Dr. Brian Katz is a Registered Psychologist and the Vice President of Child and Youth Services at The Centre for Child Development.

At The Centre, he leads the Division of Child and Youth Services (CYS) which encompasses a wide array of services including mental health, family services, social work, parent support, key worker services and the Early Years Hub. The Division of CYS also includes both The Centre’s intake team and the regional Central Speech Referral Service, which together manage over 5,000 requests for service each year. Brian also serve as The Centre’s privacy officer.

His clinical interests include psychological assessment and psychotherapy with children and youth with developmental disabilities and their families.

Dr. Katz also hold an appointment as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Victoria. Research interests include cognitive rehabilitation in children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders and developmental psychopathology in children and youth with disabilities. Recent research has focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and youth with disabilities and their families. He has been a co-investigator on projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mitacs, and Kids Brain Health Network.

Dr. Brian Katz received a Ph.D. in clinical-child psychology from DePaul University in Chicago, IL. He completed his clinical internship at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now The Ann and Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital) in Chicago, IL and his post-doctoral fellowship at Brown University Alpert Medical School in Providence, RI.

Karen holds a BSc(Biology) from UBC (1983) and a BSc(OT) from UBC (1988). Wanting to focus on pediatrics, she joined The Centre’s team in 1991. As the Vice President, Medical Rehabilitation Services, Karen currently leads and supports the Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Communication Therapy and Recreation Therapy departments as well as several specialty teams (Feeding & Nutrition, Equipment Team, Casting & Splinting).

Karen’s long tenure at The Centre is a testament to the deep and committed relationships she’s established with the children and families we serve.

“The families and children we work with are incredible.  I have learned so much from them over the years. The staff here are also incredible and have become like a second family.”

Karen is priviledged to participate in the following committees:

• Early Years Transition Council
• Langley Children and CYMHSU Lat Committee
• Langley Foundry Leadership Committee

Rebecca has been supporting children and families for the past 25 years, working in the areas of parent support, child and youth mental health and private practice. Kids and parents are supported in addressing challenges related to anxiety, behaviour, temperament, significant family changes, early trauma and other related mood difficulties. Rebecca brings a strong background in the areas of Developmental Psychology and Infant Mental Health and maintains a focus of enhancing and strengthening relationships between kids and the big people in their lives.

Rebecca is a passionate and energetic speaker on a variety of topics including anxiety in children, emotional regulation and social development, and parenting with a sense of calm and connection. She is also a registered facilitator of The Circle of Security-Parenting program.

Judy Mann is a senior executive with over 32 years of progressive experience in spearheading multi-faceted projects with an ability for delivering successful results. Her in-depth experience working with all levels of government, community stakeholder groups and private industry to create strategic and innovative solutions makes her an invaluable asset.

As the vice-president of business development at the largest child development centre in British Columbia, Judy oversaw the completion of multi-million dollar projects that provided the necessary infrastructure needed to serve more children.

In her previous role as a senior manager in local government, Judy provided strategic planning and support for projects including Innovation Boulevard, Build Surrey Program, Child and Youth Friendly Strategy, Sustainability Charter, Homelessness and Housing Fund and Crime Reduction Strategy.

As a recipient of a RCMP commendation for outstanding contributions towards the creation and opening of a child protection agency, Judy influenced and facilitated the projects advancement with community social agencies, government and business leaders.

Judy’s sense of civic responsibility led her to spearhead a forum to raise awareness about refugees and to engage community agencies and residents to increase and sustain support for refugees arriving in Surrey. This forum positioned the city and its partner agencies to be well prepared to assist families before they arrived and advocate other levels of government for support.

In her spare time Judy volunteered as a manager for a local soccer team. The team went on to win the 2019 Provincial Championships.

Throughout her career whether working in private law firms, Department of Justice, municipal government or not-for-profit, Judy has been keen to take on new challenges and create one-of-a-kind solutions.

Born in New Westminster and raised in Surrey, as a first generation Canadian with South Asian roots, Judy has a strong sense of community and wants to leave the world in a better place for future generations. She attended Vancouver Community College, Justice Institute of BC and Canada School of Public Service.

Gerard Bremault, MSW, RSW is CEO of BC’s largest child development centre, providing medical rehabilitation and early childhood development services and supports to children with special needs, The Centre for Child Development of the Lower Mainland (including Sophie’s Place Child Advocacy Centre) and its supporting foundation, the Child Development Foundation of British Columbia.

Gerard also currently serves as:

• Overall Steering Committee Member: Primary Care Network, Surrey/ North Delta Division of Family Practice
• Member: Surrey Healthier Community Partnership (City of Surrey/Fraser Health)
• Member: Simon Fraser University, Surrey Community Advisory Council
• Governor (Past Chair), Surrey Board of Trade

Gerard is a tri-sector leader with more than 25 years of senior executive experience including such diverse roles as a Management Consulting Business Proprietor; Manager of Business Planning for State Departments of Treasury and Finance; Assistant Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia) and Executive Director of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of Greater Vancouver.

Gerard is a “Leadership Award” Recipient from the Surrey Cares Community Foundation “Serving with Distinction Awards”.

Gerard holds a Master’s degree in Social Work (Social Policy and Administration), University of Manitoba and is a registered social worker. Gerard was the sole Canadian participant in Harvard Business School’s inaugural Executive Education Program – Healthcare Delivery: Achieving Organizational Excellence.

Kagnew has been with The Centre since 2002, having found his true passion and aligment with The Centre’s Mission, Vision and Values.

He oversees the Finance team, operations & maintenance, and technology for The Centre. During his tenure, Kagnew has been responsible for The Centre consistently maintaining a balanced budget and has managed revenue growth from $6.5M to $16.2M in 2023.

With over 20 years experience as an administrative professional, Judith brings her passion for organizational excellence, outstanding customer service, impactful communication and design to the areas she oversees.

Judith is deeply committed to The Centre’s mission of supporting children with additional support and special needs. She joined The Centre team in 2018 and is responsible for The Centre’s external communications (including all social media, website, and marketing collateral), supervises the administrative support team, and supports the CEO and Boards of Directors.

She holds a Bachelor degree in Psychology, First Class Honours.

Her background experience includes almost 10 years supporting SFU’s Executive Director responsible for all fundraising, during which time the team successfully completed a $250M capital campaign and the launch of a new fundraising database system.

Previous experience includes hotel management at a 4 diamond property in downtown Vancouver, where she supervised a guest services team of over 50 staff, responsible for all guest services (check-in, bell service, valet, in-room dining, reservations).

Judith’s other passions include design, which she enjoys expressing when creating The Centre’s signage, marketing collateral, website and social media imagery.

Judy Mann is a senior executive with over 32 years of progressive experience in spearheading multi-faceted projects with an ability for delivering successful results. Her in-depth experience working with all levels of government, community stakeholder groups and private industry to create strategic and innovative solutions makes her an invaluable asset.

As the vice-president of business development at the largest child development centre in British Columbia, Judy oversaw the completion of multi-million dollar projects that provided the necessary infrastructure needed to serve more children.

In her previous role as a senior manager in local government, Judy provided strategic planning and support for projects including Innovation Boulevard, Build Surrey Program, Child and Youth Friendly Strategy, Sustainability Charter, Homelessness and Housing Fund and Crime Reduction Strategy.

As a recipient of a RCMP commendation for outstanding contributions towards the creation and opening of a child protection agency, Judy influenced and facilitated the projects advancement with community social agencies, government and business leaders.

Judy’s sense of civic responsibility led her to spearhead a forum to raise awareness about refugees and to engage community agencies and residents to increase and sustain support for refugees arriving in Surrey. This forum positioned the city and its partner agencies to be well prepared to assist families before they arrived and advocate other levels of government for support.

In her spare time Judy volunteered as a manager for a local soccer team. The team went on to win the 2019 Provincial Championships.

Throughout her career whether working in private law firms, Department of Justice, municipal government or not-for-profit, Judy has been keen to take on new challenges and create one-of-a-kind solutions.

Born in New Westminster and raised in Surrey, as a first generation Canadian with South Asian roots, Judy has a strong sense of community and wants to leave the world in a better place for future generations. She attended Vancouver Community College, Justice Institute of BC and Canada School of Public Service.