In 2016, Ratna Omidvar was appointed to the Senate of Canada as an independent Senator representing Ontario. From 2018 – 2019, she served as the Deputy Chair of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector. Senator Omidvar is currently the Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.
Susan Manwaring is a Partner and leads the Social Impact Group at Miller Thomson LLP. A recognized leader in advising social enterprises, charities and non-profits, Susan provides general counsel and specialized tax advice. Susan specializes in complex matters, advising on social enterprise and social finance issues.
Sharon Hobenshield, Ha-Youly, is a member of the Gitxsan First Nation on her Mother’s side and has Austrian-German ancestry on her Father’s side. Sharon has 25 years’ experience working on Coast Salish Territory as a social worker, educator and administrator. She is currently the Executive Director of Kw’umut Lelum Foundation, the first Indigenous led Foundation in Western Canada.
Rebecca Alfred, Charity Relationships Lead at Trellis Social Enterprise Inc. supports charities, hospital foundations, non-profits, and other organizations to find new online approaches to raising funds for the causes they care about. Rebecca’s supported hundreds of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events through her time at Trellis. She also holds specialized expertise in creating a seamless donor experience for signature events that allows organizations to raise more funds, engage donors, and save time while they’re doing it.
Wen-Chih O’Connell is the Executive Director of PayPal Giving Fund Canada, a Canadian registered charity that enables charitable giving online by partnering with tech companies such as PayPal, Facebook, GoFundMe and others – all without charging donors or charities for its services. Wen-Chih has 20 years’ experience in the charitable space that ranges from implementing grassroots, grant-funded community projects as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Kiribati, to developing and refining fundraising, partnership and community investment strategies for nonprofits, multinational corporations and large grantmaking foundations.
Heather loves fundraising, which is why she’s been working with charities, volunteers, and donors for more than 20 years. Over the course of her career, she’s demonstrated a deep expertise in corporate partnership with a unique approach that focuses on building relationships and ensuring mutual value. Heather built the corporate partner program at Food Banks Canada from scratch to be a $7M program and over the last 5 years has supported over 50 different charities and nonprofits at establishing and expanding corporate partner and sponsorship programs at their organizations.
Nicki Lamont Cholfe is a Digital Marketing and conversion UX guru focused on the charitable and non-profit sectors. Currently the Director of D2C Marketing at CanadaHelps, Nicki focuses on creating compelling interactive and emotionally persuasive experiences for Canadian donors. Nicki was previously the Director of Digital Marketing at Plan International Canada where she helped transform them into a digital-first organization, and before that spent a decade on agency-side helping clients of all sizes build a branded and powerful presence online.
Katie is a lawyer by training and an activist at heart. She’s passionate about using entrepreneurial tools for social impact. Currently, Katie leads strategy and partnerships at the CIO Strategy Council, a nonprofit focused on Canada’s digital transformation. In this role, she cofounded the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience. She also leads work on sustainable IT and responsible AI. You may also have crossed paths with Katie in her previous roles as general counsel in a national youth charity, as director of Social Enterprise for the Ontario government, or in her work at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing.
Omar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enkel Backoffice Solutions, which he founded in 2016. For over 15 years, Omar has been active in the Canadian taxation, strategic planning, audit advisory, and finance operations disciplines within senior roles at KPMG and BCAA. Prior to founding Enkel, Omar worked to launch BCAA’s Evo car-sharing business by managing the fleet operations and customer experience teams from launch to full-scale operations. Omar holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and is a qualified CPA, CA.
Rensia Melles is a certified Psychological Health and Safety advisor with over 20 years of experience managing and designing international employee support programs for fortune500 employers. She is a passionate advocate for creating a difference in the workplace for both employers and employees on the topic of mental health and psychological safety. She has published and presented internationally on a wide range of employee support topics, including leveraging the workplace for health, global trauma support, mental health and employer liability.
Nadia Bello is the Director of People and Culture at Park People, a unique national non-profit that supports and mobilizes community park groups, community organizers, non-profits, park professionals and funders to activate the power of parks. The role is an opportunity for her to bring all of her organization development, strategic human resources, talent management, facilitation, and adult development skills together in service of organisations that are all about strengthening community. As well as being a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) and Certified Canadian Human Resources Professional (CHRP), she hold a Master of Science in Organization Development (MSOD) from the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington DC.
Steve Lurie recently retired as the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto Branch, a post he held since 1979. Steve has written and lectured extensively on mental health policy issues. He was the principal author of the Graham Report, Building Community Support for People. He recently co-chaired the HQO Quality Standard on Schizophrenia Care in the Community and currently is the co-chair of the Toronto Police Service Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Panel.
Dr. Wendy Cukier is the Diversity Institute Founder, Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub and Research Lead of the Future Skills Centre. She is the co-author of the bestseller, Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Java to Jurassic Park and former VP of Research and Innovation. The Diversity Institute has 100 research staff, 100 research associates from around the world, 200 industry partners and focuses on dimensions of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, future skills, and entrepreneurship and innovation.
Jessie is a citizen of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). Leaning on wisdom gained from her lived experience, educational journey, professional practise, and elder teachings, she develops and delivers reconciliation and decolonization efforts that enhance Indigenous presence, voice, and capacity. Jessie achieves this by focusing on developing reciprocal and strategic partnerships across diverse sectors and industries that strengthen individual, community, and societal well-being.
Meet Josh Basile a C4-5 quadriplegic, power wheelchair user, disability rights advocate, and lawyer. In 2004 at the age of 18, Josh was paralyzed below the shoulders in a beach accident. Soon after he formed a 501(c)3 nonprofit to empower newly injured families. He created the world’s largest paralysis video mentoring network on SPINALpedia.com with 24,000 videos searchable by physical functionality. As a medical malpractice lawyer and disabilities rights advocate, Josh serves persons with disabilities both in the courtroom and through policy initiatives.
