About FOXY

Who We Are

FOXY (Fostering Open eXpression among Youth) is a totally new way of talking with young women about sexual health, sexuality, and relationships. By putting the decision making back in their hands, no one is being told what to do, or what is right or wrong – everyone is being given the tools they need to make the best decisions for themselves.

FOXY uses traditional beading, theatre, digital storytelling, photography, and music to help teenage girls express their knowledge, opinions, and questions about health and love (and everything in between). With a strong focus on sexual health and empowered decision-making, young women and gender-diverse youth across the North get to know themselves a little bit better and learn through the arts.

Since January 2012, FOXY has reached over 6495 youth in more than 41 NWT, Nunavut, and Yukon communities through over 433 workshops and 21 Peer Leader Retreats that have brought together over 546 Northern and Indigenous young Peer Leaders.

FOXY’s mission is to enhance the knowledge, health, and well-being of Northern and Indigenous youth
through the arts.

FOXY’s vision is that by 2025, FOXY is innovative, well-resourced, and adaptive to the needs of Northerners. Our youth
are resilient, informed, and engaged in healthy relationships with self and community.

FOXY’s core values include:

• Safety
• Shared Knowledge
• Intersectionality
• Connections
• Northern
• Openness
• Culture
• Self Determination
• Trauma-Informed
• Trust
• Strengths-Based Trauma-Informed Lens

FOXY will fulfill its vision by reaching 6 goals:

1. Access ongoing, long term funding.
2. Maintain public awareness and engagement.
3. Expand within and into Northern communities.
4. Enhance and maintain high quality trauma informed sexual and mental health education and leadership training programs
5. Build capacity for organizational sustainability.
6. Maintain a trauma informed lens for the organization that is rooted in culture.

For more information, check out our Community Reach and the Frequently Asked Questions.

How is FOXY Research?

 FOXY is a participatory action research project, which means youth are involved with all aspects of the project, from its development to its implementation and the evaluation. The research component of FOXY involves looking at the effectiveness of FOXY for empowering NWT youth and facilitating dialogue about sexual health issues in the North. Please contact the Executive Director, Candice Lys, for more information about the research component of FOXY, and check out our published research!

Our Team

Dr. Candice Lys (SHE/HER), Executive Director

Candice Lys grew up in Fort Smith in a very large Métis family, and has lived all over the world, including a brief stint on a ship in the Pacific Ocean. Candice has a Masters degree in Health Promotion and holds a PhD in Public Health. She is an Ashoka Canada Fellow, a mom to Luca & Mira, dog mom to Maple, and an avid almost-gardener.

Amanda Kanbari (SHE/HER), Director of Programs

Amanda was born in British Columbia and moved to Yellowknife after completing a B.A. with Distinction in Criminal Justice. She is an advocate for self-propelled travel and prefers to get around by canoe or bicycle. Amanda once cycled the Pacific Coast from Vancouver, B.C. to Tijuana, Mexico! She has created several youth-focused programs that encourage young people to address inequality and to pursue healthy relationships with the land, with others, and with themselves.

Kiera BR (she/her), Program Coordinator

Kiera was raised in Hay River and moved to Yellowknife to work with FOXY and SMASH after completing a B.A. double majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of Alberta, Campus Saint-Jean. Kiera lives proudly as a neuro-divergent, francophone, queer woman and huge nerd. Their time is best spent reading feminist literature, adventuring with her dog Mochi or playing video/board games. Lastly, though certainly not the least, Kiera is passionate about working to deliver the fun and educational programming that our northern youth need the most. 

Pyper Rehm (She/Her/They/Them), Program Facilitator

Pyper is a Métis person from Fort Smith, NT now living in Yellowknife, NT. She is currently a student at UBC Okanagan for their Bachelor of Arts degree. When Pyper isn’t working, she spends a lot of time with her family while making and eating amazing food. Pyper loves working for FOXY & SMASH because it helps people learn about their own bodies and how to know when their bodies are telling them what they need. Pyper loves when the participants reach out to say how meaningful their FOXY/SMASH experience was for them. Fun Fact: Pyper has been a FOXY school workshop participant, a FOXY Peer Leader Retreat Participant, and a PEER Facilitator before becoming a Program Facilitator!

Anna Ashoona-Seagrave (She/Her/They/Them), PEER Facilitator

Anna is a Kinngait Inuk who lives in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She is a student at École St Patrick’s High School. She has been working for FOXY since 2018 as a PEER Facilitator.  In her spare time she like to study philosophy, the evolution of human experience, culture, and she likes to sew. She is trilingual and speaks English, French, and Inuktitut. As an Inuk who is adopted, they are in the process of reclaiming their identity. They believe FOXY is a great opportunity to see the North while gaining work experience. Anna enjoys working with youth and loves walking through this journey beside them.

Shayla Moore (SHE/HER), PEER FACILITATOR

Coming Soon!

 

Lana Sanders (SHE/HEr), PEER FACILITATOR

Coming Soon!

LEX Banksland, PEER FACILITATOR

Coming Soon!