RHONDA BAKER  

Administration & Outreach Manager

Rhonda Baker (she/her) is a graduate student in the Psychology program (Developmental Science area) at York University, working under the supervision of Dr. Lara Pierce at the Experience & Development Lab. She holds a BA with specialized honours in Psychology and a concentration in counselling and mental health (2022), and her Master’s thesis involved validating a thin-slice measure of maternal responsivity coded during free-play.

Rhonda’s current research is focused on caregiver responsivity, and the specific behaviours that facilitate early child development. She further examines and incorporates risk and protective factors into her work to understand how the broader socioeconomic context of families contribute to experiences of stressors and alter early caregiver-child relationships. To understand these relationships more deeply, she aims to incorporate qualitative methods into her work and examine the role of a secondary caregiver.

At CADA/East, Rhonda focuses on strategic planning, program development, grant writing, and research and consulting on the Professional Standards for Dance (PSD). She is also an alumna of Dance Arts Institute and has a background in dance performance and education. Through her dance career, she has been nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in Toronto (2014), and awarded the Lieutenant Governor Masterworks Arts Award in Nova Scotia (2016) for her contribution and performance in an ensemble dance work called Canvas 5 x 5, by the late Tedd Robinson.

Rhonda was the first CADA/East board member to join from outside of Ontario (2016/2017), advising on the needs and experiences of artists in the Atlantic region.

Connect with Rhonda at cadaeast.office@gmail.com