Why We Built Safe Pathways
We’re Stephanie and Steve Joneslee—a pastor and entrepreneur who’ve spent years on the front lines of children’s ministry and organizational safeguarding.
We kept seeing the same problem. Churches knew what safeguarding required: the training, the policies, the police checks. But knowledge wasn’t the gap. Implementation was. Volunteers didn’t want to keep serving because they didn’t want to sit through hours of training yet again. References didn’t get completed because no one had time to chase them. Volunteers started serving before their checks came back because the church needed the help. Policies sat in a filing cabinet because no one knew how to make them real.
When Steve helped the United Nations develop its system-wide Zero Tolerance of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policy suite and e-learning course, the same pattern emerged at international scale: knowing what to do and actually getting it done consistently are two entirely different problems. The organizations that succeeded weren’t the ones with the best manuals—they were the ones that changed the culture, made safeguarding visible, and automated the systems so nothing depended on one person remembering to follow up.
That’s what Safe Pathways is. Not another manual. Not another training program. A platform that closes the gap between what’s written in your policy and what actually happens during ministry.
Meet our team.
Husband & wife Co-Founders.
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Pastor Stephanie (Registered Early Childhood Educator) translates the art and science of early childhood development into clear, role-specific training for church volunteers. With an Early Childhood Education diploma, an honours bachelor’s degree in ECE, and a Master’s in Early Childhood Studies where she explored how children construct identity and belonging, she channels rigorous research into the micro-learning pathways and policy templates.
Over more than a decade on the front lines of pastoral care she has managed six-figure children’s ministry budgets, led volunteer teams, taught in licensed daycare classrooms, provided one-on-one family support as a nanny and parent-relief worker, and partnered with public schools to embed age-appropriate safeguards. Stephanie has also developed concise courses that equip pastors to weave truth and reconciliation principles and robust duty-of-care standards into everyday ministry practice.
Certified in Mental Health First Aid, First Aid and CPR, the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool, and High Five quality assurance, she ensures every Safe Pathway lesson is trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate, and ready for Sunday morning reality.
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Steve transforms world-class safeguarding standards into streamlined, evidence-backed processes that churches can implement with confidence. He helped the United Nations develop its system-wide Zero Tolerance of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policy suite and e-learning course, experience that now informs the evidentiary standards Safe Pathways builds into every volunteer pathway.
Founder of a Canadian charity Finance Engage Sustain (FES), Steve created and delivered engaging education - both in-person and online - to more than 500 high schools, colleges, and universities in all 13 Canadian provinces and territories, reaching over 100,000 trainees. The mastery-based micro-learning model he pioneered there sits at the core of Safe Pathways digital curriculum.
Steve has also served as committee member, board director, and elder in congregations ranging from church plants to multi-sites, giving him an insider’s grasp of pastoral realities and governance.
A Certified Fund Raising Executive, University of Toronto science graduate, and owner of a strategy consultancy, Steve has served clients like the United Nations, governments, foundations, and nonprofits.