Sarah Belknap volunteered with The Circle Education in a time of transition. Her term as Board Chair was challenging, but after eight years, she left an organization that was ready for the future.
Photo: Sarah Belknap (second on the right) with boardmembers and other friends of The Circle Education during the AGM in October 2024.
It was a personal experience that drew Sarah Belknap to SWOVA (Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse), now known as The Circle Education. She experienced sexual violence in her twenties and had some other experiences that left her with a firm conviction about the importance of the work the organization does.
Sarah’s professional and educational path deeply informed her commitment to SWOVA’s mission. Growing up in Dallas and studying in Memphis and Nashville, she earned a master’s degree in Social Work and Divinity. Her work as a psychiatric social worker in Los Angeles, and later her ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church (the Anglican Church in Canada), gave her a unique blend of compassion and leadership—qualities she brought to her role at SWOVA. Years later, Sarah and her husband moved from Los Angeles to Victoria and eventually retired to Salt Spring Island in 2009.
On Salt Spring Island, she attended the first International Women’s Day Dinner (IWD) at Harbour House in 2012, and that was when she first heard of SWOVA. The dinner was organized by Lynda Laushway, the founder of SWOVA, and the person who ran the office at the time. It was a lot of work between the two of them, so when they gathered a team for next year’s dinner, Sarah decided to be part of it. She enjoyed organizing the dinners, which were well-attended fundraisers that also raised the profile of SWOVA and the work the agency did in the community.
Through the International Women’s Day Dinners, Sarah met program coordinator Kate Nash, who was the facilitator of SWOVA’s Pass It On program, a mentorship program for middle and high school students, at the time. Kate had invited women from the community to talk about their personal experiences with sexual violence and abuse, and Sarah decided to share her story because she felt that it happens to many women, but at that time, and this was before the ‘MeToo’ movement, no one talked about it.
Sarah was impressed with Kate’s leadership and the program itself. Participants were open and not afraid to be honest and to share deeply. It sparked her interest in the organization even more.
It was the beginning of a lengthy involvement with SWOVA, which became The Circle Education in 2020. After the second IWD dinner, Sarah was recruited to the board, and a year later, she was asked to become board chair. When she was six months into her term, executive director Lynda Laushway retired. It was a huge shift, Sarah recalls, as Lynda had been there from the beginning and had developed the organization's programming.
During her chairmanship, the organization faced leadership transitions, regulatory changes, and the loss of key programs, including the cessation of the Respectful Relationships Program in local high schools. These challenges prompted a period of reassessment, leading to new programs, updated bylaws, and ultimately a rearticulation of the mission and vision. A significant turning point came with the rebrand to The Circle Education, reflecting the organization’s evolving identity and program model based on circles.
In 2020, her term as a board chair ended, but it wasn’t hard for her to step away. It was time, she said, looking back on a challenging but also interesting time. The agency had come through a vulnerable time, but people had stepped up, recognizing that the work needed to be continued. There was a strong board and a competent director. She walked away knowing the organization was in good hands. The highlight of her time with SWOVA and The Circle Education was the great satisfaction of seeing the agency being reborn with the help of many people.
Five years after she left, Sarah is still following The Circle Education, quietly cheering from the sidelines. She is delighted to see the organization soar, as she knows that the work the agency does continues to be crucially important. Giving young people the life skills to succeed, to have a good life, and to avoid violence is fundamental.
Photo: Sarah Belknap (pictured on the right) in 2017.
