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Hello, I’m Kari.
My name is Norwegian, like my father. It rhymes with Mary, cherry, berry, and fairy. Kari is the God of Wind in the Seidr tradition of Scandinavian mythology.
I was born in Vancouver, BC on February 2 (known by some as Groundhog Day) in 1971 to a teenage mother and given up for adoption at birth. I was adopted into an established family with 3 brothers who are 10, 15, and 18 years older than me. A genealogy test revealed that my genetic origins are British, Dutch, French, and Iberian.
I started dance training early – at age 3, and became a competition dancer at age 5. I won more than 250 dance medals and 50 trophies. I won the BC Provincial Championship at age 11 and again at age 12. I left home at the young age of 15 when the pressure to compete at an international level became overwhelming.
I went to Windermere Secondary for grade 8, Killarney Secondary for grades 9-12 and I graduated high school in June of 1989. Soon after, I attended Dalhousie University in Halifax where I did my undergraduate degree – which included a French Immersion semester at the Cégep de Jonquière and a study abroad semester of Art History in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic.
After returning home to Vancouver, I completed coursework in Grant Writing through the Hollyhock Institute for Social Change and later went on to do a postgraduate diploma in Counselling Psychology followed by an additional year of study under Dr. Gabor Maté.
I currently work in Philanthropy at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.
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With immense gratitude, I live, work, learn and unlearn on the unceded Coast Salish territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.