Norah Kennedy

On her retirement as executive director of Family Transition Place, Norah Kennedy leaves with only one regret: the work she has embraced so passionately for 17 years is just as urgent as ever. 

“While awareness of violence against women is greater than in years past, per capita rates of abuse are not declining,” she says. As this region’s population burgeoned, Norah oversaw the growth of FTP’s annual budget from $1 million to $5 million, a staff that blossomed from 20 to 60, and an expansion of its Orangeville facility. 

Norah says one of the common misconceptions about violence against women is the idea that “It doesn’t happen to people like me,” and the corollary that “Good girls don’t get involved in things like this.” In fact, domestic violence crosses all socioeconomic and cultural lines. Also commonly misguided is the question: “Why didn’t she just leave?” In reality, the reasons for not leaving are many, including financial dependence, social isolation or shame, and fear of retribution by the violent partner. What’s more, abusive partners often apologize and promise things will change. Norah says, “On average, a woman will leave seven times before it sticks.”

Currently, she says, about 100 women pass through the emergency shelter each year, “with at least that many kids.” In addition to providing a place to stay, FTP offers help with counselling, transportation, support in the legal process, second-stage housing, employment and financial planning assistance, along with a variety of community outreach programs. There are also some programs for men, and FTP’s in-school youth education program reaches 1,500 students a year.

Norah had an unusual path to the FTP director’s chair. In the first decade of her career she worked as an actor, and that led to a stint as a sign language interpreter, first on stage and then in a job with the Canadian Hearing Society in Kitchener, where she took an interest in management. That nonprofit management experience made Norah a good fit when the executive director’s job at FTP became available, so she packed up her family and moved back into what was once her parents’ home in Mulmur. Within months of becoming director, she says, “I knew I had found my passion.” 

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Norah says she is most proud of the dedicated team of people who will carry FTP forward. The strength of that team was especially put to the test during the pandemic when, she says, “Never mind learning to pivot. We had to learn to pirouette.” And it’s a team that supports each other when the going gets tough, most tragically on two occasions when a client’s life was taken by her domestic partner. 

As to her own future, Norah says she’s “looking forward to slowing down a little.” Still, spending time in her garden and with family won’t be the only way she fills her days. She has also started a business providing one-on-one coaching to executives on values-based leadership.

Asked what her career at FTP has taught her, Norah reflects for a moment before answering: “Courage, hope and resilience.”