Kelly Chahal
Kuldeep Kelly Chahal is a Probation Officer who works with individuals who are sentenced to community corrections in order to facilitate interventions to allow offenders to change their criminal behaviours to pro social behaviors. Chahal believes understanding and being responsive to an individual’s needs allows for real change and has adhered to this philosophy throughout her life. Whether working in race relations or developing programs for Indigenous offenders, her knowledge and experience allowed her to be a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013) for connecting communities. Chahal has used her passion for civic development and advocating social justice issues by serving her community as a City Councillor for the past two terms. Chahal is also an adjudicator in Federal Institutions, where she presides as an Independent Chairperson over Serious Court. Chahal’s training in criminal and social justice along with her work in diversity issues, have led to her interests or research foci which include: Indigenous, diversity training, perceptions of Elders in criminal justice, and responsive interventions. Chahal’s current research will investigate how criminal justice organizations respond to diverse populations. This research aims to assist offender recidivism, development and facilitation of responsive interventions, and cultural training policies and practices. Chahal holds a Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in 1994 and a Master’s of Criminal Justice from UFV in 2011.
