Sue O’Neill joined the AWFC Board in April of 2024. Sue began her career working in early childhood education and completed a bachelor’s degree in child development at Seneca College. During her undergraduate degree, Sue worked as a research assistant on a project with therapy canines in a children’s hospital setting, as well as a research assistant on a project in Alberta looking at the implementation of the Triple P Parenting Program for Early Childhood Educators. Sue’s undergraduate thesis focused on the impact of monitoring and supervision on children’s behaviour.

After graduating with her undergraduate degree, Sue worked as a child and youth counsellor at a gender-based violence shelter and transitioned into management roles in both the emergency shelter program and the community services program. As a survivor of gender-based violence, Sue was proud to support and develop the off-site animal safekeeping program at that organization.

Sue continued her academic journey by pursuing MEd at Western University, where her capstone project focused on the entanglement of violence towards humans, animals, and the environment in early childhood classrooms. During this time, Sue was also working as the Program Coordinator and later the manager for the ACT Project at Humane Canada. The ACT Project focused on addressing systemic barriers facing survivors of gender-based violence and their animals. Sue also worked as the manager of the Promising Practices Project, focused on utilizing humane education to support men and boys in becoming allies to end gender-based violence. 

Sue completed her MA (Women and Gender Studies) at Saint Mary’s University and focused her thesis on gender-based violence and farmed animals. Sue was the recipient of the 2024 Canada Graduate Master’s Scholarship, issued by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Currently, Sue is a PhD student and Research Assistant at the University of New Brunswick in the Department of Sociology.

Sue lives on the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq Nation that is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship with her travelling rescue cat Mew, who has lived in Manitoba, Ontario, British Columbia, and now Nova Scotia.