Deb Canja

Deb Canja is a spiritual teacher dedicated to removing the obstacles that prevent us from experiencing self-love and inner peace. She was ordained on Aug. 22, 2020, as the CMC's 122nd Minister. She serves on the CMC Board of Directors and teaches a class focused on the ACIM Text using the Circle of Atonement edition. Deb has spent years studying many spiritual masters and healers and knows that the key to realizing a life of joy, abundance and success is already within each of us. She helps others find their path to success and happiness with gentle guidance and a few simple strategies that build bridges to inner wisdom and connection to the truth of who they are.

Deb is also the founder and CEO of Bridges4Kids, a national, non-profit organization providing online information for parents and professionals seeking help for kids from birth through college. Prior to founding Bridges4Kids, she served as the Executive Director of Michigan’s Parent Training and Information Center where she used her legal background in civil rights to teach parents how to successfully advocate for children with special needs. 

At 15 she was led to the decision to become a lawyer dedicated to working within government to bring about positive change from the inside out. As a Michigan Assistant Attorney General, and later a Deputy General Counsel, she protected the public by regulating insurance and lending services, and by defending laws that protect consumers.

She also served as a volunteer, elected trustee of a large community college and championed programs to make education affordable and accessible for all.
 
A best-selling author, her first book was written with her mother Tess, about helping adults discover how to encourage a success mindset in young boys. Swim the Lake Before You Row the Boat describes how to awaken a boy’s success identity, unleash his confidence and give him the foundation for a great life. At the same time, it encourages parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches and mentors to lighten up on themselves, embrace do-overs, and focus their efforts where it really matters. She is also a contributor to two other best-selling books, The Success Code: Ordinary Habits/ Extraordinary Results, and Transforming Your Life, Vol. 3.