A step toward retirement
Earlier this month Pamela Cross took an important step toward retirement as she transitioned out of the Luke’s Place Advocacy Director position. We are delighted that Pam will continue working with us on special projects.
A journey together
Pamela Cross is a tireless advocate for advancing women’s equality in law and society. She is a skilled legal analyst, in-demand legal trainer, public speaker and media expert, researcher and writer, innovator, mentor and collaborator, and leader in Ontario’s women’s sector.
Pamela has played an important role in our organization for many years, officially undertaking the role of Legal Director in 2008. As the Legal Director, she led the creation and expansion of our legal programming and services. She led the Training Initiative for Ontario’s Family Court Support Workers, providing both in-person and online training and support for approximately 100 frontline workers who assist survivors of IPV in family court. During her time at Luke’s Place, Pamela developed and delivered feminist training on a variety of topics and issues related to violence against women and the law to thousands of service providers, including VAW and community workers, Legal Aid Ontario, police, community clinics and lawyers across the province. She Co-Chaired the Violence Against Women Roundtable, which provided guidance to the provincial government on this issue and Co-Chaired the “promotion of the responsive legal and justice systems” working group for the National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence. Pamela also created our provincial Feminist Law and Policy Reform Coalition which brings together over 85 organizations.
After nearly 15 years as our Legal Director, Pamela shifted her role to focus exclusively on advocacy, undertaking the role of Advocacy Director in January 2023. In this role, she focused on developing and leading law and policy reform efforts and media work at the provincial and national levels. Key contributions in this role include leading the development of a law reform and media leadership training to help strengthen women’s organizations capacity to engage in media and law reform activities, appearing before House of Commons committees and co-leading the launch of The Chanterelle Alliance on our behalf.
Over the years Pamela has acted as a spokesperson, engaging with media and appearing in various settings as an expert witness and keynote speaker. She has been a key contributor to our research reports, discussion papers, briefs, toolkits and other resources. She will be featured in an upcoming episode of She Is Your Neighbour podcast, The Consequences of Violence, which will go live on May 16.
Looking ahead
While Pamela has transitioned out of the Advocacy Director role, she will continue to work with us on special projects. Over the next few months, you’ll continue to see resources developed by Pamela and trainings facilitated by her. Pamela will also be playing a key role in building our internal advocacy capacity as she transitions to retirement. Stay tuned for information about retirement acknowledgement activities led by Luke’s Place.
More from Pamela
Pamela’s comments about retirement
Pamela’s website
Connect with Pamela on X (Twitter)
