Gary Thandi

Gary Thandi BSW, MSW

Gary has 20 years’ experience, having worked as a probation officer, counsellor, hospital social worker, program manager, researcher, clinical supervisor and Executive Director. He is currently the Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor of a non-profit collaborative called Moving Forward Family Services (MFFS), which provides low barrier counselling and support services to residents of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

MFFS is a mentorship agency – providing counselling and social work practice opportunities to interns and new graduates beginning private practice. The agency employs supervisors, who are able to provide supervision and support to a team of 125 part-time counsellors, social workers and interns on post-secondary practicums, who then provide thousands of hours of support per month to vulnerable communities. The agency’s unique model allows it to offer timely, affordable (including free) counselling and support without being bound by restrictions based on gender, age, geography or presenting issues. It also allows MFFS to complement existing services (as opposed to competing with them for the same pools of traditional funding) thus reducing pressures on these services.

Gary is a widowed father of two boys and lives in Surrey, British Columbia.