Our Team
Executive Director
Mary-Anne Popescu is the Executive Director of the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM). As an OAFM Accredited Family and Elder Mediator, and Child Protection Mediator in private practice, she works to bring peaceful resolutions that help families adapt to challenges and changes across the life cycle. Mary-Anne is also a roster mediator for the Office of Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), and the Ministry of Government and Consumer Affairs. In recognition of her volunteer contributions to St. Joseph’s Maternal Health Support Program, Mary-Anne received the Ontario Award for Good Citizens, from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. Mary-Anne supports diversity and equality as an ally and volunteer for Toronto PFLAG. She served for eight years as a Panel Member on the City of Toronto’s Committee of Adjustment. Mary-Anne is also the past Chair of the ADR Institute of Ontario’s Family Section and past Board Member of the OAFM.
Amanda Reece
Program Assistant - Child Protection Mediation
Amanda Reece has been passionate about conflict resolution and the mediation process for 20 years. After completing her BA in Psychology with Laurentian University, Amanda pursued her diploma in Family Mediation with McMaster University. Upon graduation, Amanda’s interests and efforts were recognized when she received The Continuing Education Annual Prize, Social Services award for highest academic achievement.
Throughout her career, Amanda has found significant interest working with children, youth, and families going through substantial life changes while liaising with court services and community agencies. Amanda is highly driven to assist and coach others in important life skills and choices surrounding their identity, family and social relationships and emotional and behavioral goals. Amanda takes tremendous pride when working with clients by seeking to “connect and understand” rather than “meeting and fixing”. Her role as CPMed Program Assistant truly is the cohesive bow wrapping together Amanda’s unique mix of legal and child and youth work experiences.
In Amanda’s spare time, she rejuvenates by mentoring, coaching, spending time outdoors, traveling, and making new connections.
Assistant to the Executive Director
Judith is an accredited Family Mediator through the Ontario Association of Family Mediation or the OAFM. Judith has experience working with people who need to bring order and function to an emotional or chaotic situation.
She has a biology degree from Queen’s, then studied Occupational Therapy at McMaster University and worked primarily in mental health. As an O.T, she facilitated people transitioning from hospital with acute conditions such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe depression to home and community, integrating back into their families, activities and work. She then studied English at York and the University of Toronto, and during her PhD studies had four children. During the raising of four children and herself experiencing a complex divorce and re-marriage, she shifted her career and research focus to the issue of families in transition, and the difficulties of navigating the family law process. She has worked with separating couples through court based mediation at Peel Family Mediation Services in Brampton, and has both a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from York University and a Master of Laws (LLM) in Dispute Resolution from Osgoode, with specialites in Online Dispute Resolution and Voice of the Child/Child Inclusive mediation. She researches in the area of gender equity, cultural bias and access to justice, and assists with the professional development of family mediators through the OAFM.
Program Manager, Child Protection Mediation
Vicky Visca has been working in the field of child welfare, separation and divorce and youth in conflict with the law for almost 40 years. She has been a Family Mediator since 1983 and an Accredited Family Mediator with the Ontario Association of Family Mediation (OAFM) since 1997. She has been a Child Protection Mediator since 2007 and she is an Open Adoption Mediation Specialist.
Vicky has been an OAFM Board Member since 2018, and she is currently the President of the Board. She currently chairs a number of OAFM Committees including the Child Protection Committee and the Child Inclusive Mediation Committee.
Vicky began her career as the Coordinator of the Belleville Family Court Clinic and was also the Executive Direction of the Durham Family Court Clinic. Vicky’s private practice was established in 1997 with the emphasis on the provision of mediation, assessment, and counselling services. In the past, Vicky was a clinical investigator with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer and she retired from the provision parenting capacity assessments after having completed them for over 30 years. Vicky’s current practice is solely in the provision of Family and Child Protection Mediation and training.
Vicky is a provincially approved instructor for Child Protection Mediation and she is also a Family Mediation Instructor. She provides consultative and training services to other Family and Child Protection Mediators as well as in-service training to a multitude of child welfare and mental health agencies throughout the province in relation to Child Protection and Family Mediation.
Vicky has contracts with the Ministry of the Attorney General for the provision of On-Site and Off-Site Mediation, Information and Referral Coordination and Mandatory Information Programs for Kingston and the Quinte Region.