Staff

Helena Bergen
Executive Director
Helena comes to CBWOQ with a passion to equip and empower women to fulfill their God-ordained callings, and to see the development of vibrant and dynamic communities of women across Ontario and Quebec who are marked by deep and transformational knowing of God’s love and purpose for them, love for each other and for their communities. She is in her second year at Tyndale Seminary in the MDiv Global Mission and Intercultural Studies program.
EMAIL: cbwoqexec@baptist.ca

Tracey Bagley
Director of Leadership & Discipleship
An interim pastor with South Cayuga Baptist Church and a certified spiritual director, Tracey has ministered within the Canadian Baptist family for years. She gives leadership to our discipleship/spiritual formation programming while developing a supporting network for women who lead.
EMAIL: tbagley@baptist.ca PHONE: (416) 620-2954 CBWOQ office

Renée James
Communications Director; Editor – live magazine
Renee is the artist and scientist behind the words, images and design of Baptist Women communications. An award-winning author and editor, she’s a former VP, communications/promotions for Baptist Women of North America.
EMAIL: cbwoqcomm@baptist.ca OR live@baptist.ca (subscription changes, inquires only)

Administration + Event Coordination
To contact our office, please email or phone.
EMAIL: bwoq@baptist.ca PHONE: (416) 620-2954 CBWOQ office

Abby Lambshead
Administration + Event Coordination
currently on maternity leave
A proud resident of Hamilton, Ontario, Abby is actively involved in her church and community in many roles. Mother to an almost two-year old, her many opportunities for cross-cultural engagement have given her passion for mission, both local and global.
EMAIL: bwoq@baptist.ca PHONE: (416) 620-2954 CBWOQ office

Laura Matthews
Program Coordinator | founding leader – Uptick Baptist Women
currently on maternity leave
Laura brings a passion for connecting, developing and loving people of all ages as she seeks to mobilize communities for the kingdom, both locally and globally.

Bookkeeping
CBWOQ has transitioned to using an agency to handle all our bookkeeping needs and we no longer have a treasurer on staff. The agency is Church Bookkeeping, a firm based in Waterloo, Ontario.
If you have questions or queries about any financial matters, please call or email our office directly. Our administrative assistant, Abby Lambshead, will respond to your concerns. Phone 416-620-2954 or email bwoq@baptist.ca.
EMAIL: bwoq@baptist.ca
Board

Darlene Maxey – president
Windsor
Dr. Darlene Kirsten Maxey has a general counselling practice in Windsor and Leamington, Ontario. She has taught counselling courses at Wayne State University and University of Detroit Mercy, worked as school counsellor, and worked with people with eating disorders. She has created and presented workshops and programs in Canada and the United States. She specializes in parenting, eating disorders and counselling children.
Most of all, Darlene is a hometown girl raised in Windsor. She lives on the street named after her grandfather and beside her mother, Charlotte Watkins, who lives in the family homestead where Charlotte was born. Darlene’s roots are in the Amherstburg Regular Missionary Baptist Association.

Jennifer Shewan – past president
Port Colborne
Jennifer was born in Kenya, East Africa, to Canadian Baptist missionary parents who then came home to Port Colborne, where she has since resided. Jennifer’s international mission experiences have been many: Kenya, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba and Mexico, with return trips to both Cuba and Kenya.
She has an undergraduate degree in social science from Brock University and has worked full time since 2007 with male young offenders in an open detention and custody facility. Jennifer is an active member at First Baptist Church Welland, where she leads the Baptist Women’s group and gave support to the Young Girls Old Souls Project.

Sandra Mok
Mississauga
A member of Mississauga Chinese Baptist Church, Sandra holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance from McGill University and has worked for the Ontario Public Service since 2005. She lives in Mississauga with her husband and two teenage children.

Noreen McMaster
Noreen is married with two children. She chairs the deacons board at Omemee Baptist Church, and is CBWOQ’s women’s ministry link for Trent-Valley Association.

Sonia Pehlivanian
Montreal

Jackeline Riedstra
Toronto
Jackeline is from Brazil and arrived in Toronto in 2018. With a bachelor of Business Administration degree, and a strong passion and interest for social services and nonprofit work, she works full-time for a nonprofit organization in Toronto and serves remotely as marketing and communications coordinator for AFASE, a Christian non-governmental organization in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is a member of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.

Hilary Vanderwater
St. Catharines
Hilary is a mother, teacher and a cook for the Out of the Cold program. She is especially interested in spiritual formation. She lives in St. Catharines.

Elouise Hedd-Williams
Toronto
Elouise describes herself as a life-long Baptist who’s actively involved in church and ministry. Some of Elouise’s various roles (past and present) include chorister, children’s choir director, missions chair and elder. She currently attends Heron Park Baptist Church, Toronto.
Elouise holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Siena College, New York State. Since 2011, she’s worked as a dealer support rep with GM Financial, Canada. She and husband Zohderock are parents to Zoe-Noelle and Tony-Blue.

Kathleen Wilson
Toronto
Kathleen is a member of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Toronto, and enjoys being involved with many aspects of church life including (but not limited to) serving as a deacon and singing in the Minster Singers & Senior choir as the soprano section lead. By day, Kathleen works in funeral services at the Glendale Funeral Home & Cemetery in Etobicoke.
Kathleen’s most recent mission trip was to Lebanon where she led kids camps and taught self-defense to women and children in a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. She also teaches free self-defense classes on a monthly basis here in Toronto. She feels called by God to work with families in their time of need.