Our team

AQED is run almost entirely by volunteers. Its management is divided between a board of directors and an administrative director. The people who work within the association are part of committees overseeing various projects and mandates.

Board of directors

Marine Dumond-Després, chair

Marine is first and foremost a mother of two homeschooled children. For her, learning as a family is a logical decision allowing her to spend quality time with her children and to follow their pace and interests.

In 2017, she completed her master's degree in educational administration focusing on social norms in family learning support groups,  and she is currently preparing a doctorate on the socialization of family-educated youths at the Université de Montréal. She is also co-founder of an activity group for out-of-school children in the Montreal area.

Marine has served as chair of AQED’s board of directors since March 2020. Among her many responsibilities, she is in charge of relations with the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison.

Émilie Vallière, vice-chair

How to describe Emilie... First of all, she does nothing like everybody else. She's a creative girl with her head in the clouds. Overflowing with imagination and always ready to seek solutions, she loves helping others, but above all, defending her convictions! She gets involved in everything and loves to move things forward with her various roles.

Emilie is AQED's regional representative for the Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean region and a new member of its Board of Directors.  She wants to be there for a long time, because when she does something, she doesn't give up! She is a stay-at-home mom of three boys.  The eldest, Colin, is autistic, Arthur has a language disorder and the youngest, who is still just a baby, is just too cute.

To Emilie, homeschooling equals peace of mind. As soon as she knew it was possible in Quebec, when her eldest was only 3 years old, homeschooling became an obvious goal for her and her family. Thus, since 2017, she is immersed in the adventure of homeschooling with her autistic son who recently started following the CAPS program, adapted for children with special needs.

Tanya Gagné, treasurer

As a mother of three homeschooled children who have never attended school, Tanya enjoys getting involved in causes that are dear to her heart. For her, family education is an important right that needs to be protected. This way, all families can choose to live this adventure together, an experience to which Tanya believes few things can compare.

Tanya began her involvement with the association by volunteering with the team providing support to members. In May 2019, she became a member of AQED's board of directors. She serves as treasurer.

Emilie Salesse Gauthier, director

Emilie had not anticipated that homeschooling would be part of her life. Top of the class in her youth, a model and docile student, school seemed to be the way to go without saying. There were a few slow moments and times of exasperation, but nothing that justified questioning the established order.

Then, pregnant with her second child, she attended a conference on unschooling at a congress of La Leche League. What a reveal! She felt completely attracted to this way of life. She had the right profile: a bit of an environmentalist (project manager in a renewable energy association), a follower of positive parenting (mothering, prolonged breastfeeding), children not in daycare… And from research to research, the magic happened!

Now a mother of four, none of which went to school. She loves spending time with her kids and learning with them. She is very active in her region and community. She organizes art workshops, sports classes and conferences. She is best known for the hybrid co-operative-style shared education models she has developed in the Outaouais. She has been AQED’s representative for this region since 2018. She joined the AQED Board of Directors in October 2020.

Marie-Ève Trudel, director

Marie Ève has devoted a large part of her life, both in her studies and in her work, to the field of childhood. It is a field that was later transposed into her daily life. Having become a mother, she chose to turn to homeschooling in order to meet her child's needs. What was supposed to be temporary became permanent. This change was THE missing piece of the puzzle for her family and their way of life. 

Over time, she discovered a passion for it! A passion that grows stronger and stronger every day. So much so that she spends sleepless nights reading about different teaching methods and styles, about different pedagogical approaches, searching for and creating tons of teaching activities, and so on.

After a few years of homeschooling, she decides to get involved in the association, first of all in the member support team, which eventually leads her to the Board of Directors.

Marie-Jo Demers, director

Marie-jo is the mother of two beautiful and gifted boys who are learning differently. Wishing to promote the sharing of information, research advances and best practices concerning everything related to DYS (dyslexia, dysorthographia, dyscalculia, dysphasia, dyspraxia), she founded the DYS Knowledge Center page on Facebook. An accomplished manager, she has proven herself in several fields. Whether in project management, web design, operations management, customer satisfaction, writing... she has many tricks up her sleeve! 

Life led her to discover homeschooling and alternative pedagogies in 2014. Although the experience was short-lived, she remained within this network and finally returned to it fully in 2019. She is happy to be able to contribute to the growth of homeschooling in Quebec!

Administrative management

Noémi Berlus, executive director

Mother of two elementary-aged children, Noémi and her husband have been homeschooling since 2013. In 2015 they discovered the joys of independent learning. Founder of two companies and management consultant for multinational companies, Noémi helps large companies solve their problems and better organize themselves.

Noémi has been on AQED's board of directors since May 2016 and was president from November 2016 to November 2018.  She has been the director of the association since January 2019.

Committees

• Welcome to new members
• Member support
• Recruitment and volunteer recognition
• Public relations
• Political action
• Content creation and communications
• Research, studies, and statistics
• Administration