Marie Christian

Marie Christian is the President of Youth in Care Canada (YICC), a national organization driven by youth in care and alumni across Canada that supports the establishment and sustainability of local youth in care networks across the country, and provides safe, supportive spaces for these networks to convene. In her role with YICC, Marie represents the organization in local and national spaces, offers support and advice to folks interested in developing local youth in care networks, and helps to co-create frameworks for workshops and presentations that existing networks can use to share their knowledge with the people in their communities. 

Marie combines her lived experience as an alumni from care with 20+ years working with youth in and from care in Manitoba, and her post-secondary education to help create a better system of care in Manitoba and across Canada. She is passionate about moving systemic change progress forward in a 'no shame, no blame' way that allows every member of the ‘village’ - from governments to community serving organizations to caregivers - to assess their ability and willingness to do what they can to make children and young peoples experiences in care and eventual transitions from care to interdependence better and driven by the readiness of the individual young person.

Outside of work, Marie enjoys finding ways to be around people, being in-community and engaging in something meaningful through volunteering. She also likes taking language classes, cooking, going for drives, and indulging in slurpees.