Executive Board
Elections are held annually for this committee which is responsible for providing leadership for the Chapter by expanding and improving the services offered to members. The officers coordinate the activities of the Association through regular meetings and promote educational initiatives and networking opportunities. The executive officers of APABA are the president, the president-elect, the past president, the secretary and the treasurer. The term of office for the president, past-president and president-elect is one year each for a total of three years, while the secretary and treasurer are elected for two year terms. Up to three Members-a- Large may be elected to constitute the Executive Board of the Atlantic Provinces Association of Behavior Analysis. For additional information on Executive Board Member roles and responsibilities, please click here.
Current Executive Board
President- Laura Walsh-Martino
Laura is dedicated to providing high quality services to children, youth and families with a commitment to ensure compassionate and meaningful care that promotes happiness and joy. Laura earned her MEd at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina in 2008. She later completed a graduate certificate in Applied Behavioral Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology and has been a BCBA since 2017. During her career, she has provided services to children and young adults diagnosed with autism, as well as older patients with dementia and other developmental disabilities. Laura has experience in private clinical settings, in addition to 15 years of experience in the public sector. Laura has created and provided research-based intervention training to numerous schools and community organizations. Laura is currently the Manager of Behavioral Health Supports with Amal Youth & Family Center in St. John’s Newfoundland. Laura is very interested in trauma informed behavior analysis and researching its many connections to child and youth care practice, especially as it applies to children and youth residing in alternate care arrangements . Laura is dedicated to disseminating quality ABA practice and is especially passionate about advancing the field in Atlantic Canada while contributing to its global growth.
Laura is dedicated to providing high quality services to children, youth and families with a commitment to ensure compassionate and meaningful care that promotes happiness and joy. Laura earned her MEd at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina in 2008. She later completed a graduate certificate in Applied Behavioral Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology and has been a BCBA since 2017. During her career, she has provided services to children and young adults diagnosed with autism, as well as older patients with dementia and other developmental disabilities. Laura has experience in private clinical settings, in addition to 15 years of experience in the public sector. Laura has created and provided research-based intervention training to numerous schools and community organizations. Laura is currently the Manager of Behavioral Health Supports with Amal Youth & Family Center in St. John’s Newfoundland. Laura is very interested in trauma informed behavior analysis and researching its many connections to child and youth care practice, especially as it applies to children and youth residing in alternate care arrangements . Laura is dedicated to disseminating quality ABA practice and is especially passionate about advancing the field in Atlantic Canada while contributing to its global growth.
President Elect - Laura Joyce
Laura is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst who works in Fredericton as a Regional Director for VIVA Therapeutic Services, as well as with private clients. Laura has a Master of Science in Applied Behaviour Analysis and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Prior to working in Fredericton, Laura worked for nearly a decade in British Columbia across several settings including adult residential care, school, and early intensive intervention. Laura's professional passions include trauma-assumed care, leadership and staff training/development, and organizational behaviour management. When she isn't working, Laura enjoys spending time with her partner, two sons and two dogs. Laura hopes to spend her time on the executive building up member participation, increasing knowledge of ABA services in the community and carrying on the work that's been done to create a strong community of colleagues supporting one another in the atlantic provinces!
Laura is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst who works in Fredericton as a Regional Director for VIVA Therapeutic Services, as well as with private clients. Laura has a Master of Science in Applied Behaviour Analysis and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Prior to working in Fredericton, Laura worked for nearly a decade in British Columbia across several settings including adult residential care, school, and early intensive intervention. Laura's professional passions include trauma-assumed care, leadership and staff training/development, and organizational behaviour management. When she isn't working, Laura enjoys spending time with her partner, two sons and two dogs. Laura hopes to spend her time on the executive building up member participation, increasing knowledge of ABA services in the community and carrying on the work that's been done to create a strong community of colleagues supporting one another in the atlantic provinces!
Past President - Nicole Robinson
Nicole Robinson, BCBA, is a Clinical Manager with the Provincial Preschool Autism Service and IWK Children's Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Nicole is an agile leader, contributing to service development, incorporating behaviour analytic approaches to support shifts in service delivery models, and motivating teams to meet and exceed clinical expectations. Nicole established her career in applied behaviour analysis as the first Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with Nova Scotia Health Authority in 2015, working with adults with intellectual disability and a mental health diagnosis in an inpatient setting, and since then, transitioning into management positions. Nicole is a strong advocate for behaviour analytic best practices across settings, training paraprofessionals, and promoting the value of Behaviour Analysts on healthcare interdisciplinary teams. Nicole is passionate about networking and fostering partnerships and has played an active role on the executive of the Atlantic Provinces Association for Behaviour Analysis since 2021 and a member of the Research and Advocacy Team since 2020. Nicole is also connected with the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis as a founding member of the ABA in Mental Health Special Interest Group.
Nicole Robinson, BCBA, is a Clinical Manager with the Provincial Preschool Autism Service and IWK Children's Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Nicole is an agile leader, contributing to service development, incorporating behaviour analytic approaches to support shifts in service delivery models, and motivating teams to meet and exceed clinical expectations. Nicole established her career in applied behaviour analysis as the first Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with Nova Scotia Health Authority in 2015, working with adults with intellectual disability and a mental health diagnosis in an inpatient setting, and since then, transitioning into management positions. Nicole is a strong advocate for behaviour analytic best practices across settings, training paraprofessionals, and promoting the value of Behaviour Analysts on healthcare interdisciplinary teams. Nicole is passionate about networking and fostering partnerships and has played an active role on the executive of the Atlantic Provinces Association for Behaviour Analysis since 2021 and a member of the Research and Advocacy Team since 2020. Nicole is also connected with the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis as a founding member of the ABA in Mental Health Special Interest Group.
Secretary - Monica Peters
Monica Peters has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) since 2014. She is
currently residing in Halifax working at Nova Scotia Health in a community outreach
program supporting adults with dual diagnosis (intellectual/developmental disability plus
mental health diagnoses). Although she has supported individuals across the lifespan
(ages 4 and up), her passion remains with the adult population. She spends most of her
time consulting with families and teams to ensure that the adults she is supporting have
the right supports in place to live safe, happy and healthy lives. In addition to her regular
job, since 2021, Monica has also been a research assistant with Dr. Alison Cox on a project looking at the impact of psychotropic medications on individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities who engage in challenging behaviours. Earlier this year, She was fortunate enough to present both at ABAI and at the QCABA conference on increasing psychological flexibility using the ACT Matrix.
Monica Peters has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) since 2014. She is
currently residing in Halifax working at Nova Scotia Health in a community outreach
program supporting adults with dual diagnosis (intellectual/developmental disability plus
mental health diagnoses). Although she has supported individuals across the lifespan
(ages 4 and up), her passion remains with the adult population. She spends most of her
time consulting with families and teams to ensure that the adults she is supporting have
the right supports in place to live safe, happy and healthy lives. In addition to her regular
job, since 2021, Monica has also been a research assistant with Dr. Alison Cox on a project looking at the impact of psychotropic medications on individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities who engage in challenging behaviours. Earlier this year, She was fortunate enough to present both at ABAI and at the QCABA conference on increasing psychological flexibility using the ACT Matrix.
Treasurer - Amy Lays
Amy has been the treasurer for APABA since 2021. She has worked in a variety of clinical and related administrative roles supporting persons with autism and developmental disabilities and dual diagnosis from toddlers to adults. She started working with children with autism when she was in high school in 2001, one of her teacher’s knew she would be the right fit to support their child with autism in learning and developing new skills using the principles of behaviour analysis. It was from that moment she knew she wanted to be a Behaviour Analyst, a goal she achieved in April 2023 when she became a BCBA. Amy completed high school in 2003, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2007 and graduated with her Master of Applied Disability Studies with a specialization in Applied Behaviour Analysis in June 2021 from Brock University. Amy currently resides in Antigonish and works as a Clinical Interventionist for the IWK in the early intervention autism program. She also works in private practice supporting a diverse age of clients in a variety of settings. Amy is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and using behaviour analysis to assist learners, parents and staff to learn new skills. Amy also uses a variety of resources to coach parent’s on generalizing interventions in their own environments.
Amy has been the treasurer for APABA since 2021. She has worked in a variety of clinical and related administrative roles supporting persons with autism and developmental disabilities and dual diagnosis from toddlers to adults. She started working with children with autism when she was in high school in 2001, one of her teacher’s knew she would be the right fit to support their child with autism in learning and developing new skills using the principles of behaviour analysis. It was from that moment she knew she wanted to be a Behaviour Analyst, a goal she achieved in April 2023 when she became a BCBA. Amy completed high school in 2003, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2007 and graduated with her Master of Applied Disability Studies with a specialization in Applied Behaviour Analysis in June 2021 from Brock University. Amy currently resides in Antigonish and works as a Clinical Interventionist for the IWK in the early intervention autism program. She also works in private practice supporting a diverse age of clients in a variety of settings. Amy is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and using behaviour analysis to assist learners, parents and staff to learn new skills. Amy also uses a variety of resources to coach parent’s on generalizing interventions in their own environments.
Member-at-Large - Connor Bray Stone
Connor entered the field of ABA in 2010 and has been a Board Certified Behaviour
Analyst (BCBA) since 2021. Originally from Montreal, he is currently living in Dartmouth, working at Autism Nova Scotia’s QuickStart NS Services. QuickStart’s primary service consists of a parent-mediated coaching program, which aims to help parents and caregivers of children with a suspected, provisional or confirmed diagnosis of autism to gain the skills and confidence to support their child’s continued growth and development. Currently as manager of QuickStart NS Services, he spends most of his time on: program development, management and evaluation; staff training as well as performance monitoring, management and evaluation; project management. In addition to his current role, Connor previously spent time as both a Supervisor and as a Parent Coach with QuickStart, and has roughly 10 years of experience in direct intervention roles across a variety of early intervention models (VB, PRT, ESDM). Connor is excited for the opportunity to represent APABA within the role of member at large, and to have the opportunity to learn from the experiences and skills of other members while collaborating towards the achievement of new goals.
Connor entered the field of ABA in 2010 and has been a Board Certified Behaviour
Analyst (BCBA) since 2021. Originally from Montreal, he is currently living in Dartmouth, working at Autism Nova Scotia’s QuickStart NS Services. QuickStart’s primary service consists of a parent-mediated coaching program, which aims to help parents and caregivers of children with a suspected, provisional or confirmed diagnosis of autism to gain the skills and confidence to support their child’s continued growth and development. Currently as manager of QuickStart NS Services, he spends most of his time on: program development, management and evaluation; staff training as well as performance monitoring, management and evaluation; project management. In addition to his current role, Connor previously spent time as both a Supervisor and as a Parent Coach with QuickStart, and has roughly 10 years of experience in direct intervention roles across a variety of early intervention models (VB, PRT, ESDM). Connor is excited for the opportunity to represent APABA within the role of member at large, and to have the opportunity to learn from the experiences and skills of other members while collaborating towards the achievement of new goals.
Member-at-Large - Anjali Ravi
Anjali Ravi is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst and OBM specialist currently working as Clinical Interventionist with the Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program supporting both valley and south shore. She has been in the field of ABA for 11 years and has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from university of Kerala, India, graduate certification in autism and Behavioral science from Fanshawe, and Master’s degree in applied Behavior Analysis from Western University, Ontario. She is passionate about supporting early behavioral intervention for children with a diagnosis of Autism, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, Organizational Behavior Management and disseminating ABA to staff and parents, both in English and her native languages.She volunteers her time to help new immigrants settle in Canada and has served a year as Secretary of Nova Scotia Annapolis Malayali Association (NANMA), a non-profit organization supporting individuals who moved to Annapolis valley from India. She lives in the valley with her husband and 8-year-old daughter and is excited to serve APABA members to the best of her abilities.
Anjali Ravi is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst and OBM specialist currently working as Clinical Interventionist with the Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program supporting both valley and south shore. She has been in the field of ABA for 11 years and has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from university of Kerala, India, graduate certification in autism and Behavioral science from Fanshawe, and Master’s degree in applied Behavior Analysis from Western University, Ontario. She is passionate about supporting early behavioral intervention for children with a diagnosis of Autism, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, Organizational Behavior Management and disseminating ABA to staff and parents, both in English and her native languages.She volunteers her time to help new immigrants settle in Canada and has served a year as Secretary of Nova Scotia Annapolis Malayali Association (NANMA), a non-profit organization supporting individuals who moved to Annapolis valley from India. She lives in the valley with her husband and 8-year-old daughter and is excited to serve APABA members to the best of her abilities.