Board of Directors

The Durham Rape Crisis Centre’s Board of Directors is composed of a group of dedicated professionals that span a diverse array of professional backgrounds and personal life experiences relating to the needs of the organization and its clients.

The DRCC’s current Board of Directors includes the following individuals:

Chair — Adryan Bergstrom-Borins (she/her)

Adryan is a white settler of mixed Euro-Scandinavian and Jewish descent, and her maternal ancestors are Anishinaabe/Ojibway and Red River Métis. She holds a Master’s of Public Policy and Sexual Diversity Studies and Bachelors of Public Policy & International Development Studies from the University of Toronto. Adryan has worked in the Indigenous well-being sector for the past six years in government and non-profit, and in the women and gender and sexual diversity sector for almost a decade. Adryan is currently the Indigenous Health Policy Manager at the Ontario Ministry of Health. Adryan joined the DRCC Board of Directors in September 2020 and previously served as Secretary and VP. Adryan is passionate about social justice issues and supporting the healing of survivors of violence.

Vice Chair — Chelsea Desrochers (she/her)

Chelsea is a strategy and operations consultant at a Series B start-up managing customer accounts and productizing insights for global GTM teams. She has been involved with other non-profit institutions focused on social justice research and restorative justice initiatives. Chelsea joined the DRCC Board of Directors in September of 2020.

Treasurer — Kaelyn Kerr (she/her)

Kaelyn Kerr currently works for the Province of Ontario in the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery as a Financial Analyst within the technology services department working to build and forecast the provincial budget in relation to technology services used and maintained by the government. She also has background with the Ministry of Finance where she was a Tax Auditor conducting fuel and tobacco tax audits. She graduated from Durham College in the Advanced Diploma Business Administration- Accounting program in 2021, so while she is in the beginning chapters of her career, she is very excited to be able to incorporate some nonprofit work into her experience. In her free time she also works at a local spin studio doing social media marketing and event coordination and will hopefully be able to start instructing soon! She is thrilled to meet everyone and looks forward to collaborating with the team in future projects.

Secretary — Lexa Cutler (she/her)

Lexa (she/her) is a labour and employment lawyer. Lexa’s written work has been published by the Lawyer’s Daily and the Ontario Bar Association. She received her JD from Queen’s University in 2020 where she was awarded the Queen’s Law Prize in Trial Advocacy and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2021. During law school, Lexa volunteered with Queen’s Legal Aid and Pro Bono Students Canada. Before law school, Lexa completed her Honours Specialization in Global Development at Huron University College at Western, where she gained her passion for feminism and social justice. Lexa joined the DRCC Board of Directors as Secretary in June 2022.

Director — Hillary Di Menna (she/her)

Hillary Di Menna (she/her) is a gender justice advocate and writer. Her survivors first approach is shaped from her beginnings in grassroots feminist organizing, her work in various sexual assault centres across Ontario (such as Durham Rape Crisis Centre, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, and Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre) and in working with the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC). Hillary currently works as the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator at Seneca Polytechnic.

A lifelong scribbler, Hillary has been published in over 50 publications (including Now Magazine, multiple Demeter Press collections, and her zine/MRP Strega: an autoethnography); both online and in print. She has interviewed rebel nuns, explored Spanish caves in search of witches, and slept in an Italian tarot museum; but most of her time is spent with her three black cats, cool teenager, a drummer, and little black dog. 

Hillary holds a master of arts in gender, feminist, and women’s studies from York University, where she worked as a bystander intervention facilitator for The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education.

Director — Nivedita Misra (she/her)

Nivedita is a mother of two young kids. She is also a lawyer, practicing in the area of Insurance defence law. Nivedita completed her B.A(H) in Sociology from the University of Windsor and LLB from England. Since her law school days, Nivedita has enjoyed Mooting & Negotiation. She is skilled in oral advocacy and problem solving. Nivedita joined the Durham rape crisis centre Board of Directors in July of 2023. Nivedita is a first-generation immigrant and understands the struggles some of us face as a woman of colour. With her diverse experience she hopes to add value to the team of Board of Directors here at the DRCC.

Director — Joan Jothi Saldanha (she/her)

Joan Jothi Saldanha, also known as Jothi, is the Founder of Jothi Creative Wellness and Visionary behind HERSpace. Jothi Creative Wellness began in 2016 and has grown into a suite of wellness modalities that are delivered to a wide range of communities from the classroom to the boardroom all across Canada. These modalities include Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy, Neuro-linguistic Programming, Quantum Healing, Creative Process, Self-leadership, Mindfulness Practices that include Guided Meditations and Sound Bowl Healing.

HERSpace is a monthly collective of self-identified women and femmes who connect around self and community care. All of Jothi’s work is delivered through a culturally responsive lens while decolonizing wellness practices that honour ancient knowledge and ancestral wisdom.

As an Artist Educator and Group Facilitator with over 10 years of experience in the field, Jothi is passionate about shifting the ways in which we reclaim our time and space when it comes to our diverse needs around mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. You can learn more about Jothi at https://jothi.ca/.