Our Team

DAN MARTIN

Director

Dan Martin brings over 30 years of experience in human services, with a career spanning child welfare, youth and adult mental health, and addictions. A graduate of McMaster University’s Social Work program, Dan has served in frontline, supervisory, and managerial roles across four child welfare agencies in Ontario, Canada, as well as in mental health and addictions services. He is the developer of the HEERO Model, a framework designed to strengthen resilience, belonging, and healing, which he now trains and advances across Canada, the U.S., and internationally. Dan’s work is grounded in a commitment to transform systems and equip practitioners with practical tools that honor the voices of children, youth, and families. He continues to bridge experience, innovation, and collaboration to build communities where safety and connection can thrive.

Co-author Where Social Work Can Lead You: Journeys into, around, and even out of social work.

RAVEN BARTMAN

Senior Staff Peer Navigator/ International Consultant

My name is Raven Bartman. I live in Ontario, Canada. I grew up in the Ontario foster care system as a Crown Ward until ageing out at twenty-one years old. I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work. Other areas that interest me include Indigenous studies and Gender and Women’s studies. I joined HEERO a number of years ago. I am passionate about our youth and children in care. There is an unspoken bond that is really incredible – a will and a want by those youth with lived experience to see youth in and from care do better; they are deserving of that better outcome. I am fortunate to walk alongside our participants as they gain a deeper sense of worthiness and connection. Not only do I aid in the process as a peer navigator but I have also completed the HEERO workshops first hand. This process allowed me to create my own network of individuals outside of the Children’s Aid Society. HEERO gave me an opportunity to be supported. I was able to heal the parts of myself that felt like I had to do life on my own. I now have a support system of my own choosing that I can and do fall back on. 

ALICIA JOHNSON

Senior Staff Peer Navigator/ International Consultant

Hi my name is Alicia Johnson and I live in a little town called Forest, Ontario.  I’m currently working in a group home supporting adults with disabilities. I first came into foster care when I was 3 years old and am now a former crown ward. I am a very intuitive person and a great problem solver; very quick to pick up little details and look beyond the surface. This allows me to think outside the box and often times above and beyond what is right in front of me to find a solution to the problem at hand. I’ve been with HEERO for a number of years now. For me, HEERO has been a very transformative experience in more than one way. HEERO has helped connect me with relationships that I never thought were possible or that I was worthy of and has also helped me to grow my self-confidence as well as my self-worth. I enjoy the opportunity as a peer navigator to help other youth see their strengths and move them toward network and support. HEERO is something I would recommend for everyone, not just current youth/former youth in care.