Laurel has a BA in Professional Communications from Royal Roads University and 5+ years experience in project coordination and communications. She became involved with the Social Gathering Place in the spring of 2020 when it was a pilot project of the PSR Collaborative. During COVID, she led the development and delivery of its virtual series “Imagine After Hours” and then pivoted to in-person through leading the community-building, delivery and promotions of its recurring drop-in event series at the Victoria Event Centre and EMP Theatre. She became the Chair of the newly formed Social Gathering Place Society in June 2023.

In 2014 Ben joined a group of parents (Moms Like Us) advocating for establishing a clubhouse accredited by Clubhouse International. This group went on to establish Connections Place while Ben founded Family Voices for Mental Wellness, a group of parents of loved ones with mental health challenges. Family Voices advocated for creating a drop-in social gathering place for people in mental health recovery. Ben co-chaired the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Collaborative (PSR Collaborative) from 2015 to 2021. After the Collaborative folded in 2024, Ben began serving as a board member of the newly established Greater Victoria Social Gathering Place Society.

Bill is a retired Chartered Professional Accountant whose work experience includes 40 years working in public accounting with small-to-medium organizations both for-profit and non-profit. Bill has a science degree in psychology and a business administration degree, both from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is interested in organizations of family and friends supporting mental health recovery and overall techniques and life styles that help maintain good mental and well-being.

As a dedicated peer leader and Executive Director of the Social Gathering Place Society, Natalie is focused on enhancing social opportunities for mental health recovery, bringing both professional insight and personal experience to her role. Having navigated the challenges of mental illness firsthand, Nat deeply understands the transformative power of community and shared experiences in the recovery journey. Having previously worked as the Peer Support Team Lead for the Transitional Discharge Model at Royal Jubilee Hospital, Natalie stays true to leadership values guided by empathy, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of empowering others on their paths to mental health and well-being.

Tracy was a client of Mental Health Recovery Partners for many years. She then began volunteering there and really started to grow and find her confidence again after many years of being unwell. Today, she works there and wears many hats as a peer supporter, a group co-facillitator, co-facilitator of their Wellness Recovery Action Plan, and manager of the Drop-In Peer Support program. Tracy is a Director at the Social Gathering Place because she likes to support another agency that so many people in the community speak highly of as well as to broaden her own scope of work that she’s doing currently, to learn more and to meet more people in the community.