Who We Are
We are educators and leaders who see mentorship as more than a program; it’s a practice of connection and growth.
Since 2017, The Mentoree has developed mentorship experiences and opportunities that empower educators at every stage of their careers.
We’re working with system level leaders and organizations to help weave mentorship into the fabric of their cultures in order to enact more sustainable and engaging professional learning that builds efficacy and positively impacts educator wellbeing.
The Lead Team
Noa Daniel
Noa Daniel MEd is a teacher, consultant, the Chief Building Officer at Building Outside the Blocks (BOB).
She is also a children’s book author and writer, TEDx and keynote speaker, and a podcaster. She hosted the weekly live OnEdMentors show on VoicEd Radio and The Personal Playlist Podcast.
Noa is an active member of the International Mentoring Association and has developed the mentorship ecosystem at Thinkering Collective.
Founder and Director
Teri Rubinoff
Teri Rubinoff PhD is a Course Facilitator at The MEHRIT Centre, an AQ Course Instructor and Developer at Queen’s University, and a Contract Lecturer at Lakehead University. She has also held a variety of roles in K-12 education including Special Education Consultant and Early Years Consultant in a publicly-funded school district in Ontario, Canada. Her ongoing academic interests include teacher mentorship, play-based kindergarten, and self-regulation. The common theme in all Teri’s work is supporting the ongoing learning of novice and experienced educators through co-regulating relationships.
Programming and Research
Christine Chin
Christine Chin moved from being a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian to a curriculum consultant and then to school administrator.
Her background is in French Immersion, and she remains dedicated to creating and nurturing collaborative learning cultures that support teachers, students, and their families.
Christine’s experiences have informed her understanding of how to support students who face specific challenges within the French Immersion setting.
Through her experience leading work for the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) and Literacy instruction, she has enjoyed the process of supporting teachers to further develop their skills and continue along their learning journeys. Her participation on the Leadership Team at The Mentoree has allowed her to be inspired by others and find creative ways to give back to her community.
Operations
We wrote a chapter on the power of mentorship, ,even when it’s virtual, in Mentorship for Wellbeing in Schools edited by Benjamin Kutsyuruba and Frances Kochan, published in 2024.
“Of particular interest for this edited volume is how mentoring can promote mental health, build resilience, and develop capacity to maintain and sustain emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing for all in the K-12 school settings.”
Advisory Council
Melissa Jensen MEd has enjoyed supporting educators in their professional learning and continues to do so as a retired educator. She is happy to share the expertise learned from her variety of teaching and leadership experiences as an educator. She is a strong advocate for self-selected professional learning and knows that she benefited greatly in her teaching career by learning from others outside her school and district.
Melissa Jensen
Kimberlee Johnston
Jason Lay
Shyama Sunder
Sunder is a reflective educator who brings a global mindset and strong organizational skills to her work in education. With over a decade of experience in project management and extensive international travel, Sunder approaches teaching and learning with intention, clarity, and an appreciation for diverse perspectives.
Beyond the classroom, Sunder has coached adults in the corporate world and regularly mentors student teachers, supporting growth through thoughtful guidance and real-world application.
Sunder is drawn to The Mentoree Advisory Council for its focus on mentorship, collaboration, and collective growth, and is motivated to help create spaces where educators—especially those early in their careers—feel supported, empowered, and heard.
Iolanda Volpe
Elisa Waingort
This is Elisa’s 40th year in education. She has been a classroom teacher in the elementary and middle grades, a curriculum coordinator, professional learning designer, and an English as an Other Language teacher. Elisa has taught in public and international schools in North and South America, and currently teaches grade 2 in a Spanish bilingual school in Calgary.
Elisa was drawn to The Mentoree because of her strong belief that we are all learners and we are all teachers. Only in community with other educators can we support each other to improve our teaching practices and to build capacity for the benefit of both teachers and students.
Rola is a teacher and principal who is committed to project-based learning as a means of amplifying both teachers’ and students’ voices. She supports authentic inquiry and action-driven problem-solving that extends from the classroom to the school community, and further into local and global contexts.
The Mentoree aligns with my belief that learning is grounded in connection, strengthening through meaningful relationships, and the co-creation of authentic opportunities that support shared growth and understanding.
Rola Tibshirani
Christine Ignas
Christine Ignas recently returned to a primary classroom after serving as a multilingual learner resource teacher. Her professional experience includes teaching abroad, co-chairing the English Resource Group of Ontario, and facilitating the Teaching ELLs AQ courses at York University.
Christine is drawn to The Mentoree because she values the knowledge, inspiration, and expertise she has gained from other educators throughout her career. She is motivated to continue the cycle by paying it forward.
Denise Furlong is now a proud assistant professor for Georgian Court University following over 25 years of teaching multilingual learners and mentoring their teachers in New Jersey public schools. In this position, she is the Director of Advanced Programs for Multilingual and Literacy Education and she also supervises local student teachers. She finds so much joy and positive purpose in these roles. She is author of Voices of Newcomers: Experiences of Multilingual Learners (EduMatch, 2022) and co-author of Learning First: Purpose and Practicality in Your Early Years of Teaching (Corwin, 2025).
Denise is so grateful to collaborate with and learn from the amazing educators who are part of The Mentoree!
Denise Furlong
Joe Persia
Joe Persia is an elementary school principal with more than 30 years of experience in education and advanced studies in student mental health, well-being, and self-regulation. He has taught students from kindergarten to post-secondary and worked extensively with children with learning and developmental exceptionalities.
Joe’s leadership is grounded in neuroscience, co-regulation, and resilience. He serves on his district’s Self-Reg Steering and Staff Wellness Committees and is dedicated to supporting educators and students through environments that foster safety and connection.
Joe’s work is informed by action research and lifelong learning, with Self-Reg® as a foundation for improving student outcomes and overall well-being. He is a Presenter and an Online Course Facilitator with The MEHRIT Ctr.
What draws him to the work of The Mentoree is that it’s about building capacity as well as mobilizing knowledge.
Our Story
The Mentoree began as a collaborative inquiry into the impact of a 1:1 self-directed mentorship experience on professional learning and student achievement. Through a phased approach, we created a community that supports 1:1 self-directed mentorship experiences as professional learning to strengthen teacher efficacy and impact student achievement. Our goal continues to be fostering responsive, reciprocal and non-hierarchical relationships mentorship practices.
Our Full Story
It all started with the OnEdMentors podcast — the longest running live show on voicEd Radio created to mentor preservice and new teachers. Today, vibrant and informative weekly discussions take place among passionate educators addressing questions, exploring perspectives and learning from each other.
In an effort to make mentorship more accessible to teachers at any stage of their career, Noa Daniel went to Leigh Cassell of Digital Human Library to help broaden the reach and impact of OnEdMentors by exploring how mentorship could be a primary source of professional learning and change for educators. They wondered how they could create a space where teachers could go when they wanted to learn and grow on their own terms and on their own time. Building on the name OnEdMentors, the vision for OnEdMentors Connect (OEMConnect) was formed in January 2018.
After engaging a small team of mentors and critical friends, Noa and Leigh launched a collaborative inquiry into the impact of a 1:1 self-directed mentorship experience on professional learning and student achievement. Through a progressive phased approach in the months that followed, our community continued to grow and evolve into the thriving community of mentorship available to educational professionals today.
Building on the success of OEMConnect, Noa and Leigh began imagining a space to house a variety of services that focus on mentorship for educational professionals. It wasn’t long before they were playing with names for this new space (one of Noa’s favourite things to do), like The Complimentary. What resonated most with the founders was the latter half the word Complementory because it sounded like the blending of mentor and mentee. Naming the organization The Mentoree would say everything they wanted it to.
The name represents a reciprocal, non-hierarchical mentorship community that blurs the lines between mentor and mentee. The Mentoree would focus on mentorship as a primary source of professional learning for educators at any stage in their career. We all have something to teach, and we all have something to learn.
Today, The Mentoree is run by a leadership team led by Noa, and it has become an even more collaborative community. We’ve extended our offerings beyond but including 1:1 Mentorship. What began as a small group of educators exploring mentorship has evolved into a thriving community of educators dedicated to learning from and with one another.
The success of The Mentoree would not have been possible without The Mentoree Leadership Team and the Mentors and Mentees who are actively engaged in the community, making it a more supportive and inspiring place for everyone.
We all have something to teach, and we all have something to learn.
Join Us!
– Noa Daniel, Christine Chin, and Teri Rubinoff
The Mentoree Leadership Team
