Summer is a registered social worker and an Accredited Family Mediator. Along with her work at Marathon Mediation, The Centre for Health and Anger Resolution and  Legal Aid Ontario, Summer is also founder and CEO of Mediation for Families.

Summer has worked with families during difficult transitions in various settings including Toronto, Los Angeles and St. Catharines.

Summer’s interest in aging families began six years ago when she was the director of an adult daycare centre and the facilitator of support groups for caregivers of maturing parents and/or spouses. These families were often dealing with multiple issues all at once.  The families she worked with were downsizing, succession planning, some were also coping with other family dynamics such as divorce, remarriage, issues with their own children and/or their step children as well as the stress of terminal illness, dementia or other health concerns– and all at the same time! A neutral advocate and facilitator became a welcomed relief to help normalize and simplify the issues before they became problems. Summer is a strong proponent of Elder Mediation as a solution for families who need to  come together in a positive way during times of adversity.

Summer uses a strengths based approach when working families which enables positive change by drawing on the capacity already present in each person. Her goal is to help each person develop a greater understanding of his/her own role within the family while enabling everyone to get their perspectives heard and their needs addressed within the context of family harmony.

Throughout her career, Summer has supervised bachelor’s and master’s level social work students as well as a team of social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and personal support workers. She has taught seminars on coping after a difficult transition including job-loss for Toronto Community Employment Services. In her early days, Summer taught landlords how to build and manage second suite apartments and she mediated landlord/tenant disputes. She is a capable supervisor with a strong commitment to empowering students to meet their goals.