OUR STAFF

Ellen Campbell, CEO and Founder

A survivor of childhood sexual abuse with a long road to healing, CCAA CEO and Founder, Ellen Campbell, translated her own recovery into hope for others. During her tenure as Executive Director for Starlight Children’s Foundation, where she served for twelve years, she founded the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness (CCAA) and in 1993 held the first National Conference for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse. That was to be the first of what would be three national conferences for adult survivors and over the following decade CCAA also began designing programs for children.
As CEO and Founder for the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness, the name Ellen Campbell has become synonymous with abuse prevention and recovery in Canada. In recognition of her work and the influence achieved by CCAA, in December 2006, the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada appointed Ms. Campbell to The Minister’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Appointments for Ontario, a position that she continued to hold until 2010. In addition to many awards and acknowledgements Ellen received the Order of Ontario in 2014 for her work with survivors of abuse.

Helena Kameka, President

As a survivor and having volunteered in Ontario correctional facilities for 13+ years, Helena found it very rewarding to give hope to other survivors on a much larger scale when she joined the ranks at Abuse Hurts in 2008. Due to her experience in the for-profit sector, she was the Director of Marketing & Communications at Abuse Hurts before being appointed Vice President in the Fall of 2013 and then became President of the charity in April of 2015.
Helena is also the Editor in Chief of Abuse Hurts eZine – an online publication released once every quarter and offering insightful and informative articles, bringing education and awareness surrounding the cost and impact of abuse to survivors, their families and caregivers, and the general public.

Anne-Marie Botha
- Bookkeeper

Anne-Marie immigrated from South Africa where she worked in the legal and financial sectors ending up with her position in the office of the Director-General of Finance of S.A. Here in Canada, she is a freelance bookkeeper and has been with Abuse Hurts since 2008. She is consistently praised for her attention to detail, thoroughness and for going above and beyond the call of duty. The staff at Abuse Hurts are grateful that she is keeping us all anchored, with her efficiency and timeliness.

Gail Madere
- Coordinator

Being a survivor herself, Gail has had a deep desire to help others in everything she has been involved in. Her first career was as a Lab Technician, which led her into management and training others in the in this field.  As an enthusiastic entrepreneur with strong leaderships skills, she opened and operated a ladies clothing store along with her childhood friend. Their vision was to help women look and feel confident, dressing them for success.  A few years later they closed the store during a recession and her experience and knowledge of sales, customer service, marketing, and administration opened the door to the advertising and publishing world, where she eventually launched a New Homes magazine and later, she was instrumental in the launch Metroland’s first New Home section in York Region.

Throughout her endeavors she was able to help others, as well as having the opportunity to hold some events to raise money to help charities. Gail is thrilled to be a part Abuse Hurts as their Program Coordinator, where the main goal is delivering hope to survivors of abuse and giving back to the Community.

Christina Sibley
- Assistant

Christina came to us from Hamilton Ontario. She has a large passion for animals and ran her own pet business for several years before joining our team. She also has worked in the office at Eagle Worldwide Ministries and assisted in helping at the Kingsway Outreach Center. She struggled herself with childhood abuse and an unsteady home due to her mother having some mental illnesses. This has led her to take an interest in mental health as a whole and show understanding and compassion to everyone around her. Christina loves all people and wants to do whatever she can to help make a difference and show people how important they are!