with a smile!

Jeffrey Preiss, MATS, MA – Director, Development & Communications

Jeffrey (he/him) has a passion for human wellbeing and flourishing combined with an extensive professional background working in the intersections of communications and community engagement. He can often be found in the front row of his favourite group fitness class at the Robert Lee YMCA, and he is an avid reader on topics such as deconstruction, poststructuralism, queer theory, critical race theory, and theology.  Jeffrey holds a BA in history, an MA in theology, and an MA in cultural studies. He also holds a number of professional certificates in public relations, leadership and facilitation, conflict resolution, fundraising,  public participation/consultation, and public policy development. Jeffrey is an ordained pastor in the Anglican Church of Canada and serves at Christ Church Cathedral.

Mark Sheehan, MSc – Interim Director, Community Learning & Engagement

Mark has a passion for promoting positive mental health practices and for helping to build capacity, suicide awareness, and safety within communities. He hopes that one day everyone will have access to the support that they need, when they need it.

With a Masters in Online Marketing, Mark spent nearly 8 years working in various tech companies before making the switch to the Crisis Centre. He hopes to use his skills and experience from the for-profit world to help advance the mission of the Centre. He began his time at the Centre as a volunteer Crisis Service Responder and then transitioned to a Distress Services Room Supervisor and Manager of Community Learning and Engagement. Mark takes his learnings from front line work to help plan what training is needed within the community. Mark is also a certified safeTALK instructor and a lifelong mindfulness advocate.

Liz Robbins, MS, RCC – Director, Distress Services, Crisis Response & Operations

Liz has her Masters in Clinical Counselling from the University of Southern Maine. She was a Licensed Clinical Professional Counsellor (LCPC) in the State of Maine before she and her family jumped the border (legally) in 2006 and headed to Vancouver. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over twenty-six years of crisis intervention and suicide prevention experience with a focus on assessment of mental health emergencies and suicide as well as clinical supervision. Liz believes that any of us can encounter crises in our lives that can make it difficult to function and live life fully. She believes the services the Crisis Centre provides are essential, ensure that none of us ever feels alone, and that there are always options for making our lives better. She is the former President for the Crisis Line Association of BC (CLABC) and has been a site examiner for the American Association of Suicidology.

Akhila Blaise, MA – Director, Distress Services, Training & Quality Assurance

Akhila is passionate about building connected communities.  She has her Masters in Psychology and Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling.  She has over 20 years of experience working in the mental health and suicide prevention areas in different capacities.  One of her specializations is curriculum development including designing and delivery of training programs within the framework of inquiry-based approach.  Akhila brings in her knowledge and understanding of diversity, cultural differences and post-colonial issues surrounding the phenomena of suicide to the work at the Centre. She is also Vice President of Crisis Line Association of BC Executive Board and an American Association of Suicidology Site Examiner.