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Phyllis Yaffe

Chair

Ms. Yaffe has held a number of strategic positions in film and television in Canada since the 1980s including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc.  Most recently, she served as Consul General to New York for the Government of Canada from July 2016 through December 2019.  In addition to being Chair of the Board of the Cineplex Entertainment Inc. she currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Ant Media, a privately held Canadian media company. She has previously served on the boards of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Torstar Corporation and Astral Media Inc. In 1999, Ms. Yaffe was selected as the Canadian Women in Communications Woman of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Film and Television in 2000. In 2006, she was included in the Women’s Executive Network’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women; in 2007, she was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Hall of Fame; in 2015, she was honoured as a recipient of the Order of Canada.  In her volunteer time, Ms. Yaffe has previously served on the Boards of Directors for Baycrest Health Sciences and Women Against Multiple Sclerosis, as well as the Chair of the Board of Governors for Ryerson University.
 


Eval(

Lisa Raitt

Vice-Chair

The Honourable Lisa Raitt joined CIBC Capital Markets in January 2020, having previously worked in both the public and private sectors. Ms. Raitt’s current focus is on senior client coverage and business development with clients in the energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors, which align closely with her deep expertise.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Raitt was the President and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority. She was elected into the House of Commons in 2008, where she went on to hold three senior portfolios serving as Minister of Natural Resources, Minister of Labour, and Minister of Transport. Most recently, Ms. Raitt was the Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition and the Conservative Party of Canada.

Ms. Raitt holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Guelph. She possesses an LL.B from Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario bar in 1998. In 2020 Ms. Raitt was named a Woodrow Wilson Center Global Fellow of the Canada Institute.


Eval(

Dr. Jane Barratt

 

Dr. Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing comprising government and non government members in 62 countries and representing some 50 million older people. She brings to this position over 35 years experience in both public and private sectors in the fields of public health, community and aged care, and ageing and disability. Dr. Barratt has strived to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector in order to help shape and influence policy to improve the quality of life of older people.

This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of policy related ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses globally. Dr Barratt is a strong contributor to the international dialogue on the intersection of social, cultural and physical environments that impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct academic positions internationally serve to strengthen her interest in the study of mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people, quality care standards for patient care and the rights of older people.

Dr. Barratt is a Churchill Fellow, representative of the IFA at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and directly responsible for the formal relations with the Ageing and Life Course Department, World Health Organization. She holds executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors internationally and has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.

Dr. Barratt is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors. She is Chair of Baycrest’s Education Advisory Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee.


Eval(

Ilsa Blidner

Chair, Baycrest Foundation

Ilsa Blidner assumed the position of Board Chair, Baycrest Foundation in September 2022. Ilsa has and continues to serve on a number of Boards and committees. Ilsa is a member of the Foundation Board, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. In the health sector, Ilsa serves on advisory and governing bodies at the Provincial level with Ontario Health-CorHealth, and at the Toronto regional level with Ontario’s Stroke System. She is currently Chair of the Toronto Stroke Networks’ Steering Committee and is Chair of the Toronto West Stroke Network. Ilsa served on the Board of the Ontario Stroke Network where she held positions as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of its Governance committee. She was Chair of the Toronto District Health Council; she served United Way of Greater Toronto as Chair of an Allocations Panel; she served on the National board of the Canadian Evaluation Society and as Chair of Ontario Chapter Board.

Ilsa’s professional career began in clinical research in Neonatology at McMaster University. She then held an academic position at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine where she provided consulting services to clinical and applied researchers. Following this, she formed Ilsa Blidner Consulting Inc., a Toronto-based practice specializing in consultation and training in the areas of strategic planning, quality and performance assessment, applied social research and policy development for the health and social services sectors. Ilsa’s primary focus was to enhance organizational capacity for planning and performance assessment and to use evaluation and data for decision-making and policy development.


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Jeffrey Blidner

 

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


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Ken Dryden

 

Ken Dryden was a Member of Parliament and was Minister of Social Development in the Martin government. He played goal for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1970s, during which time the team won six Stanley Cups, and was a member of Team Canada 1972. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and is the author of six books, including The Game and, most recently, Becoming Canada. He teaches at McGill, Calgary, Ryerson, Saskatchewan and Memorial universities. He and his wife, Lynda, live in Toronto and have two children.

Mr. Dryden is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors.


Eval(

Len Fishman

 

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


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Paul Godfrey

 

Mr. Godfrey is the Executive Chairman of Postmedia Network.

Prior to this he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Postmedia Network from July 2010 to November 2017 and was Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from November 2017 to January 2019. Postmedia Network is a Canadian news media company representing more than 125 brands across multiple print, online, and mobile platforms. Prior to the start of Postmedia Network Inc., Paul Godfrey served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Post from January 2009 to July 2010.

Mr. Godfrey was appointed Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) by the Ontario Provincial Cabinet and served in this role from January, 2010 to May, 2013.

Mr. Godfrey is a life-long Torontonian.  He attended Bathurst Heights Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1962 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering.

Mr. Godfrey’s career encompasses long stints in the publishing business, professional sports management and politics.

Mr. Godfrey entered politics in the previously known Borough of North York.  He was elected a Councillor in 1964 and an Alderman in 1966 and 1969.  He was appointed Controller in 1970 and was re-elected to that position in the general election in 1972.  In 1973, Mr. Godfrey was elected by the Metropolitan Toronto Council as its Chairman.  This was prior to the 1998 amalgamation of the City of Toronto.  Mr. Godfrey held this position, known as Metro Chairman, for four terms - a record 11 years.

In August 1984, Mr. Godfrey left the political world to take on the role as Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Sun newspaper.  In April 1991, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation and, on November 5, 1992, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.  In 1996, Mr. Godfrey successfully headed up a management-led buy-out of the company and the Sun Media Corporation was subsequently formed in October, 1996.  Mr. Godfrey held the position of President and C.E.O. of Sun Media Corporation until his departure on June 30, 2000.

Following Rogers’ purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Mr. Godfrey was appointed the Club’s President and Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2000.  Mr. Godfrey was previously involved with the Club, as he was part of the group (during his career as Metro Chairman) which lobbied to bring a Major League Baseball club to Toronto, a dream that was realized when the Blue Jays played and won their first home game on April 7, 1977 at Exhibition Stadium on a snowy day.  

In September, 2008, Mr. Godfrey announced his decision to leave his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre at the end of that year.

Mr. Godfrey serves on the following boards:

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust   
Chairman

Cargojet Inc.
Director

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Vice-Chair

Mr. Godfrey was Chairman of the Molson Indy Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2005 and also Chairman of its successor, the Grand Prix Charitable Foundation of Toronto, from 2006 to 2007.

Mr. Godfrey is a great fan of the National Football League and he continues to pursue, on behalf of Toronto, an NFL franchise for this wonderful city.

Mr. Godfrey has received many honours.  In 1990, he received the City of Toronto’s highest award, the Civic Award of Merit.  In 1998, Mr. Godfrey received the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada.     In 1999, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.  In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctorate (Hon.D.Eng). from Ryerson University.  In 2004, Mr. Godfrey was honoured to receive the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumni Medal.  In January 2010, Mr. Godfrey received Ontario’s Highest Honour – the Order of Ontario.

He was the Salvation Army’s National Spokesperson from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Godfrey is married to the artist, Gina Godfrey. They have three sons, Rob, Noah and Jay and nine grandchildren.


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Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Sheldon Levy

 

Sheldon Levy is a higher education leader and visionary with a passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy. Sheldon has been an instrumental figure in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in the last decade, spearheading the creation of such organizations as Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, and Scale Up Ventures, Inc.

As President and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University from 2005 to 2015, Sheldon drove the creation of the Digital Media Zone (DMZ), an early-stage incubator for student entrepreneurs which has since become an international success. He is also a founder and advisor to Ryerson Futures Inc., an accelerator that has exported the DMZ concept to such locations as Calgary and Mumbai.

From 2015 to 2017 Sheldon served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, where he helped prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Ontario’s postsecondary education and training system. In 2017 he became CEO of NEXT Canada, an organization that provides mentorship, education, networks and funding to Canada’s most promising entrepreneurs.

In December 2018, Sheldon was appointed Special Advisor to Canada’s Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, Mary Ng, on the issue of scaling up small and medium-sized businesses.

Sheldon recently joined the Board of Directors of Baycrest Health Sciences.

Sheldon previously served as President of Oakville’s Sheridan College from 1997 to 2001, overseeing the growth of its renowned animation department during the early years of computer-generated imaging. Sheldon’s other prior positions have included Vice President Finance and Strategy, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Vice President of Governmental and Institutional Relations, University of Toronto; and Vice President Institutional Affairs, York University. Sheldon recently received The Order of Canada.


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Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Graeme Prior

 

 
 
 
Mr Graeme Prior is the co-founder and CEO of Hall & Prior; which began with a single family-owned nursing home and now operates 31 aged care communities and 2 home care services across Australia, offering world-class care to over 1000 clients and employing approximately 2,500 permanent staff.
 
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a chartered accountant. Having worked with the top four international accounting firms Mr Prior recognised his passion for aged care while running his own accounting practice. Giving back to the local community while advocating for aged care globally has always been the cornerstone of his business ethos.
 
Along with his passion for the industry he has an innate understanding of the issues facing aged care; his commitment to supporting research and education and significant sector investment, including designing and building new, world-class aged care homes that respond to Australia’s growing demand for quality aged care choices in both workforce and care outcomes. 
 
His current positions include; President of International Federation on Ageing (UN Auspice Organisation based in Toronto), with a focus on delivering global outcomes in aged care; Board Member of Baycrest Health Sciences; Deputy Chairman of the CRC for Mental Health and Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee; Director of the Australian Aged Care Workforce Industry Council; Committee Member of the Commonwealth Department of Health’s Aged Care Sector Committee (Ministerial Appointment); Chairman of Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, Board Member of ADNeT Ltd (Australian Dementia Network Ltd), Member of the Steering Committee National Comprehensive Dementia Centre and Member of the National Aged Care Advisory Council. 
 
 


Eval(

Saäd Rafi

 

Saäd Rafi has gained a well earned reputation as someone who goes into challenging departments and organizational situations with a commitment to deliver more resilient organizations and better results for Ontarians. He has been tapped to start new businesses — be that in Infrastructure Advisory or Pension management. As a result, Rafi has developed strong knowledge and experience in change management leadership, operations management, strategic infrastructure deployment, financial administration and governance. Mr. Rafi spent over 24 years in senior positions in the Ontario Public Service. He has also held leadership positions in Infrastructure Advisory and Project Finance and as the National Government and Public Services leader, both as a Partner at Deloitte LLP. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of the
Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administrative Corporation (ORPPAC) where he was responsible for
starting up Ontario’s attempt at a provincial pension plan. Other former positions include: Chief Executive
Officer of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee. His public service leadership roles included: Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Deputy Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Transportation, and the Deputy Minister of Community Safety. Mr. Rafi graduated from Carleton University in 1983 with a B.A. in Law and then went on to earn a M.A. in Public Administration in 1988. Rafi also is a member of the Board of Governors for Sick Kids Hospital, a Board Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vice Chair of Trent University’s Board of Governors.
 


Eval(

Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


Executive Team Board Minutes
Eval(

Barry Cracower

Chair

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Dr. Jane Barratt

 

Dr. Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing comprising government and non government members in 62 countries and representing some 50 million older people. She brings to this position over 35 years experience in both public and private sectors in the fields of public health, community and aged care, and ageing and disability. Dr. Barratt has strived to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector in order to help shape and influence policy to improve the quality of life of older people.

This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of policy related ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses globally. Dr Barratt is a strong contributor to the international dialogue on the intersection of social, cultural and physical environments that impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct academic positions internationally serve to strengthen her interest in the study of mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people, quality care standards for patient care and the rights of older people.

Dr. Barratt is a Churchill Fellow, representative of the IFA at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and directly responsible for the formal relations with the Ageing and Life Course Department, World Health Organization. She holds executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors internationally and has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.

Dr. Barratt is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors. She is Chair of Baycrest’s Education Advisory Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee.


Eval(

Jeffrey Blidner

 

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


Eval(

Ilsa Blidner

 

Ilsa Blidner assumed the position of Board Chair, Baycrest Foundation in September 2022. Ilsa has and continues to serve on a number of Boards and committees. Ilsa is a member of the Foundation Board, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. In the health sector, Ilsa serves on advisory and governing bodies at the Provincial level with Ontario Health-CorHealth, and at the Toronto regional level with Ontario’s Stroke System. She is currently Chair of the Toronto Stroke Networks’ Steering Committee and is Chair of the Toronto West Stroke Network. Ilsa served on the Board of the Ontario Stroke Network where she held positions as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of its Governance committee. She was Chair of the Toronto District Health Council; she served United Way of Greater Toronto as Chair of an Allocations Panel; she served on the National board of the Canadian Evaluation Society and as Chair of Ontario Chapter Board.

Ilsa’s professional career began in clinical research in Neonatology at McMaster University. She then held an academic position at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine where she provided consulting services to clinical and applied researchers. Following this, she formed Ilsa Blidner Consulting Inc., a Toronto-based practice specializing in consultation and training in the areas of strategic planning, quality and performance assessment, applied social research and policy development for the health and social services sectors. Ilsa’s primary focus was to enhance organizational capacity for planning and performance assessment and to use evaluation and data for decision-making and policy development.


Eval(

Len Fishman

 

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


Eval(

David Green

 

David Green is a semi-retired business person with a broad background in numerous aspects of real estate.  Both alone and with various family companies, David has developed, built and managed multi-family residential buildings, industrial buildings and office buildings in Toronto and South Florida.   David is currently active in community affairs, having served in Board of Directors and/or Committee capacities the UJA, Baycrest Health Sciences, Miles Nadal JCC, YMCA-GTA and Canadian Friends of Kishorit.  He is the founder and chairman of Canadian Friends of Rambam Health Care Campus (Haifa).  David holds an M.A. degree in Urban Geography from the University of Chicago.   He is a 5th dan Karate student of the late Masami Tsuruoka.  David enjoys fishing and cottage life and lives in downtown Toronto with his wife, Daphne Wagner and children Lita and Michael.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO, BSC

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


Eval(

Joni Kent

President & Chief Human Resource Officer, BCGC

Joni Kent is Baycrest’s President Corporate Services and Chief Human Resources Officer. Joni has responsibility for Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, Occupational Health and Safety, Volunteer Services, Legal Services, Strategy, Stakeholder Relations, Redevelopment, Support Services and Food Services.

Prior to joining Baycrest in 2006, Joni was Vice President, Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa for six years. Prior to this, Joni was at University Health Network as the Director, Employee Relations and with the Greater Niagara General Hospital as Director, Human Resources.

Joni previously practiced law in Toronto for five years with Mathews, Dinsdale and Clark.

Joni grew up in Montreal, graduated from McGill University in Industrial Relations in 1987 and graduated from The University of Western Ontario in Law in 1990. Joni is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada


Eval(

Brian Mirsky

Chair

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Dr. Amy O. Flaster

 

Amy Flaster, M.D., M.B.A. is a physician executive, value-based care strategist, and practicing internal medicine physician. Dr. Flaster has focused her career on leveraging clinical innovation, data, and technology to improve clinical outcomes, champion patient-centered care, and lower the cost of care. She is passionate about work at the intersection of population health, value-based care, primary care, and digital innovation.

At ConcertoCare, Dr. Flaster serves as Chief Medical Officer and oversees the strategy and operations of the company. ConcertoCare delivers primary and complex care to seniors and other adults with multiple comorbidities, primarily in the home. The company delivers a human-first, tech-enabled model of care powered by a proprietary population health and analytics engine. ConcertoCare takes an intensive, interdisciplinary approach, staffed by internists, geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and community health workers. ConcertoCare is exclusively engaged in value-based capitated arrangements, enabling it to deliver cutting-edge population health at scale across the United States.

Prior to joining ConcertoHealth in 2021, Dr. Flaster served as the Senior Vice President for Population Health at Health Catalyst, a leading healthcare data and analytics company (NASDAQ: HCAT). There, she led a team that worked with large integrated delivery systems, Accountable Care Organizations and Clinically Integrated Networks throughout North America on their journey to leverage data and analytics to support alternative payment model adoption. Dr. Flaster also previously served as Associate Medical Director of Population Health at Mass General Brigham (MGB), a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician network that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among others. In this role, she managed a portfolio of clinical population health programs to drive healthcare transformation across the network. This included the nationally recognized Integrated Care Management Program (iCMP), clinical oversight of the self-insured health plan at MGB (the largest private employer in Massachusetts), and a range of Medicaid programming for the system, including launching an ED Navigation program focused on vulnerable Medicaid patients that are frequent utilizers of the Emergency Departments.

Prior to her work at MGB, Dr. Flaster co-founded myProxy, Inc., which developed the TrueNorth Healthcare platform (acquired 2019) to engage patients and surrogate decision makers in advance care planning. She also previously worked for the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization, the World Health Organization, and has provided consulting services to healthcare delivery organizations and venture capital incubators.. Dr. Flaster also serves as course director for “Value Based Care and Population Health Management” at Harvard Medical School. She continues to practice internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Flaster completed a BA from Dartmouth College, an MD at Harvard Medical School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine in the Primary Care track at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is board certified in Internal Medicine. She was raised in Thornhill, Ontario, volunteered at Baycrest Hospital as a student. She now lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.


Eval(

Barbra Gold

 

Since the 2015 merge of the health care organizations in Quebec, until November 2021, Barbra Gold has been the Director of the Support Program for the Autonomy of Seniors for the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal. In this role, Ms. Gold was responsible for long-term care facilities, home care and intermediate resources for our territory.

At the present time, this includes 1,177 skilled nursing home beds located on seven sites, 313 intermediate resource beds on four sites and one million direct hours of homecare for an annual budget of $180 million dollars. In addition, she was responsible for ensuring the quality of care at four different private facilities (550 beds).

Ms. Gold began her career in 1979, working in various administrative positions at the Jewish General Hospital. In 1991, she was hired as Executive Director of the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre, and took on the additional role of Executive Director at Jewish Eldercare in 2005. Under her leadership, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare received a number of national awards and recognition for patient-centered care. Both were the first long-term care centres in North America to receive gold designation, which is the highest level of designation from Planetree – an international organization focused on patient-centred health care (2013).

In 2015, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare were merged with seven other healthcare organizations to form the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal, which serves a population base of 380,000 people and a budget of $800 million dollars. From 2009 until 2011, Ms. Gold served as President of the Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Gold has a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa.


Eval(

Gordon Nelson

 

Gord Nelson joined Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1988 and has held various successive financial roles. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (predecessor entity to Cineplex Inc.) in 2004. Mr. Nelson oversees the finance, purchasing, risk management, legal and corporate development areas of the company. Mr. Nelson holds an MBA from the University of Toronto as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Mr. Nelson was named Canada’s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International – Canada, PwC and Robert Half.


Eval(

Scott Ovenden

President

Scott Ovenden is the President & CEO of the Baycrest Hospital and the President of The Baycrest Day Care Centre. Since joining Baycrest in 2016, Scott has held a number of leadership positions including Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Chief Operating Officer of Baycrest Global Solutions and most recently, Executive Vice President, Clinical Programs.

Scott is a healthcare executive who has held progressive leadership positions in acute care hospitals and as a management consultant. These professional experiences have allowed him to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ontario. Scott started his healthcare career as a physiotherapist in a number of clinical environments including; acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and outpatient services. He holds a BPE, BSc (Physiotherapy) and a Masters of Health Administration (MHSc) from the school of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Scott is a member of the Ontario Long Term Care Association Board of Directors, and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Quality Committee.  Prior to that, he was a Trustee at Grandview Children’s Centre and completed his final term on the Board as the Vice-Chair.


Eval(

Annamie Paul

 

Annamie Paul is a lawyer, former diplomat, social entrepreneur, and politician. Ms. Paul has worked in the office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court and in Canada's Mission to the EU. She is co-founder of the Barcelona International Public Policy HUB, founder of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership and co-founder of the Operation Black Vote Canada 1834 Public Policy Fellowship. Ms. Paul holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and is called to the Bar of Ontario. She is an Action Canada Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Government of Canada Policy Leaders alumna and a BPPA Harry Jerome Award recipient. She is a vocal advocate for senior care and long-term care reform.


Eval(

Dr. Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease.

In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Daniel Sauder

 

Daniel N. Sauder, M.D., is past chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also past Chief of Dermatology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sauder has held senior positions with biotechnology companies and has assisted in the development of numerous novel biologics. He is past head of Dermatology at University Medical Centre of Princeton and past medical director of Outward-Bound Canada. Currently, he practices general dermatology as well as consulting for biotech companies.

Dr. Sauder trained at McMaster University School of Medicine and at McGill University Medical School. He completed his Dermatology training at the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. He is past president of the Canadian Dermatology Association, past and founding president of the Canadian Society for Investigative Dermatology and founding editor of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. He has also served on numerous other editorial boards, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Lymphokine Research, Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, and International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, and Experts Review of Clinical Immunology.

His research has focused on the molecular mechanism of the cutaneous (skin) immune response. He was instrumental in developing the field of cutaneous cytokine biology by identifying the role of certain immune system molecules, interleukins and cytokines, in inflammatory skin diseases and tumors.

Dr. Sauder has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. He is a highly regarded clinician, educator and investigator.


Eval(

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson

 

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson brings a wealth of experience to her role as a Board Director and Committee Chair. A graduate from the University of Toronto Masters of Social Work program and several Executive programs at the Rotman School of Management, she has worked in a variety of settings and roles, including health care, education, government and community as a clinician, administrator and consultant. Her invaluable first-hand experience as a leader and change agent has been very helpful for those institutions and businesses undergoing change. In addition, her expertise in interprofessional and team-based care has led to several award winning initiatives.

Lorie has held a variety of positions over the years. As President and CEO of JVS Toronto, she led the organization through a time of tremendous change, including addressing its financial challenges, a new strategic framework, new Mission, Vision and Values, and implementing a more efficient governance model.
At George Brown College, Lorie was a member of the senior management team. As Dean, Health Sciences and Community Services and later as AVP Waterfront Campus, Lorie co-led the development, design and implementation of George Brown College’s new $175M Waterfront Campus that opened in the Fall 2012. The Campus houses the Centre for Health Sciences. The new facility is designed to embrace an interprofessional learning education framework enhancing wellness and health promotion.

Lorie has also authored articles on social work, marital and family therapy, interprofessional education and its impact on design, as well as two books on eating disorders. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the recipient of the Colleges Ontario 2010 Exemplary Service Award and the Ontario Association of Social Workers’ 2011 Inspirational Leader Award.

Lorie has been an active member on several agency and government committees and professional boards both locally and across Canada, as well as community boards. These have included the UHN Family Health Team Board, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Baycrest’s Clinical Strategy, Quality and Safety Committee, Ministry of Health’s Interprofessional Education Working Group, Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), and Jewish Family and Child Care Services. She has also chaired the United Way campaigns at several organizations and has been the recipient of the United Way Spirit Awards.


Eval(

Kenneth R. Wiener

 

Kenneth Wiener retired on December 31, 2017 after thirty years as a partner and securities law specialist with the Goodmans LLP law firm. Mr. Wiener was a member of the Asia Practice Group of Goodmans and in that capacity assisted Canadian companies planning to do business in Asia and Asian enterprises planning to establish a presence in Canadian capital markets. Prior to joining Goodmans in 1988, Mr. Wiener was Director, Listed Company Policy and Regulation at The Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Wiener participated in continuing education programs sponsored by the Ontario Bar Association, The Law Society of Ontario and other organizations. He served as chairman of the Business Law section of the Ontario Bar Association. Mr. Wiener was a director of the public company CML HealthCare Inc.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


Board of Directors
Ilsa Blidner, Chair
Lori Ann Beausoleil
Jeffrey Brown
Michael Bregman
David Bresver
Heath Cockburn
Jeremy Cole
Richard Crenian
Mark Diamond
Lisa Draper
Fern Glowinsky
Noah Godfrey
Russell Goldstein
Jonathan Feldman
Robert Harlang
Rachel Kimel
Warren Kimel
Anthony Longo
David Posluns
Hon. Lisa Raitt
Philip Reichmann
Shael Rosenbaum
Felicia Salomon
Claire Santamaria
Jamie Schwartz
Ali Spinner
Karen Werger
Dr. William Reichman, President & CEO, BSC
Phyllis Yaffe, Chair, BSC Board

Honorary Directors
 Ronald Appleby
Tobie Bekhor
Edwin Goldstein
Joseph Gottdenker
Barbara Hania
Sarena Koschitzky
Wendy Myles
Anita Lapidus
Jeffery Ross

Director Emeritus
 Molline Green
Michael Levy
Harley Mintz
Margaret Nightingale
Hinda Silber

President and CEO - Josh Cooper

Eval(

David Kassie

Chair

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Noah Godfrey

 

Noah is a technology entrepreneur. His most recent venture, Checkout 51, is a mobile app that helps shoppers save money on their groceries, and offers packaged goods brands real-time consumer insights and strategic targeting that they can't get anywhere else. Checkout 51 was acquired by News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation, in July 2015.

Post-acquisition, Noah ran NAM’s digital businesses and innovation unit, and oversaw the development/launch of Freedom, a new business that enables packaged goods brands to easily run sophisticated, data-enriched campaigns at massive scale.

Previously, Noah co-founded GigPark, an online social media platform that allows users to find local businesses through recommendations from friends. In August 2009, GigPark was acquired by Canpages, the largest independent directories publisher in Canada (since acquired by Yellow Pages Group).

Prior to GigPark, Noah was the Founding Publisher of Dose, a national daily newspaper and digital media business backed by CanWest that he took from 0 to 340,000 daily readers in less than a year. Targeting young adult Canadians, Dose reached 10% of 18-24 year olds in its markets every single day.

With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, Noah has experience in corporate strategy / business development at both Time Warner and MTV Networks in New York. He started his career as a media investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) in New York and grew up as a child actor in Toronto.

Noah is married with 3 amazing kids (Chase, Lincoln & Britton) and works with a few non-profits, which includes his role as a Vice Chair of the Baycrest Foundation, Co-Founder of The Brain Project, and Co-Chair for the SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund.


Eval(

David Green

 

David Green is a semi-retired business person with a broad background in numerous aspects of real estate.  Both alone and with various family companies, David has developed, built and managed multi-family residential buildings, industrial buildings and office buildings in Toronto and South Florida.   David is currently active in community affairs, having served in Board of Directors and/or Committee capacities the UJA, Baycrest Health Sciences, Miles Nadal JCC, YMCA-GTA and Canadian Friends of Kishorit.  He is the founder and chairman of Canadian Friends of Rambam Health Care Campus (Haifa).  David holds an M.A. degree in Urban Geography from the University of Chicago.   He is a 5th dan Karate student of the late Masami Tsuruoka.  David enjoys fishing and cottage life and lives in downtown Toronto with his wife, Daphne Wagner and children Lita and Michael.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Anthony Melman

 

Anthony (Tony) Melman is a highly accomplished Senior Executive, Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Board Member with more than 35 years of success across the financial services, strategic acquisitions, healthcare, technology, transportation and gaming sectors. His broad areas of expertise include business development, global strategy, corporate finance, private equity, due diligence, growth, and mergers & acquisitions.

Tony holds a key leadership position as the Chairman of NuMiner Global and the Chairman & CEO of Nevele Inc. where he provides strategic business and financial advice to a wide range of businesses. He also served as the CEO of Acasta Capital and as the CEO of Acasta Enterprises.

Prior to Acasta, Tony served for over 22 years as Managing Director and Partner of Onex Corporation where he led many of the major acquisitions, and made an enormous contribution to Onex's success, creating billions of dollars in value for Onex shareholders and co-investors. He negotiated the acquisition of Sky Chefs, a leading provider of food services to major airlines and was involved in the acquisition and roll-up of ProSource Inc. a major player in the US food distribution industry. He was the driving force behind the acquisition of Celestica Inc. which generated enormous value for Onex and its shareholders. He also structured Onex’s bids for Labatt Breweries and Air Canada and arranged substantial and innovative related financings. During his tenure, Onex grew from $50M to more than $15B in assets under management, becoming one of Canada’s largest companies during his tenure.  

Prior to joining Onex, Tony was the Head of Global Project and Acquisition Financing for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce where he was in charge of worldwide merchant banking, project financing, acquisitions, and other specialized financing activities.

Tony is a Founder and key member of the Board of Baycrest Global Solutions and previously served for five years as Chair of The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, one of the world's premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging. He was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Cogniciti Inc., a for-profit joint venture created by Baycrest and MaRS Discovery District.

He also served on the Board and was Chair of the Finance Committee of CP Rail, having joined with Bill Ackman CEO of Pershing Square and the ‘Directors for Change’. He was previously on the Board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as a director and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.  and the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation. He was instrumental in the growth of the Childhood Cancer Charitable Council of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Tony obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Business Administration degree (Gold Medalist) from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand.


Eval(

David Posluns

 

David Posluns possesses more than 30 years of experience in finance, business, and technology development, and has established many global business relationships.

Mr. Posluns serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Cedarpoint Investments Inc., a private equity and alternative investments management firm. He is a board member of NXM Labs Inc, a Blockchain based IOT Cyber Security Firm, and is a board observer of Telmediq Inc, a healthcare communications Technology company (now Perfect Serve). He formerly served on the board of 4Tell Inc. until 2016 when it was acquired. In addition, Mr. Posluns has developed and financed real estate projects in the commercial and self-storage sectors.

Mr. Posluns serves on the advisory committee of The Rising Tide Seed Fund in San Francisco, California.

Mr. Posluns is currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory of the Baycrest Hospital Foundation and the past chair and current member of the Jewish Federation of Toronto Endowment Fund Advisory Board. He also sits on the Board of Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions.

Mr. Posluns holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Chicago.


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Talia Varley

 

Dr. Varley is a clinician leader and executive advisor at the intersection of business and healthcare,
with responsibility for the strategic and day to day success of major corporate engagements. 

  • Primary Care physician with subspecialty work in Addiction Medicine and Chronic Pain, practicing across urban inner city and rural settings at the front lines of the opioid crisis. Clinical interest areas include women’s health, mental health, substance use, healthcare systems and management, women & leadership development
  • Physician Lead of Advisory Services at Cleveland Clinic Canada, holding P&L responsibility and advising cross industry executives. Member of Senior Leadership Team which includes developing annual strategic and financial planning , succession planning, setting of corporate policy, talent management, risk management as well as monitoring of corporate performance against business plans and KPIs. Published ESG thought leader (Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Globe and Mail, National Post)
  • Clinician leader with unique management background that combines the rigour of medicine with corporate training excellence of management consulting. Deep experience at McKinsey & Company across broad spectrum of international corporate mandates including due diligence, corporate finance , operations, human resources & talent, enterprise strategy and organizational agility as well as digital transformation. Work experience further includes sustainability, People Risk, executive resilience, corporate & community partnerships, DEI and governance
  • Master in Public Health from Harvard University, MD & CCFP from McMaster University and BSc from Western University. Work experience at Harvard Business School, University of Toronto and SickKids Hospital, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Institute of  Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME)


Eval(

Randy Weisz

 

Mr. Weisz is currently working with Auberge Resorts Collection as their Executive Advisor. He provides advice and direction to the Board and the Senior Management Team to help them develop and execute a strategic plan for Auberge Resorts Collection to become a global luxury brand.
 
Randy has extensive experience in all aspects of the development and operation of luxury hospitality companies and their properties. Most recently, he has been involved in designing and building a new luxury brand with a view to global recognition and expansion. Over the years he has been involved in    structuring and implementing transactions involving more than 75 hotel and resort properties worldwide and multiple corporate transactions in the hospitality industry.
 
Previously, Randy held the position of Executive Vice President Business Administration and General Counsel at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where he was responsible for managing the worldwide business and legal affairs of the company relating to property investments and other corporate initiatives. Randy was a member of the Management Committee of Four Seasons, responsible for running their business affairs worldwide, and was involved in all of the corporate transactions critical to the emergence of Four Seasons as a globally recognized hospitality brand.
 
He is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Western Ontario and previously practiced corporate and commercial law as a Partner of Goodmans LLP in Toronto, Canada.


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Brian Mirsky

Chair

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Margot DaCosta

Chief Nursing Executive

Margot DaCosta is the Vice President, Inpatient Services and Clinical Support, and Chief Nursing Executive. She started at Baycrest in 2014 as the Director of Complex Care, Rehabilitation and Specialized Geriatrics.

Ms. DaCosta is a healthcare leader with over 30 years of hospital management experience in progressively responsible roles spanning various clinical areas, primarily in the acute care sector. Prior to coming to Baycrest her most recent positions were at Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she was the Program Director, Regional Renal, Metabolic & Cancer Care Programs, and Rouge Valley Health System where she was the Program Director, Medicine & Patient Flow.

Ms. DaCosta holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western University, and a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto.


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Dr. Amy O. Flaster

 

Amy Flaster, M.D., M.B.A. is a physician executive, value-based care strategist, and practicing internal medicine physician. Dr. Flaster has focused her career on leveraging clinical innovation, data, and technology to improve clinical outcomes, champion patient-centered care, and lower the cost of care. She is passionate about work at the intersection of population health, value-based care, primary care, and digital innovation.

At ConcertoCare, Dr. Flaster serves as Chief Medical Officer and oversees the strategy and operations of the company. ConcertoCare delivers primary and complex care to seniors and other adults with multiple comorbidities, primarily in the home. The company delivers a human-first, tech-enabled model of care powered by a proprietary population health and analytics engine. ConcertoCare takes an intensive, interdisciplinary approach, staffed by internists, geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and community health workers. ConcertoCare is exclusively engaged in value-based capitated arrangements, enabling it to deliver cutting-edge population health at scale across the United States.

Prior to joining ConcertoHealth in 2021, Dr. Flaster served as the Senior Vice President for Population Health at Health Catalyst, a leading healthcare data and analytics company (NASDAQ: HCAT). There, she led a team that worked with large integrated delivery systems, Accountable Care Organizations and Clinically Integrated Networks throughout North America on their journey to leverage data and analytics to support alternative payment model adoption. Dr. Flaster also previously served as Associate Medical Director of Population Health at Mass General Brigham (MGB), a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician network that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among others. In this role, she managed a portfolio of clinical population health programs to drive healthcare transformation across the network. This included the nationally recognized Integrated Care Management Program (iCMP), clinical oversight of the self-insured health plan at MGB (the largest private employer in Massachusetts), and a range of Medicaid programming for the system, including launching an ED Navigation program focused on vulnerable Medicaid patients that are frequent utilizers of the Emergency Departments.

Prior to her work at MGB, Dr. Flaster co-founded myProxy, Inc., which developed the TrueNorth Healthcare platform (acquired 2019) to engage patients and surrogate decision makers in advance care planning. She also previously worked for the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization, the World Health Organization, and has provided consulting services to healthcare delivery organizations and venture capital incubators.. Dr. Flaster also serves as course director for “Value Based Care and Population Health Management” at Harvard Medical School. She continues to practice internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Flaster completed a BA from Dartmouth College, an MD at Harvard Medical School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine in the Primary Care track at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is board certified in Internal Medicine. She was raised in Thornhill, Ontario, volunteered at Baycrest Hospital as a student. She now lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.


Eval(

Barbra Gold

 

Since the 2015 merge of the health care organizations in Quebec, until November 2021, Barbra Gold has been the Director of the Support Program for the Autonomy of Seniors for the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal. In this role, Ms. Gold was responsible for long-term care facilities, home care and intermediate resources for our territory.

At the present time, this includes 1,177 skilled nursing home beds located on seven sites, 313 intermediate resource beds on four sites and one million direct hours of homecare for an annual budget of $180 million dollars. In addition, she was responsible for ensuring the quality of care at four different private facilities (550 beds).

Ms. Gold began her career in 1979, working in various administrative positions at the Jewish General Hospital. In 1991, she was hired as Executive Director of the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre, and took on the additional role of Executive Director at Jewish Eldercare in 2005. Under her leadership, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare received a number of national awards and recognition for patient-centered care. Both were the first long-term care centres in North America to receive gold designation, which is the highest level of designation from Planetree – an international organization focused on patient-centred health care (2013).

In 2015, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare were merged with seven other healthcare organizations to form the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal, which serves a population base of 380,000 people and a budget of $800 million dollars. From 2009 until 2011, Ms. Gold served as President of the Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Gold has a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa.


Eval(

Dr. Gary Naglie

Chair, MAC

Dr. Gary Naglie completed his medical school training at McGill University, specialty training in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto, and graduate training in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University. He is a full Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and he holds the George, Margaret and Gary Hunt Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

Dr. Naglie is the Vice President of Medical Services, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Medicine at Baycrest Health Sciences and is a scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute and at the University Health Network-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. His research has focused on outcomes evaluation and quality of life in cognitively impaired and medically complex older adults. His current major research interests are driving issues in older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment, and innovative models of care for frail, complex older adults.


Eval(

Gordon Nelson

 

Gord Nelson joined Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1988 and has held various successive financial roles. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (predecessor entity to Cineplex Inc.) in 2004. Mr. Nelson oversees the finance, purchasing, risk management, legal and corporate development areas of the company. Mr. Nelson holds an MBA from the University of Toronto as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Mr. Nelson was named Canada’s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International – Canada, PwC and Robert Half.


Eval(

Scott Ovenden

President & CEO

Scott Ovenden is the President & CEO of the Baycrest Hospital and the President of The Baycrest Day Care Centre. Since joining Baycrest in 2016, Scott has held a number of leadership positions including Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Chief Operating Officer of Baycrest Global Solutions and most recently, Executive Vice President, Clinical Programs.

Scott is a healthcare executive who has held progressive leadership positions in acute care hospitals and as a management consultant. These professional experiences have allowed him to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ontario. Scott started his healthcare career as a physiotherapist in a number of clinical environments including; acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and outpatient services. He holds a BPE, BSc (Physiotherapy) and a Masters of Health Administration (MHSc) from the school of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Scott is a member of the Ontario Long Term Care Association Board of Directors, and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Quality Committee.  Prior to that, he was a Trustee at Grandview Children’s Centre and completed his final term on the Board as the Vice-Chair.


Eval(

Annamie Paul

 

Annamie Paul is a lawyer, former diplomat, social entrepreneur, and politician. Ms. Paul has worked in the office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court and in Canada's Mission to the EU. She is co-founder of the Barcelona International Public Policy HUB, founder of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership and co-founder of the Operation Black Vote Canada 1834 Public Policy Fellowship. Ms. Paul holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and is called to the Bar of Ontario. She is an Action Canada Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Government of Canada Policy Leaders alumna and a BPPA Harry Jerome Award recipient. She is a vocal advocate for senior care and long-term care reform.


Eval(

Dr. Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease.

In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Daniel Sauder

 

Daniel N. Sauder, M.D., is past chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also past Chief of Dermatology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sauder has held senior positions with biotechnology companies and has assisted in the development of numerous novel biologics. He is past head of Dermatology at University Medical Centre of Princeton and past medical director of Outward-Bound Canada. Currently, he practices general dermatology as well as consulting for biotech companies.

Dr. Sauder trained at McMaster University School of Medicine and at McGill University Medical School. He completed his Dermatology training at the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. He is past president of the Canadian Dermatology Association, past and founding president of the Canadian Society for Investigative Dermatology and founding editor of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. He has also served on numerous other editorial boards, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Lymphokine Research, Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, and International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, and Experts Review of Clinical Immunology.

His research has focused on the molecular mechanism of the cutaneous (skin) immune response. He was instrumental in developing the field of cutaneous cytokine biology by identifying the role of certain immune system molecules, interleukins and cytokines, in inflammatory skin diseases and tumors.

Dr. Sauder has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. He is a highly regarded clinician, educator and investigator.


Eval(

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson

 

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson brings a wealth of experience to her role as a Board Director and Committee Chair. A graduate from the University of Toronto Masters of Social Work program and several Executive programs at the Rotman School of Management, she has worked in a variety of settings and roles, including health care, education, government and community as a clinician, administrator and consultant. Her invaluable first-hand experience as a leader and change agent has been very helpful for those institutions and businesses undergoing change. In addition, her expertise in interprofessional and team-based care has led to several award winning initiatives.

Lorie has held a variety of positions over the years. As President and CEO of JVS Toronto, she led the organization through a time of tremendous change, including addressing its financial challenges, a new strategic framework, new Mission, Vision and Values, and implementing a more efficient governance model.
At George Brown College, Lorie was a member of the senior management team. As Dean, Health Sciences and Community Services and later as AVP Waterfront Campus, Lorie co-led the development, design and implementation of George Brown College’s new $175M Waterfront Campus that opened in the Fall 2012. The Campus houses the Centre for Health Sciences. The new facility is designed to embrace an interprofessional learning education framework enhancing wellness and health promotion.

Lorie has also authored articles on social work, marital and family therapy, interprofessional education and its impact on design, as well as two books on eating disorders. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the recipient of the Colleges Ontario 2010 Exemplary Service Award and the Ontario Association of Social Workers’ 2011 Inspirational Leader Award.

Lorie has been an active member on several agency and government committees and professional boards both locally and across Canada, as well as community boards. These have included the UHN Family Health Team Board, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Baycrest’s Clinical Strategy, Quality and Safety Committee, Ministry of Health’s Interprofessional Education Working Group, Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), and Jewish Family and Child Care Services. She has also chaired the United Way campaigns at several organizations and has been the recipient of the United Way Spirit Awards.


Eval(

Paul Verhoeff

President, PSA

Dr. Paul Verhoeff is a Staff Psychiatrist at the Ross Memory Clinic and at the Geriatric Psychiatry Community Centre at Baycrest. Dr. Verhoeff obtained his MD from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dr. Verhoeff specialized in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. Dr. Verhoeff’s research activities have centered around neuroreceptor imaging in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) or single-photon computerized tomography (SPECT) in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy control subjects. The research projects are listed according to the neurochemical transmission systems that have been studied, with further clarification as to which patient groups were involved during which period:
  1. Cerebral β-Amyloid imaging with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (2001-present) and with SPECT in patients with amyloid angiopathy (1991-1996).
  2. Neostriatal dopamine D2 receptor imaging with PET in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy subjects before and after catecholamine depletion with α-methyl-para-tyrosine (1999-2001), in patients with schizophrenia off and on antipsychotics (1999-2004), and in patients with major depressive disorder (2001-2004), bipolar disorder (1997-2000); with SPECT in patients with Tourette disorder (1990-1994), partial epilepsy (1991-1994), Parkinsonian syndromes (1990-1993), pituitary macroadenomas (1990-1993), migraine (1990-1993), HIV encephalopathy (1990-1991), in patients with schizophrenia off and on antipsychotics (1990-1995), in healthy subjects (1990-1993), and in MPTP-treated and control nonhuman primates (1990-1994); with a planar gamma-camera for dosimetry in healthy subjects (1990-1993); ex vivo in rodents (1988-1991); and in vitro in humans and rodent brain tissues (1988-1991).
  3. Extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor imaging with SPECT in healthy subjects (1997-2000).
  4. Neostriatal dopamine D1 receptor imaging with PET in healthy subjects before and after catecholamine depletion with α-methyl-para-tyrosine (1999-2001); and with SPECT in healthy subjects (1991-1993).
  5. Cerebral serotonin 5-HT1A receptor imaging with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (2001-present), frontotemporal dementia (2001-present), and schizophrenia (1999-2003), and in healthy subjects (1999-2001).
  6. Cerebral serotonin 5-HT2A receptor imaging with PET in patients with schizophrenia (1999-2000).
  7. Cerebral GABAA-benzodiazepine receptor imaging with SPECT in patients with alcohol dependence (1997-2004), post-traumatic stresss disorder (1997-2004), major depressive disorder (1997-2003), schizophrenia (1994-1999), epilepsy (1994-1999), and in healthy subjects off and on benzodiazepines (1988-1999).
  8. Cerebral muscarinic acetylcholinergic mACh receptor imaging with SPECT ex vivo in rats (1988-1993).
  9. Pituitary somatostatin receptor imaging with SPECT in patients with pituitary adenomas and in healthy subjects (1992-1996).
  10. Cerebral blood flow imaging with SPECT in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (1988-1992), partial epilepsy (1988-1992), and ischemic stroke (1988-2001).
  11. Physiological measurements of early and late asthmatic responses to submaximal exercise challenge before and after nedocromil sodium in patients with intrinsic and extrinsic bronchial asthma (1988-1990).


Eval(

Kenneth R. Wiener

 

Kenneth Wiener retired on December 31, 2017 after thirty years as a partner and securities law specialist with the Goodmans LLP law firm. Mr. Wiener was a member of the Asia Practice Group of Goodmans and in that capacity assisted Canadian companies planning to do business in Asia and Asian enterprises planning to establish a presence in Canadian capital markets. Prior to joining Goodmans in 1988, Mr. Wiener was Director, Listed Company Policy and Regulation at The Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Wiener participated in continuing education programs sponsored by the Ontario Bar Association, The Law Society of Ontario and other organizations. He served as chairman of the Business Law section of the Ontario Bar Association. Mr. Wiener was a director of the public company CML HealthCare Inc.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


Eval(

Jeffrey Blidner

Chair

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


Eval(

John Albright

 

John is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Relay Ventures as well as Co-Founder and Board Member of Alate Partners and Playmaker Capital. John has over 20 years of experience helping entrepreneurs shape their vision and capital plans for long-term, sustainable growth. John’s tenure in finance spans both venture capital and private equity, where he has assisted entrepreneurs through all stages of the startup lifecycle, from seed financing to IPO and M&A. His ability to work alongside company management teams and offer guidance around hiring, governance, and scaling has been vital to the success of Relay’s investments.

John is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business. John is also on the Board of TouchBistro and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, and serves as an advisory board member to the Ryerson – DMZ.


Eval(

Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


Eval(

Ken Dryden

 

Ken Dryden was a Member of Parliament and was Minister of Social Development in the Martin government. He played goal for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1970s, during which time the team won six Stanley Cups, and was a member of Team Canada 1972. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and is the author of six books, including The Game and, most recently, Becoming Canada. He teaches at McGill, Calgary, Ryerson, Saskatchewan and Memorial universities. He and his wife, Lynda, live in Toronto and have two children.

Mr. Dryden is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors.


Eval(

Joe Freedman

 

Mr. Freedman is a Corporate Director and private investor. Mr. Freedman is co-founder or Chairman of a number of technology companies including WeBookCare, Total Containment Inc, Rad AI and Band of Coders. Mr Freedman was formerly an executive at Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s foremost alternative asset management organizations with more than $625 billion in assets under management. During his 17 year tenure at Brookfield between 2002 and 2019, Mr. Freedman held a number of positions including Co-Head of Private Equity, General Counsel, head of merger and acquisition transaction execution and Co-Head of fund formation and fund operations. Mr. Freedman is also a director of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Bridgmarq Inc..


Eval(

Chris Hodgson

 

Over his 30 year career Chris has been an engineer, entrepreneur, executive, and advisor. He has worked across a number of industries, but he has specific knowledge of software solutions related to eCommerce, Retail, Data, Loyalty, Martech, and Fintech. Chris has been on the founding team of two UK tech startups - the first, uSwitch, was acquired for over £200m, and the second, KidStart, is profitable and now has over 1m members. Chris also spent six years on the leadership team at Google Canada, where he helped to grow the business from 50 people to over 300 and was responsible for all relationships with Retailers, Telcos and Tech clients in Canada. Chris also led a two-year turnaround of Computacenter France, a €400m IT company - transitioning the business from products to services and into profitability. Most recently, Chris was also part of the executive team at RBC which built RBC Ventures - an internal corporate incubator. While at RBC, Chris was an active member of RBC's Venture Board, RBC's Innovation Committee and RBC's Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Chris is a Venture Partner at The Group Ventures and an Advisor at Next Canada and Loyal Ventures. He is also a Non-Executive Board Director at KidStart, BEAN Partners, and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). He is Chair of the Advisory Committee at Juniper. Chris has an MBA from INSEAD, in France, and an Engineering degree from Queen's University, in Canada.


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Shirlee Sharkey

 

Shirlee Sharkey is recognized as one of Canada’s foremost experts on home care and healthy aging. As a registered nurse and the long-time CEO of SE Health, a unique not-for-profit social enterprise, she has dedicated her career to empowering people, championing compassion and advancing social innovation to forever impact how people live and age at home. In May 2022, Shirlee stepped down from SE Health following 30 years of breakthrough leadership.

Shirlee shares her passion and expertise as a thought leader, speaker, author and mentor. In 2020, she collaborated with a range of experts to co-author The Future of Aging, a book that has been described as “a brilliant and powerful challenge to locked-in ageist mindsets, policies and service models.” Naturally curious and committed to lifelong learning, Shirlee regularly engages with students, entrepreneurs and business leaders from other industries. Academically, she is cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation as an adjunct professor.

Shirlee’s commitment to public service is evident in her leadership and involvement on many boards, including University Health Network, the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, and BAYADA Home Health Care. She also serves as a senior fellow of Canada’s top think tank, the CD Howe Institute. Internationally, Shirlee is a Healthcare DENMARK ambassador. Committed to global influence, she has gained and shared health system insights through her experiences in the Middle East, Australia and northern Europe.

Shirlee has received many accolades and awards throughout her distinguished career, including the IHPME Graduate Leadership Award, the Innovation Award for Health Care Leadership, and being named one of the top 10 Canadian Women Leaders in Digital Health. In 2017, she was presented with an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.


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Katie Smith Sloan

 

Katie Smith Sloan is president and CEO of LeadingAge, a national association of over 5,000 mission-driven providers primarily for older adults. Sloan advances the organization’s strategic priorities to support members and improve our current system of housing, services and supports, guided by the organization’s mission to be the trusted voice for aging.

Sloan also serves as the executive director of the Global Ageing Network, an organization with a presence in over 50 countries committed to improving the quality of life for people as they age through shared learning, exploration and innovation.

Sloan serves on the Board of Directors of the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) based in Toronto, HelpAge USA, the Long Term Quality Alliance (LTQA), ValueFirst, and the Alliance for Home Care Quality and Innovation. She is national co-chair of Dementia Friendly America, a multi-sector national collaborative with a mission to foster dementia friendly communities.


Eval(

Andrew Szende

 

Andrew Szende was the Founding President and CEO of the Electronic Child Health Network (eCHN), Canada's first province-wide integrated electronic health record system. Previously, Mr. Szende worked for the Ontario government in various roles, including Associate Secretary of the Cabinet, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, and Ontario’s Senior Agent in Hong Kong. Mr. Szende has been actively involved in the not-for-profit sector. He is a former member of the University of Toronto’s Governing Council and a Director of Family Service Toronto. He is the current Chair of the Board of Health Claims for Auto Insurance Processing, Director of OECM, and Director of the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation.

Mr. Szende received a BA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and an MSocSci from the National University of Singapore.


Eval(

Leo Van Den Thillart

 

Leo van den Thillart is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sera Global, a real assets private markets advisory firm.

Prior to Sera Global, Mr. van den Thillart was a Managing Partner at Brookfield Asset Management which he joined in 2008 and held several roles across the organization in Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom until his retirement in February 2020, including the role of Global Head of the Private Funds Group, where he was responsible for the global marketing strategy, fundraising and product development for all of Brookfield’s private funds. Mr. van den Thillart is a business builder and has over 20 years of financial and asset management experience in senior management positions in firms including Brookfield Asset Management, Bear Sterns/J.P. Morgan and Crane Capital Associates.

Mr. van den Thillart is currently a Foundation Board Member and Foundation Investment Committee Member of The Menninger Clinic, a leading specialty psychiatric hospital that is a nationally ranked leader in psychiatry in the US for 30 consecutive years.


Eval(

Dr. Allison Sekuler

President and Chief Scientist,
Baycrest Academy and CABHI

Dr. Allison Sekuler is the Vice-President, Research, and the Sandra A. Rotman Chair at Baycrest Health Sciences. Dr. Sekuler joins Baycrest after a long and distinguished career as a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where she was the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011). She is also the Chair of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada‘s (NSERC) Scholarships & Fellowships group along with being a member of NSERC’s Committee for Discovery Research.

The recipient of numerous awards for research, teaching and leadership, Dr. Sekuler has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging and vision science, cognitive neuroscience, learning and neural plasticity, and neuroimaging and neurotechnology, as well as vast experience in senior academic and research leadership roles.


Eval(

David Kassie

Chair

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Noah Godfrey

 

Noah is a technology entrepreneur. His most recent venture, Checkout 51, is a mobile app that helps shoppers save money on their groceries, and offers packaged goods brands real-time consumer insights and strategic targeting that they can't get anywhere else. Checkout 51 was acquired by News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation, in July 2015.

Post-acquisition, Noah ran NAM’s digital businesses and innovation unit, and oversaw the development/launch of Freedom, a new business that enables packaged goods brands to easily run sophisticated, data-enriched campaigns at massive scale.

Previously, Noah co-founded GigPark, an online social media platform that allows users to find local businesses through recommendations from friends. In August 2009, GigPark was acquired by Canpages, the largest independent directories publisher in Canada (since acquired by Yellow Pages Group).

Prior to GigPark, Noah was the Founding Publisher of Dose, a national daily newspaper and digital media business backed by CanWest that he took from 0 to 340,000 daily readers in less than a year. Targeting young adult Canadians, Dose reached 10% of 18-24 year olds in its markets every single day.

With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, Noah has experience in corporate strategy / business development at both Time Warner and MTV Networks in New York. He started his career as a media investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) in New York and grew up as a child actor in Toronto.

Noah is married with 3 amazing kids (Chase, Lincoln & Britton) and works with a few non-profits, which includes his role as a Vice Chair of the Baycrest Foundation, Co-Founder of The Brain Project, and Co-Chair for the SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Anthony Melman

 

Anthony (Tony) Melman is a highly accomplished Senior Executive, Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Board Member with more than 35 years of success across the financial services, strategic acquisitions, healthcare, technology, transportation and gaming sectors. His broad areas of expertise include business development, global strategy, corporate finance, private equity, due diligence, growth, and mergers & acquisitions.

Tony holds a key leadership position as the Chairman of NuMiner Global and the Chairman & CEO of Nevele Inc. where he provides strategic business and financial advice to a wide range of businesses. He also served as the CEO of Acasta Capital and as the CEO of Acasta Enterprises.

Prior to Acasta, Tony served for over 22 years as Managing Director and Partner of Onex Corporation where he led many of the major acquisitions, and made an enormous contribution to Onex's success, creating billions of dollars in value for Onex shareholders and co-investors. He negotiated the acquisition of Sky Chefs, a leading provider of food services to major airlines and was involved in the acquisition and roll-up of ProSource Inc. a major player in the US food distribution industry. He was the driving force behind the acquisition of Celestica Inc. which generated enormous value for Onex and its shareholders. He also structured Onex’s bids for Labatt Breweries and Air Canada and arranged substantial and innovative related financings. During his tenure, Onex grew from $50M to more than $15B in assets under management, becoming one of Canada’s largest companies during his tenure.  

Prior to joining Onex, Tony was the Head of Global Project and Acquisition Financing for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce where he was in charge of worldwide merchant banking, project financing, acquisitions, and other specialized financing activities.

Tony is a Founder and key member of the Board of Baycrest Global Solutions and previously served for five years as Chair of The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, one of the world's premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging. He was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Cogniciti Inc., a for-profit joint venture created by Baycrest and MaRS Discovery District.

He also served on the Board and was Chair of the Finance Committee of CP Rail, having joined with Bill Ackman CEO of Pershing Square and the ‘Directors for Change’. He was previously on the Board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as a director and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.  and the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation. He was instrumental in the growth of the Childhood Cancer Charitable Council of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Tony obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Business Administration degree (Gold Medalist) from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand.


Eval(

David Posluns

 

David Posluns possesses more than 30 years of experience in finance, business, and technology development, and has established many global business relationships.

Mr. Posluns serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Cedarpoint Investments Inc., a private equity and alternative investments management firm. He is a board member of NXM Labs Inc, a Blockchain based IOT Cyber Security Firm, and is a board observer of Telmediq Inc, a healthcare communications Technology company (now Perfect Serve). He formerly served on the board of 4Tell Inc. until 2016 when it was acquired. In addition, Mr. Posluns has developed and financed real estate projects in the commercial and self-storage sectors.

Mr. Posluns serves on the advisory committee of The Rising Tide Seed Fund in San Francisco, California.

Mr. Posluns is currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory of the Baycrest Hospital Foundation and the past chair and current member of the Jewish Federation of Toronto Endowment Fund Advisory Board. He also sits on the Board of Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions.

Mr. Posluns holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Chicago.


Eval(

Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Talia Varley

 

Dr. Varley is a clinician leader and executive advisor at the intersection of business and healthcare,
with responsibility for the strategic and day to day success of major corporate engagements. 

  • Primary Care physician with subspecialty work in Addiction Medicine and Chronic Pain, practicing across urban inner city and rural settings at the front lines of the opioid crisis. Clinical interest areas include women’s health, mental health, substance use, healthcare systems and management, women & leadership development
  • Physician Lead of Advisory Services at Cleveland Clinic Canada, holding P&L responsibility and advising cross industry executives. Member of Senior Leadership Team which includes developing annual strategic and financial planning , succession planning, setting of corporate policy, talent management, risk management as well as monitoring of corporate performance against business plans and KPIs. Published ESG thought leader (Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Globe and Mail, National Post)
  • Clinician leader with unique management background that combines the rigour of medicine with corporate training excellence of management consulting. Deep experience at McKinsey & Company across broad spectrum of international corporate mandates including due diligence, corporate finance , operations, human resources & talent, enterprise strategy and organizational agility as well as digital transformation. Work experience further includes sustainability, People Risk, executive resilience, corporate & community partnerships, DEI and governance
  • Master in Public Health from Harvard University, MD & CCFP from McMaster University and BSc from Western University. Work experience at Harvard Business School, University of Toronto and SickKids Hospital, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Institute of  Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME)


Eval(

Len Fishman

Chair

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


Eval(

Paul Godfrey

 

Mr. Godfrey is the Executive Chairman of Postmedia Network.

Prior to this he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Postmedia Network from July 2010 to November 2017 and was Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from November 2017 to January 2019. Postmedia Network is a Canadian news media company representing more than 125 brands across multiple print, online, and mobile platforms. Prior to the start of Postmedia Network Inc., Paul Godfrey served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Post from January 2009 to July 2010.

Mr. Godfrey was appointed Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) by the Ontario Provincial Cabinet and served in this role from January, 2010 to May, 2013.

Mr. Godfrey is a life-long Torontonian.  He attended Bathurst Heights Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1962 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering.

Mr. Godfrey’s career encompasses long stints in the publishing business, professional sports management and politics.

Mr. Godfrey entered politics in the previously known Borough of North York.  He was elected a Councillor in 1964 and an Alderman in 1966 and 1969.  He was appointed Controller in 1970 and was re-elected to that position in the general election in 1972.  In 1973, Mr. Godfrey was elected by the Metropolitan Toronto Council as its Chairman.  This was prior to the 1998 amalgamation of the City of Toronto.  Mr. Godfrey held this position, known as Metro Chairman, for four terms - a record 11 years.

In August 1984, Mr. Godfrey left the political world to take on the role as Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Sun newspaper.  In April 1991, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation and, on November 5, 1992, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.  In 1996, Mr. Godfrey successfully headed up a management-led buy-out of the company and the Sun Media Corporation was subsequently formed in October, 1996.  Mr. Godfrey held the position of President and C.E.O. of Sun Media Corporation until his departure on June 30, 2000.

Following Rogers’ purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Mr. Godfrey was appointed the Club’s President and Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2000.  Mr. Godfrey was previously involved with the Club, as he was part of the group (during his career as Metro Chairman) which lobbied to bring a Major League Baseball club to Toronto, a dream that was realized when the Blue Jays played and won their first home game on April 7, 1977 at Exhibition Stadium on a snowy day.  

In September, 2008, Mr. Godfrey announced his decision to leave his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre at the end of that year.

Mr. Godfrey serves on the following boards:

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust   
Chairman

Cargojet Inc.
Director

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Vice-Chair

Mr. Godfrey was Chairman of the Molson Indy Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2005 and also Chairman of its successor, the Grand Prix Charitable Foundation of Toronto, from 2006 to 2007.

Mr. Godfrey is a great fan of the National Football League and he continues to pursue, on behalf of Toronto, an NFL franchise for this wonderful city.

Mr. Godfrey has received many honours.  In 1990, he received the City of Toronto’s highest award, the Civic Award of Merit.  In 1998, Mr. Godfrey received the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada.     In 1999, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.  In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctorate (Hon.D.Eng). from Ryerson University.  In 2004, Mr. Godfrey was honoured to receive the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumni Medal.  In January 2010, Mr. Godfrey received Ontario’s Highest Honour – the Order of Ontario.

He was the Salvation Army’s National Spokesperson from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Godfrey is married to the artist, Gina Godfrey. They have three sons, Rob, Noah and Jay and nine grandchildren.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Sheldon Levy

 

Sheldon Levy is a higher education leader and visionary with a passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy. Sheldon has been an instrumental figure in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in the last decade, spearheading the creation of such organizations as Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, and Scale Up Ventures, Inc.

As President and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University from 2005 to 2015, Sheldon drove the creation of the Digital Media Zone (DMZ), an early-stage incubator for student entrepreneurs which has since become an international success. He is also a founder and advisor to Ryerson Futures Inc., an accelerator that has exported the DMZ concept to such locations as Calgary and Mumbai.

From 2015 to 2017 Sheldon served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, where he helped prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Ontario’s postsecondary education and training system. In 2017 he became CEO of NEXT Canada, an organization that provides mentorship, education, networks and funding to Canada’s most promising entrepreneurs.

In December 2018, Sheldon was appointed Special Advisor to Canada’s Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, Mary Ng, on the issue of scaling up small and medium-sized businesses.

Sheldon recently joined the Board of Directors of Baycrest Health Sciences.

Sheldon previously served as President of Oakville’s Sheridan College from 1997 to 2001, overseeing the growth of its renowned animation department during the early years of computer-generated imaging. Sheldon’s other prior positions have included Vice President Finance and Strategy, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Vice President of Governmental and Institutional Relations, University of Toronto; and Vice President Institutional Affairs, York University. Sheldon recently received The Order of Canada.


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Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


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Graeme Prior

 

 
 
 
Mr Graeme Prior is the co-founder and CEO of Hall & Prior; which began with a single family-owned nursing home and now operates 31 aged care communities and 2 home care services across Australia, offering world-class care to over 1000 clients and employing approximately 2,500 permanent staff.
 
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a chartered accountant. Having worked with the top four international accounting firms Mr Prior recognised his passion for aged care while running his own accounting practice. Giving back to the local community while advocating for aged care globally has always been the cornerstone of his business ethos.
 
Along with his passion for the industry he has an innate understanding of the issues facing aged care; his commitment to supporting research and education and significant sector investment, including designing and building new, world-class aged care homes that respond to Australia’s growing demand for quality aged care choices in both workforce and care outcomes. 
 
His current positions include; President of International Federation on Ageing (UN Auspice Organisation based in Toronto), with a focus on delivering global outcomes in aged care; Board Member of Baycrest Health Sciences; Deputy Chairman of the CRC for Mental Health and Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee; Director of the Australian Aged Care Workforce Industry Council; Committee Member of the Commonwealth Department of Health’s Aged Care Sector Committee (Ministerial Appointment); Chairman of Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, Board Member of ADNeT Ltd (Australian Dementia Network Ltd), Member of the Steering Committee National Comprehensive Dementia Centre and Member of the National Aged Care Advisory Council. 
 
 


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Saäd Rafi

 

Saäd Rafi has gained a well earned reputation as someone who goes into challenging departments and organizational situations with a commitment to deliver more resilient organizations and better results for Ontarians. He has been tapped to start new businesses — be that in Infrastructure Advisory or Pension management. As a result, Rafi has developed strong knowledge and experience in change management leadership, operations management, strategic infrastructure deployment, financial administration and governance. Mr. Rafi spent over 24 years in senior positions in the Ontario Public Service. He has also held leadership positions in Infrastructure Advisory and Project Finance and as the National Government and Public Services leader, both as a Partner at Deloitte LLP. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of the
Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administrative Corporation (ORPPAC) where he was responsible for
starting up Ontario’s attempt at a provincial pension plan. Other former positions include: Chief Executive
Officer of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee. His public service leadership roles included: Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Deputy Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Transportation, and the Deputy Minister of Community Safety. Mr. Rafi graduated from Carleton University in 1983 with a B.A. in Law and then went on to earn a M.A. in Public Administration in 1988. Rafi also is a member of the Board of Governors for Sick Kids Hospital, a Board Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vice Chair of Trent University’s Board of Governors.
 


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO, BSC

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


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Phyllis Yaffe

 

Ms. Yaffe has held a number of strategic positions in film and television in Canada since the 1980s including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc.  Most recently, she served as Consul General to New York for the Government of Canada from July 2016 through December 2019.  In addition to being Chair of the Board of the Cineplex Entertainment Inc. she currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Ant Media, a privately held Canadian media company. She has previously served on the boards of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Torstar Corporation and Astral Media Inc. In 1999, Ms. Yaffe was selected as the Canadian Women in Communications Woman of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Film and Television in 2000. In 2006, she was included in the Women’s Executive Network’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women; in 2007, she was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Hall of Fame; in 2015, she was honoured as a recipient of the Order of Canada.  In her volunteer time, Ms. Yaffe has previously served on the Boards of Directors for Baycrest Health Sciences and Women Against Multiple Sclerosis, as well as the Chair of the Board of Governors for Ryerson University.
 


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Sara Diamond

Chair

Dr. Sara Diamond, C.M., Order of Ontario, ICD.D, RAC, brings a deep knowledge of the relationships of human practices, culture, and technologies. She has consulted with governments, industry, boards and institutions on digital media, the use of data, inclusion, and equity. She holds a doctoral degree in computer science, a master’s in media arts and undergraduate degrees in history and communications. Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, where she served from 2005 to 2020, leading it through its transition to become a unique creative practice and research institution with a focus on digital futures, Indigenous knowledge, inclusive design, design for health, and culture and diversity. She remains an OCAD U faculty member. Diamond was an award-winning artist and documentary producer during the 1980s and 1990s who explored social histories through media art. She then moved on to create an early affective computing artistic neural network and wearable technology with the CodeZebra project. At The Banff Centre (1992 – 2005) she founded the Banff New Media Institute, an international think tank, incubation and production centre and led Media and Visual Arts and research. She is an Expert Panelist with the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation and Associate Consultant and Thought Leader with Lord Cultural Services.

Her board experience examples include serving as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and on the boards of Canadian Women in Communications and Technology and ORANO. She is co-chair of Toronto’s ArtworxTO, Year of Public Art, and the incoming chair of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and of the Toronto Arts Foundation boards. Diamond pursues research in data analytics and visualization applied to urban and cultural planning, wearable technologies and wellness, and is an historian of media and technology. She is currently designing qualitative analysis tools to assess the impact of screen media with a focus on wellness, diversity and inclusion. She is co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Eric Miller University of Toronto on iCity 2.0: Urban Data Science for Future Mobility” which aims to improve accessibility, affordability and mobility by advancing the design of urban transportation systems and complete communities through generative design. Her research publications are available at ResearchGate and https://ocad.academia.edu/SDiamond. Additional recognitions include a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, Simon Fraser University, 2020; the 2020 Exceptional Women of Excellence, Women’s Economic Forum; two Media Pioneer awards: Inspiring 50: Advancement of Diversity in STEM and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for significant contributions to Canada.


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Jane Barratt

Vice-Chair

Jane M Barratt, Ph.D. is the Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing (IFA) an international non-government organisation with general consultative status with the United Nations and its agencies including formal relations with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Population ageing and disability across the life course have been Jane’s passion and interest across an adventurous career that traverses public and private sectors and many disciplines.

During the 1980s and 90s Jane honed her technical and orating skills through an academic career in population ageing and disability at the Universities in the United Kingdom and Australia with attention to improved understanding of population-based planning models and service provision. Thereafter she developed a successful business in strategic planning and relationships alongside senior director and management positions in various international and national not-for-profit organisations.

Representing over 75 million older people through the membership of the IFA, Jane has direct responsibility for the corporation’s operational performance, quality and strategic implementation, and business development. This includes leadership at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in New York, Geneva and Vienna and the WHO.

Jane is a Winston Churchill Fellow and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in Canada in recognition of her commitment and passion to enhance the understanding of issues relating to ageing and engaging in dialogue with governments and the private sector to improve the quality of life of older people. Among her many current positions Jane is a Member of Vision Academy, Director, Baycrest Health Sciences and Chair of the Education Advisory Committee, Associate Scientist, Sinai Health System, Member, Global Committee for the DR Barometer Program, and Member of the International Council for Adult Immunisation. Formerly she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing and until recently Chair, Standing Selection Committee Chair for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada.


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Allison Sekuler

President

Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, the President and Chief Scientist at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. Her foundational research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand perception, cognition, and the brain; and her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. Dr. Sekuler has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching, and leadership – including serving as the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and recently being named one of WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019).


Eval(

Habib Benali

 

Dr. Habib Benali completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Rennes University in 1985. He joined the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in 1989. He served as Head of the Laboratory of Functional Imaging (INSERM U678 unit with over 65 members) from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Director of the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (with over 100 members), INSERM - The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Sorbonne University until 2015. Together with Prof. Julien Doyon, from the Université de Montréal (UdeM), he founded and became co-director of the International Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Modelisation of the INSERM-Sorbonne University and UdeM administrative bodies in 2007. He is a regular research member of the Centre de Recherche Mathématiques of UdeM since 2002 and a researcher at Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, UdeM, since 2005. I am currently the Scientific Director for the PERFORM Centre, NSERC Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Biomedical Imaging and Healthy Aging and Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University. In the last 30 years, he has gone from starting a new neuroimaging research activity to directing a productive laboratory in France and Canada with activities that span from the development of new mathematical modeling and image analysis techniques to cognitive neuroscience and clinical applications. During this productive time in his scientific career, he published more than 300 peer reviewed papers in the best scientific journals. He is a member of national and international per review committees, executive committees and member of Advisory Board & committees.


Eval(

Rifka Eisenstat

 

Rifka is a retired elementary school administrator. In this role, she provided leadership support and built capacity for change and process improvement with a lens focused on what is best for students and families. Upon retirement, she sought avenues for volunteering that would enable her to continue to apply these skills in a purposeful way. Four years ago, she found this opportunity by becoming a Client and Family Partner at Baycrest. Through her work at Baycrest she became involved with the Patient and Caregiver Health Council of the North York Toronto Health Partners OHT. The shift from her career focus of 'what's best for students and families' to the current focus of 'what's best for patients and families' was an easy one to make. Rifka is currently the co-chair of the Baycrest Client and Family Partners, sits on a number of committees both at Baycrest and the NYTHP and is on the Patient/Caregiver Engagement Curriculum Development Steering Group funded by OSSU.


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Fern Glowinsky

 

Fern Glowinsky Being deeply passionate about the payments sector, Ms. Glowinsky has spent the majority of her career at the intersection of financial services and technology. Drawn to the opportunity to lead a high growth, emerging payments business delivering a best-in-class solution across the cannabis sector, Ms. Glowinsky joined Merrco as President & CEO in 2018 after becoming a Director of the company in 2017. Ms. Glowinsky’s prior roles include CEO and Director of Cliffside Capital, a public company investing in the alternative lending sector, and COO at Moneris, one of North America’s largest payment processors. Ms. Glowinsky began her career practicing law at Torys LLP. A Toronto native, Ms. Glowinsky graduated from the MBA/JD program with an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and was called to the Ontario Bar. Ms. Glowinsky holds the ICD.D designation having completed the Directors Education Program and serves on the Boards of A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (TSX AW.UN), Haventree Bank and the Baycrest Foundation.


Eval(

Gitta Kulczycki

 

The first of her German immigrant family to attend university, Gitta Kulczycki earned a Commerce Degree (Cum Laude) in Accounting, Finance and Mathematics from Laurentian University and an MBA (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Ottawa. She also holds the Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Over her 40-plus year career, Gitta has served in a number of senior leadership roles in Canada’s post-secondary education, healthcare and high-tech sectors. Before coming to Dalhousie, Gitta was vice-president finance and administration at the University of Alberta. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as vice-president resources and operations at Western University in London, Ontario. She has also served as vice-president and chief financial officer for the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, the South East Health Care Corporation in Moncton, and the Calgary General Hospital.

In November 2020, Gitta joined Dalhousie University as vice president finance and administration. As vice president finance and administration, Gitta plays a key role in the development, management and planning of Dalhousie’s infrastructure, human resources, information management and information technology services, ancillary services, environmental health and safety, athletics, sustainability and financial services.

Gitta has been heavily involved in her profession and in every community in which she has resided. She currently serves on the boards of CURIE and Interuniversity Services Inc. She is past-president and past chair of the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) and was previously involved with the County of Lambton Community Development Corporation, the TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, Ivey Management Services Companies and the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, to name a few.


Eval(

David Lindeman

 

David Lindeman David Lindeman, PhD, is Director Health, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), UC Berkeley, and Director, Center for Technology and Aging (CTA). Dr. Lindeman has worked in the fields of health care and long-term care for nearly 40 years as a health services researcher and gerontologist, conducting research related to telehealth, health care technology, chronic disease management, healthy aging, disabilities, dementia, community-based and residential services, health care workforce, and family caregiving. Dr. Lindeman’s current focus is working with researchers, entrepreneurs and investors on the incubation, start-up, evaluation, and scaling of technology-enabled health care solutions, including initiatives that address critical health care challenges through telehealth, mobile/cloud, sensors/IoT, robotics, assistive technologies, and machine intelligence (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning). These technology-enabled solutions cover a continuum of health care issues, ranging from wellness to complex chronic conditions and precision health, with an emphasis on global applications. Dr. Lindeman serves as an advisor to foundations, government agencies, start-ups, businesses, and venture firms. Dr. Lindeman previously served as the founding Director of the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging; Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center; and Co-Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Dr. Lindeman received his PhD and MSW from the University of California, Berkeley.


Eval(

Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease. In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Kathryn Parker

 

Kathryn received her PhD in program evaluation from the University of Toronto in 2006. Kathryn has presented her work at various national and international conferences and has applied her program evaluation skills when working with numerous academic/clinical groups to facilitate and direct program evaluation efforts. Her collaborative work moving educational innovations forward within academic health science centres have garnered numerous awards including the Larry Chester Award for Excellence in Strategic Leadership from the University of Toronto in 2013, the Sherman Award of Excellence in Patient Engagement in 2017 and the 2018 Award of Excellence in Organizational Leadership from the Canadian Association of Pediatric Healthcare Centres. She is an Associate Professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and was also the recipient of the 2013 AMS Phoenix Fellowship. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Academic Affairs at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and is an Associate Director with the Centre for Interprofessional Education.

Outside of her professional life, Kathryn can be found teaching sea kayaking skills to fellow kayak enthusiasts or spending quality time with her daughter Rachel.


Eval(

Kiran Rabheru

 

Dr. Kiran Rabheru is a Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). He obtained his medical degree (MD) from University of Western Ontario. He is board certified in Family Medicine in Canada. He is also board certified in Psychiatry and a subspecialist in Geriatric Psychiatry in both Canada and the United States. Dr. Rabheru is passionate and committed to serving older persons and is recognized nationally and internationally for his work. He is designated as a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is recipient of the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada award by the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP www.cagp.ca) and has served as its President and on its Board. He is Co-Leader of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (https://ccsmh.ca/), Chair of the Board, International Longevity Centre -Canada (https://www.ilccanada.org/), Board member- International Psychogeriatric Association (www.ipa-online.org), Chair - Section of Positive Psychiatry, World Psychiatric Association (https://www.wpanet.org/) and on the National Leadership Team, Fountain of Health (www.fountainofhealth.ca), promoting healthy aging, brain resilience and vitality. He is the elected Chair, Steering Group for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) (https://rightsofolderpeople.org/), with 390 members from over 80 counties worldwide, united in the work to strengthen and promote the rights and the voice of older persons globally to live free from discrimination and fully enjoy their rights.


Eval(

Mary Sano

 

Dr. Mary Sano is Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Alzheimer’s disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC. She is also the Director of Research and Development at the James J Peters Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Sano is a neuropsychologist by training and has been involved in designing and conducting clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other conditions of aging. She is the author of more than 200 publications and holds more than $2million in peer reviewed funding. Currently a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group the Alzheimer Association and the Immediate Past President of International Psychogeriatric Association, she uses her local, national and global roles across these groups to contribute to harmonizing efforts to define and treat the cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with dementia. Recent topics she has been involved in are amyloid targeted therapies, technology in assessment and care of cognitive impairment and dementia and engaging diverse populations in dementia care and research.


Eval(

Lehana Thabane

 

Dr. Lehana Thabane is a Vice-President of Research at St Joseph’s Healthcare—Hamilton; Scientific Director of the Research Institute at St Joseph’s Healthcare; Professor of Biostatistics and Former Interim Chair/Associate Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; Associate Member of the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and Anesthesia, School of Nursing, and School of Rehabilitation Science, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. He is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute, Fellow of the American Statistical Association, Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Honorary Foreign Associate Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is the Society for Clinical Trials President-Elect for 2021-2022; and SCT President for 2022-2023. He is the Editor- in-Chief of the journal Pilot and Feasibility Studies; and he is a member of the editorial board for many journals including Trials, and Clinical Trials.


Eval(

Bisi Williams

 

Aiyemobisi “Bisi” Williams serves as Chief Insights & Analytics Officer for Massive Change Network (MCN), the design consultancy she co-founded in 2010 with Bruce Mau. She is also a co-founder and co-host on the Health2049 podcast, a platform that engages today’s top thought leaders from diverse backgrounds in inspirational conversations regarding the future of health care. Bisi combines more than 20 years of communications experience and strategic design expertise with a deep focus on innovation. By applying the methodology of life-centered design, she takes a holistic approach in designing sustainable solutions to influence change. She collaborates with MCN clients to create impact at scale and drive growth while making the world a better place for all. Under Bisi’s leadership, MCN has become a global leader in the field of enterprise design and is pushing the traditional boundaries of communication and branding.

Bisi has addressed groups on the power of design to drive positive economic, social and cultural change. Her speaking engagements have included “Future Unknown: Global Education Summit,” held at CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) in Beijing, China; “What Design Can Do,” a global design conference held in Amsterdam, and at “The Human Element Communications Consortium,” a conference hosted by Johnson & Johnson. She also spoke to students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she has served as an academic advisor.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bisi graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in Journalism. Prior to the inception of Massive Change Network, Bisi worked with media, arts and cultural organizations to develop programs and events at the intersection of popular culture, fine art and social transformation. In her adopted hometown of Chicago, Bisi has been involved in shaping fundraising events at several major cultural institutions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Ravinia Festival and the Fashion Department of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She served on the Ravinia Women’s Board and with the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and is a proud mom of three beautiful daughters.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

Chair

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

David Kassie

Chair

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Brian Mirsky

Chair

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Phyllis Yaffe

Chair

Ms. Yaffe has held a number of strategic positions in film and television in Canada since the 1980s including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc.  Most recently, she served as Consul General to New York for the Government of Canada from July 2016 through December 2019.  In addition to being Chair of the Board of the Cineplex Entertainment Inc. she currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Ant Media, a privately held Canadian media company. She has previously served on the boards of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Torstar Corporation and Astral Media Inc. In 1999, Ms. Yaffe was selected as the Canadian Women in Communications Woman of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Film and Television in 2000. In 2006, she was included in the Women’s Executive Network’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women; in 2007, she was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Hall of Fame; in 2015, she was honoured as a recipient of the Order of Canada.  In her volunteer time, Ms. Yaffe has previously served on the Boards of Directors for Baycrest Health Sciences and Women Against Multiple Sclerosis, as well as the Chair of the Board of Governors for Ryerson University.
 


Eval(

Jeffrey Blidner

Chair

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


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David Kassie

Chair

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


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Brian Mirsky

Chair

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


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Len Fishman

Chair

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


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Sara Diamond

Chair

Dr. Sara Diamond, C.M., Order of Ontario, ICD.D, RAC, brings a deep knowledge of the relationships of human practices, culture, and technologies. She has consulted with governments, industry, boards and institutions on digital media, the use of data, inclusion, and equity. She holds a doctoral degree in computer science, a master’s in media arts and undergraduate degrees in history and communications. Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, where she served from 2005 to 2020, leading it through its transition to become a unique creative practice and research institution with a focus on digital futures, Indigenous knowledge, inclusive design, design for health, and culture and diversity. She remains an OCAD U faculty member. Diamond was an award-winning artist and documentary producer during the 1980s and 1990s who explored social histories through media art. She then moved on to create an early affective computing artistic neural network and wearable technology with the CodeZebra project. At The Banff Centre (1992 – 2005) she founded the Banff New Media Institute, an international think tank, incubation and production centre and led Media and Visual Arts and research. She is an Expert Panelist with the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation and Associate Consultant and Thought Leader with Lord Cultural Services.

Her board experience examples include serving as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and on the boards of Canadian Women in Communications and Technology and ORANO. She is co-chair of Toronto’s ArtworxTO, Year of Public Art, and the incoming chair of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and of the Toronto Arts Foundation boards. Diamond pursues research in data analytics and visualization applied to urban and cultural planning, wearable technologies and wellness, and is an historian of media and technology. She is currently designing qualitative analysis tools to assess the impact of screen media with a focus on wellness, diversity and inclusion. She is co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Eric Miller University of Toronto on iCity 2.0: Urban Data Science for Future Mobility” which aims to improve accessibility, affordability and mobility by advancing the design of urban transportation systems and complete communities through generative design. Her research publications are available at ResearchGate and https://ocad.academia.edu/SDiamond. Additional recognitions include a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, Simon Fraser University, 2020; the 2020 Exceptional Women of Excellence, Women’s Economic Forum; two Media Pioneer awards: Inspiring 50: Advancement of Diversity in STEM and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for significant contributions to Canada.


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Jane Barratt

Vice-Chair

Jane M Barratt, Ph.D. is the Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing (IFA) an international non-government organisation with general consultative status with the United Nations and its agencies including formal relations with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Population ageing and disability across the life course have been Jane’s passion and interest across an adventurous career that traverses public and private sectors and many disciplines.

During the 1980s and 90s Jane honed her technical and orating skills through an academic career in population ageing and disability at the Universities in the United Kingdom and Australia with attention to improved understanding of population-based planning models and service provision. Thereafter she developed a successful business in strategic planning and relationships alongside senior director and management positions in various international and national not-for-profit organisations.

Representing over 75 million older people through the membership of the IFA, Jane has direct responsibility for the corporation’s operational performance, quality and strategic implementation, and business development. This includes leadership at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in New York, Geneva and Vienna and the WHO.

Jane is a Winston Churchill Fellow and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in Canada in recognition of her commitment and passion to enhance the understanding of issues relating to ageing and engaging in dialogue with governments and the private sector to improve the quality of life of older people. Among her many current positions Jane is a Member of Vision Academy, Director, Baycrest Health Sciences and Chair of the Education Advisory Committee, Associate Scientist, Sinai Health System, Member, Global Committee for the DR Barometer Program, and Member of the International Council for Adult Immunisation. Formerly she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing and until recently Chair, Standing Selection Committee Chair for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada.


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John Albright

 

John is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Relay Ventures as well as Co-Founder and Board Member of Alate Partners and Playmaker Capital. John has over 20 years of experience helping entrepreneurs shape their vision and capital plans for long-term, sustainable growth. John’s tenure in finance spans both venture capital and private equity, where he has assisted entrepreneurs through all stages of the startup lifecycle, from seed financing to IPO and M&A. His ability to work alongside company management teams and offer guidance around hiring, governance, and scaling has been vital to the success of Relay’s investments.

John is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business. John is also on the Board of TouchBistro and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, and serves as an advisory board member to the Ryerson – DMZ.


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Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


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Dr. Jane Barratt

 

Dr. Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing comprising government and non government members in 62 countries and representing some 50 million older people. She brings to this position over 35 years experience in both public and private sectors in the fields of public health, community and aged care, and ageing and disability. Dr. Barratt has strived to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector in order to help shape and influence policy to improve the quality of life of older people.

This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of policy related ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses globally. Dr Barratt is a strong contributor to the international dialogue on the intersection of social, cultural and physical environments that impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct academic positions internationally serve to strengthen her interest in the study of mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people, quality care standards for patient care and the rights of older people.

Dr. Barratt is a Churchill Fellow, representative of the IFA at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and directly responsible for the formal relations with the Ageing and Life Course Department, World Health Organization. She holds executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors internationally and has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.

Dr. Barratt is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors. She is Chair of Baycrest’s Education Advisory Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee.


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Dr. Jane Barratt

 

Dr. Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing comprising government and non government members in 62 countries and representing some 50 million older people. She brings to this position over 35 years experience in both public and private sectors in the fields of public health, community and aged care, and ageing and disability. Dr. Barratt has strived to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector in order to help shape and influence policy to improve the quality of life of older people.

This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of policy related ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses globally. Dr Barratt is a strong contributor to the international dialogue on the intersection of social, cultural and physical environments that impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct academic positions internationally serve to strengthen her interest in the study of mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people, quality care standards for patient care and the rights of older people.

Dr. Barratt is a Churchill Fellow, representative of the IFA at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and directly responsible for the formal relations with the Ageing and Life Course Department, World Health Organization. She holds executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors internationally and has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.

Dr. Barratt is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors. She is Chair of Baycrest’s Education Advisory Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee.


Eval(

Jeffrey Blidner

 

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


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Noah Godfrey

 

Noah is a technology entrepreneur. His most recent venture, Checkout 51, is a mobile app that helps shoppers save money on their groceries, and offers packaged goods brands real-time consumer insights and strategic targeting that they can't get anywhere else. Checkout 51 was acquired by News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation, in July 2015.

Post-acquisition, Noah ran NAM’s digital businesses and innovation unit, and oversaw the development/launch of Freedom, a new business that enables packaged goods brands to easily run sophisticated, data-enriched campaigns at massive scale.

Previously, Noah co-founded GigPark, an online social media platform that allows users to find local businesses through recommendations from friends. In August 2009, GigPark was acquired by Canpages, the largest independent directories publisher in Canada (since acquired by Yellow Pages Group).

Prior to GigPark, Noah was the Founding Publisher of Dose, a national daily newspaper and digital media business backed by CanWest that he took from 0 to 340,000 daily readers in less than a year. Targeting young adult Canadians, Dose reached 10% of 18-24 year olds in its markets every single day.

With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, Noah has experience in corporate strategy / business development at both Time Warner and MTV Networks in New York. He started his career as a media investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) in New York and grew up as a child actor in Toronto.

Noah is married with 3 amazing kids (Chase, Lincoln & Britton) and works with a few non-profits, which includes his role as a Vice Chair of the Baycrest Foundation, Co-Founder of The Brain Project, and Co-Chair for the SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund.


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Margot DaCosta

Chief Nursing Executive

Margot DaCosta is the Vice President, Inpatient Services and Clinical Support, and Chief Nursing Executive. She started at Baycrest in 2014 as the Director of Complex Care, Rehabilitation and Specialized Geriatrics.

Ms. DaCosta is a healthcare leader with over 30 years of hospital management experience in progressively responsible roles spanning various clinical areas, primarily in the acute care sector. Prior to coming to Baycrest her most recent positions were at Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she was the Program Director, Regional Renal, Metabolic & Cancer Care Programs, and Rouge Valley Health System where she was the Program Director, Medicine & Patient Flow.

Ms. DaCosta holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western University, and a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto.


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Ilsa Blidner

Chair, Baycrest Foundation

Ilsa Blidner assumed the position of Board Chair, Baycrest Foundation in September 2022. Ilsa has and continues to serve on a number of Boards and committees. Ilsa is a member of the Foundation Board, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. In the health sector, Ilsa serves on advisory and governing bodies at the Provincial level with Ontario Health-CorHealth, and at the Toronto regional level with Ontario’s Stroke System. She is currently Chair of the Toronto Stroke Networks’ Steering Committee and is Chair of the Toronto West Stroke Network. Ilsa served on the Board of the Ontario Stroke Network where she held positions as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of its Governance committee. She was Chair of the Toronto District Health Council; she served United Way of Greater Toronto as Chair of an Allocations Panel; she served on the National board of the Canadian Evaluation Society and as Chair of Ontario Chapter Board.

Ilsa’s professional career began in clinical research in Neonatology at McMaster University. She then held an academic position at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine where she provided consulting services to clinical and applied researchers. Following this, she formed Ilsa Blidner Consulting Inc., a Toronto-based practice specializing in consultation and training in the areas of strategic planning, quality and performance assessment, applied social research and policy development for the health and social services sectors. Ilsa’s primary focus was to enhance organizational capacity for planning and performance assessment and to use evaluation and data for decision-making and policy development.


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Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


Eval(

Noah Godfrey

 

Noah is a technology entrepreneur. His most recent venture, Checkout 51, is a mobile app that helps shoppers save money on their groceries, and offers packaged goods brands real-time consumer insights and strategic targeting that they can't get anywhere else. Checkout 51 was acquired by News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation, in July 2015.

Post-acquisition, Noah ran NAM’s digital businesses and innovation unit, and oversaw the development/launch of Freedom, a new business that enables packaged goods brands to easily run sophisticated, data-enriched campaigns at massive scale.

Previously, Noah co-founded GigPark, an online social media platform that allows users to find local businesses through recommendations from friends. In August 2009, GigPark was acquired by Canpages, the largest independent directories publisher in Canada (since acquired by Yellow Pages Group).

Prior to GigPark, Noah was the Founding Publisher of Dose, a national daily newspaper and digital media business backed by CanWest that he took from 0 to 340,000 daily readers in less than a year. Targeting young adult Canadians, Dose reached 10% of 18-24 year olds in its markets every single day.

With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, Noah has experience in corporate strategy / business development at both Time Warner and MTV Networks in New York. He started his career as a media investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) in New York and grew up as a child actor in Toronto.

Noah is married with 3 amazing kids (Chase, Lincoln & Britton) and works with a few non-profits, which includes his role as a Vice Chair of the Baycrest Foundation, Co-Founder of The Brain Project, and Co-Chair for the SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund.


Eval(

Allison Sekuler

President

Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, the President and Chief Scientist at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. Her foundational research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand perception, cognition, and the brain; and her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. Dr. Sekuler has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching, and leadership – including serving as the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and recently being named one of WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019).


Eval(

Habib Benali

 

Dr. Habib Benali completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Rennes University in 1985. He joined the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in 1989. He served as Head of the Laboratory of Functional Imaging (INSERM U678 unit with over 65 members) from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Director of the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (with over 100 members), INSERM - The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Sorbonne University until 2015. Together with Prof. Julien Doyon, from the Université de Montréal (UdeM), he founded and became co-director of the International Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Modelisation of the INSERM-Sorbonne University and UdeM administrative bodies in 2007. He is a regular research member of the Centre de Recherche Mathématiques of UdeM since 2002 and a researcher at Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, UdeM, since 2005. I am currently the Scientific Director for the PERFORM Centre, NSERC Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Biomedical Imaging and Healthy Aging and Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University. In the last 30 years, he has gone from starting a new neuroimaging research activity to directing a productive laboratory in France and Canada with activities that span from the development of new mathematical modeling and image analysis techniques to cognitive neuroscience and clinical applications. During this productive time in his scientific career, he published more than 300 peer reviewed papers in the best scientific journals. He is a member of national and international per review committees, executive committees and member of Advisory Board & committees.


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Dr. Amy O. Flaster

 

Amy Flaster, M.D., M.B.A. is a physician executive, value-based care strategist, and practicing internal medicine physician. Dr. Flaster has focused her career on leveraging clinical innovation, data, and technology to improve clinical outcomes, champion patient-centered care, and lower the cost of care. She is passionate about work at the intersection of population health, value-based care, primary care, and digital innovation.

At ConcertoCare, Dr. Flaster serves as Chief Medical Officer and oversees the strategy and operations of the company. ConcertoCare delivers primary and complex care to seniors and other adults with multiple comorbidities, primarily in the home. The company delivers a human-first, tech-enabled model of care powered by a proprietary population health and analytics engine. ConcertoCare takes an intensive, interdisciplinary approach, staffed by internists, geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and community health workers. ConcertoCare is exclusively engaged in value-based capitated arrangements, enabling it to deliver cutting-edge population health at scale across the United States.

Prior to joining ConcertoHealth in 2021, Dr. Flaster served as the Senior Vice President for Population Health at Health Catalyst, a leading healthcare data and analytics company (NASDAQ: HCAT). There, she led a team that worked with large integrated delivery systems, Accountable Care Organizations and Clinically Integrated Networks throughout North America on their journey to leverage data and analytics to support alternative payment model adoption. Dr. Flaster also previously served as Associate Medical Director of Population Health at Mass General Brigham (MGB), a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician network that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among others. In this role, she managed a portfolio of clinical population health programs to drive healthcare transformation across the network. This included the nationally recognized Integrated Care Management Program (iCMP), clinical oversight of the self-insured health plan at MGB (the largest private employer in Massachusetts), and a range of Medicaid programming for the system, including launching an ED Navigation program focused on vulnerable Medicaid patients that are frequent utilizers of the Emergency Departments.

Prior to her work at MGB, Dr. Flaster co-founded myProxy, Inc., which developed the TrueNorth Healthcare platform (acquired 2019) to engage patients and surrogate decision makers in advance care planning. She also previously worked for the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization, the World Health Organization, and has provided consulting services to healthcare delivery organizations and venture capital incubators.. Dr. Flaster also serves as course director for “Value Based Care and Population Health Management” at Harvard Medical School. She continues to practice internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Flaster completed a BA from Dartmouth College, an MD at Harvard Medical School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine in the Primary Care track at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is board certified in Internal Medicine. She was raised in Thornhill, Ontario, volunteered at Baycrest Hospital as a student. She now lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Ken Dryden

 

Ken Dryden was a Member of Parliament and was Minister of Social Development in the Martin government. He played goal for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1970s, during which time the team won six Stanley Cups, and was a member of Team Canada 1972. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and is the author of six books, including The Game and, most recently, Becoming Canada. He teaches at McGill, Calgary, Ryerson, Saskatchewan and Memorial universities. He and his wife, Lynda, live in Toronto and have two children.

Mr. Dryden is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors.


Eval(

Jeffrey Blidner

 

Jeffrey Blidner is the Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., responsible for Strategic Planning as well as Transaction Execution.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2000, Mr. Blidner was a senior partner at a Canadian law firm. Jeff's practice focused on merchant banking transactions, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructurings and private equity transactions.

Mr. Blidner was called to the Bar in Ontario as a Gold Medalist in 1974.

Mr. Blidner was Chair of the Baycrest Centre Board from 2013 to 2015.


Eval(

Dr. Amy O. Flaster

 

Amy Flaster, M.D., M.B.A. is a physician executive, value-based care strategist, and practicing internal medicine physician. Dr. Flaster has focused her career on leveraging clinical innovation, data, and technology to improve clinical outcomes, champion patient-centered care, and lower the cost of care. She is passionate about work at the intersection of population health, value-based care, primary care, and digital innovation.

At ConcertoCare, Dr. Flaster serves as Chief Medical Officer and oversees the strategy and operations of the company. ConcertoCare delivers primary and complex care to seniors and other adults with multiple comorbidities, primarily in the home. The company delivers a human-first, tech-enabled model of care powered by a proprietary population health and analytics engine. ConcertoCare takes an intensive, interdisciplinary approach, staffed by internists, geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and community health workers. ConcertoCare is exclusively engaged in value-based capitated arrangements, enabling it to deliver cutting-edge population health at scale across the United States.

Prior to joining ConcertoHealth in 2021, Dr. Flaster served as the Senior Vice President for Population Health at Health Catalyst, a leading healthcare data and analytics company (NASDAQ: HCAT). There, she led a team that worked with large integrated delivery systems, Accountable Care Organizations and Clinically Integrated Networks throughout North America on their journey to leverage data and analytics to support alternative payment model adoption. Dr. Flaster also previously served as Associate Medical Director of Population Health at Mass General Brigham (MGB), a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician network that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among others. In this role, she managed a portfolio of clinical population health programs to drive healthcare transformation across the network. This included the nationally recognized Integrated Care Management Program (iCMP), clinical oversight of the self-insured health plan at MGB (the largest private employer in Massachusetts), and a range of Medicaid programming for the system, including launching an ED Navigation program focused on vulnerable Medicaid patients that are frequent utilizers of the Emergency Departments.

Prior to her work at MGB, Dr. Flaster co-founded myProxy, Inc., which developed the TrueNorth Healthcare platform (acquired 2019) to engage patients and surrogate decision makers in advance care planning. She also previously worked for the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization, the World Health Organization, and has provided consulting services to healthcare delivery organizations and venture capital incubators.. Dr. Flaster also serves as course director for “Value Based Care and Population Health Management” at Harvard Medical School. She continues to practice internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Flaster completed a BA from Dartmouth College, an MD at Harvard Medical School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine in the Primary Care track at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is board certified in Internal Medicine. She was raised in Thornhill, Ontario, volunteered at Baycrest Hospital as a student. She now lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.


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David Green

 

David Green is a semi-retired business person with a broad background in numerous aspects of real estate.  Both alone and with various family companies, David has developed, built and managed multi-family residential buildings, industrial buildings and office buildings in Toronto and South Florida.   David is currently active in community affairs, having served in Board of Directors and/or Committee capacities the UJA, Baycrest Health Sciences, Miles Nadal JCC, YMCA-GTA and Canadian Friends of Kishorit.  He is the founder and chairman of Canadian Friends of Rambam Health Care Campus (Haifa).  David holds an M.A. degree in Urban Geography from the University of Chicago.   He is a 5th dan Karate student of the late Masami Tsuruoka.  David enjoys fishing and cottage life and lives in downtown Toronto with his wife, Daphne Wagner and children Lita and Michael.


Eval(

Ilsa Blidner

 

Ilsa Blidner assumed the position of Board Chair, Baycrest Foundation in September 2022. Ilsa has and continues to serve on a number of Boards and committees. Ilsa is a member of the Foundation Board, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. In the health sector, Ilsa serves on advisory and governing bodies at the Provincial level with Ontario Health-CorHealth, and at the Toronto regional level with Ontario’s Stroke System. She is currently Chair of the Toronto Stroke Networks’ Steering Committee and is Chair of the Toronto West Stroke Network. Ilsa served on the Board of the Ontario Stroke Network where she held positions as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of its Governance committee. She was Chair of the Toronto District Health Council; she served United Way of Greater Toronto as Chair of an Allocations Panel; she served on the National board of the Canadian Evaluation Society and as Chair of Ontario Chapter Board.

Ilsa’s professional career began in clinical research in Neonatology at McMaster University. She then held an academic position at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine where she provided consulting services to clinical and applied researchers. Following this, she formed Ilsa Blidner Consulting Inc., a Toronto-based practice specializing in consultation and training in the areas of strategic planning, quality and performance assessment, applied social research and policy development for the health and social services sectors. Ilsa’s primary focus was to enhance organizational capacity for planning and performance assessment and to use evaluation and data for decision-making and policy development.


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Len Fishman

 

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


Eval(

Barbra Gold

 

Since the 2015 merge of the health care organizations in Quebec, until November 2021, Barbra Gold has been the Director of the Support Program for the Autonomy of Seniors for the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal. In this role, Ms. Gold was responsible for long-term care facilities, home care and intermediate resources for our territory.

At the present time, this includes 1,177 skilled nursing home beds located on seven sites, 313 intermediate resource beds on four sites and one million direct hours of homecare for an annual budget of $180 million dollars. In addition, she was responsible for ensuring the quality of care at four different private facilities (550 beds).

Ms. Gold began her career in 1979, working in various administrative positions at the Jewish General Hospital. In 1991, she was hired as Executive Director of the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre, and took on the additional role of Executive Director at Jewish Eldercare in 2005. Under her leadership, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare received a number of national awards and recognition for patient-centered care. Both were the first long-term care centres in North America to receive gold designation, which is the highest level of designation from Planetree – an international organization focused on patient-centred health care (2013).

In 2015, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare were merged with seven other healthcare organizations to form the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal, which serves a population base of 380,000 people and a budget of $800 million dollars. From 2009 until 2011, Ms. Gold served as President of the Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Gold has a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa.


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Barry Cracower

 

Secretary, Baycrest Board of Directors
Chair, Finance & Audit Committee

Barry Cracower is the former CEO of Baycrest Global Solutions and a senior executive with solid marketing and management credentials. As founder and president of Rexall Pharmacy and Vice President of the Katz Group, he was instrumental in developing the organization into Canada’s second largest drug store chain.
 
Mr. Cracower has extensive experience in the retail sector where he was founder of the Steals People, Canada’s first retail computer store. In addition Mr. Cracower was senior Merchandise Manager of the T. Eaton Co. and Vice President, General Electric.  Currently, as the President of Marketing Alternatives he does consulting to consumer product and service companies.
 
He is a seasoned board executive currently serving on the boards of Jewish Community Centre (JCC), The Heart and Stroke Foundation and The Partnership for Stroke Recovery Research, where he is Chair. In addition to Baycrest, the Partnership includes other hospital research centres from across the country. He also serves on two private company boards.
 
Mr. Cracower has a BCom from Concordia in Montreal and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in NYC and has received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
 
Mr. Cracower is a member of the Baycrest Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves as Treasurer and Secretary, as well as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee.
 


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Joe Freedman

 

Mr. Freedman is a Corporate Director and private investor. Mr. Freedman is co-founder or Chairman of a number of technology companies including WeBookCare, Total Containment Inc, Rad AI and Band of Coders. Mr Freedman was formerly an executive at Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s foremost alternative asset management organizations with more than $625 billion in assets under management. During his 17 year tenure at Brookfield between 2002 and 2019, Mr. Freedman held a number of positions including Co-Head of Private Equity, General Counsel, head of merger and acquisition transaction execution and Co-Head of fund formation and fund operations. Mr. Freedman is also a director of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Bridgmarq Inc..


Eval(

Barbra Gold

 

Since the 2015 merge of the health care organizations in Quebec, until November 2021, Barbra Gold has been the Director of the Support Program for the Autonomy of Seniors for the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal. In this role, Ms. Gold was responsible for long-term care facilities, home care and intermediate resources for our territory.

At the present time, this includes 1,177 skilled nursing home beds located on seven sites, 313 intermediate resource beds on four sites and one million direct hours of homecare for an annual budget of $180 million dollars. In addition, she was responsible for ensuring the quality of care at four different private facilities (550 beds).

Ms. Gold began her career in 1979, working in various administrative positions at the Jewish General Hospital. In 1991, she was hired as Executive Director of the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre, and took on the additional role of Executive Director at Jewish Eldercare in 2005. Under her leadership, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare received a number of national awards and recognition for patient-centered care. Both were the first long-term care centres in North America to receive gold designation, which is the highest level of designation from Planetree – an international organization focused on patient-centred health care (2013).

In 2015, both Maimonides and Jewish Eldercare were merged with seven other healthcare organizations to form the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal, which serves a population base of 380,000 people and a budget of $800 million dollars. From 2009 until 2011, Ms. Gold served as President of the Association of Jewish Aging Services of North America, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Gold has a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa.


Eval(

Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


Eval(

Rifka Eisenstat

 

Rifka is a retired elementary school administrator. In this role, she provided leadership support and built capacity for change and process improvement with a lens focused on what is best for students and families. Upon retirement, she sought avenues for volunteering that would enable her to continue to apply these skills in a purposeful way. Four years ago, she found this opportunity by becoming a Client and Family Partner at Baycrest. Through her work at Baycrest she became involved with the Patient and Caregiver Health Council of the North York Toronto Health Partners OHT. The shift from her career focus of 'what's best for students and families' to the current focus of 'what's best for patients and families' was an easy one to make. Rifka is currently the co-chair of the Baycrest Client and Family Partners, sits on a number of committees both at Baycrest and the NYTHP and is on the Patient/Caregiver Engagement Curriculum Development Steering Group funded by OSSU.


Eval(

Fern Glowinsky

 

Fern Glowinsky Being deeply passionate about the payments sector, Ms. Glowinsky has spent the majority of her career at the intersection of financial services and technology. Drawn to the opportunity to lead a high growth, emerging payments business delivering a best-in-class solution across the cannabis sector, Ms. Glowinsky joined Merrco as President & CEO in 2018 after becoming a Director of the company in 2017. Ms. Glowinsky’s prior roles include CEO and Director of Cliffside Capital, a public company investing in the alternative lending sector, and COO at Moneris, one of North America’s largest payment processors. Ms. Glowinsky began her career practicing law at Torys LLP. A Toronto native, Ms. Glowinsky graduated from the MBA/JD program with an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and was called to the Ontario Bar. Ms. Glowinsky holds the ICD.D designation having completed the Directors Education Program and serves on the Boards of A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (TSX AW.UN), Haventree Bank and the Baycrest Foundation.


Eval(

Gordon Nelson

 

Gord Nelson joined Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1988 and has held various successive financial roles. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (predecessor entity to Cineplex Inc.) in 2004. Mr. Nelson oversees the finance, purchasing, risk management, legal and corporate development areas of the company. Mr. Nelson holds an MBA from the University of Toronto as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Mr. Nelson was named Canada’s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International – Canada, PwC and Robert Half.


Eval(

Anthony Melman

 

Anthony (Tony) Melman is a highly accomplished Senior Executive, Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Board Member with more than 35 years of success across the financial services, strategic acquisitions, healthcare, technology, transportation and gaming sectors. His broad areas of expertise include business development, global strategy, corporate finance, private equity, due diligence, growth, and mergers & acquisitions.

Tony holds a key leadership position as the Chairman of NuMiner Global and the Chairman & CEO of Nevele Inc. where he provides strategic business and financial advice to a wide range of businesses. He also served as the CEO of Acasta Capital and as the CEO of Acasta Enterprises.

Prior to Acasta, Tony served for over 22 years as Managing Director and Partner of Onex Corporation where he led many of the major acquisitions, and made an enormous contribution to Onex's success, creating billions of dollars in value for Onex shareholders and co-investors. He negotiated the acquisition of Sky Chefs, a leading provider of food services to major airlines and was involved in the acquisition and roll-up of ProSource Inc. a major player in the US food distribution industry. He was the driving force behind the acquisition of Celestica Inc. which generated enormous value for Onex and its shareholders. He also structured Onex’s bids for Labatt Breweries and Air Canada and arranged substantial and innovative related financings. During his tenure, Onex grew from $50M to more than $15B in assets under management, becoming one of Canada’s largest companies during his tenure.  

Prior to joining Onex, Tony was the Head of Global Project and Acquisition Financing for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce where he was in charge of worldwide merchant banking, project financing, acquisitions, and other specialized financing activities.

Tony is a Founder and key member of the Board of Baycrest Global Solutions and previously served for five years as Chair of The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, one of the world's premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging. He was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Cogniciti Inc., a for-profit joint venture created by Baycrest and MaRS Discovery District.

He also served on the Board and was Chair of the Finance Committee of CP Rail, having joined with Bill Ackman CEO of Pershing Square and the ‘Directors for Change’. He was previously on the Board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as a director and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.  and the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation. He was instrumental in the growth of the Childhood Cancer Charitable Council of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Tony obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Business Administration degree (Gold Medalist) from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand.


Eval(

Chris Hodgson

 

Over his 30 year career Chris has been an engineer, entrepreneur, executive, and advisor. He has worked across a number of industries, but he has specific knowledge of software solutions related to eCommerce, Retail, Data, Loyalty, Martech, and Fintech. Chris has been on the founding team of two UK tech startups - the first, uSwitch, was acquired for over £200m, and the second, KidStart, is profitable and now has over 1m members. Chris also spent six years on the leadership team at Google Canada, where he helped to grow the business from 50 people to over 300 and was responsible for all relationships with Retailers, Telcos and Tech clients in Canada. Chris also led a two-year turnaround of Computacenter France, a €400m IT company - transitioning the business from products to services and into profitability. Most recently, Chris was also part of the executive team at RBC which built RBC Ventures - an internal corporate incubator. While at RBC, Chris was an active member of RBC's Venture Board, RBC's Innovation Committee and RBC's Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Chris is a Venture Partner at The Group Ventures and an Advisor at Next Canada and Loyal Ventures. He is also a Non-Executive Board Director at KidStart, BEAN Partners, and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). He is Chair of the Advisory Committee at Juniper. Chris has an MBA from INSEAD, in France, and an Engineering degree from Queen's University, in Canada.


Eval(

Dr. Sara Diamond

 

Dr. Sara Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, Canada's "university of the imagination". While sustaining OCAD U’s strengths in studio-based learning, Diamond guided OCAD University to become a leader in digital media, design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, new research in Inclusive Design, health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design; built two additional campus locations and almost doubled the student population . Diamond implemented Indigenous and racialized diversity inclusion efforts, recruiting Canada’s first Indigenous chancellor and a Tier One Canada Research Chair; undertaking Indigenous and Black cluster hires, and ongoing priority hires and student recruitment. Diamond created a strong network of partnerships for OCAD University in the cultural sector, design industries, ICT industries, financial sector, health sector and government – in essence wherever design, strategic foresight and creativity are needed.

Diamond holds an ICD.D (Directors Designation) Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, a PhD in Computing, IT and Engineering from the University of East London, a Masters in New Media Arts from the University of Arts, London, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, History and Communication, Simon Fraser University. In 2020 Simon Fraser University awarded her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and she received the Exceptional Women of Excellence Award from the global Women’s Economic Forum. She is appointed to the Order of Canada C.M. and the Order of Ontario and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Service to Canada. She has received two digital media “pioneer” awards, an Inspiring 50 award for the Advancement of Diversity in STEM fields (Government of Netherlands and Senate of Canada); and was designated a Canada 150 leader, champion and luminary and one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most influential in 2014.

Diamond leads and co-leads funded research projects and networks in urban data analytics (iCity), wearable and mobile technologies and applied data analytics, AI and visualization (.e.g. Centre for Information Visualization and Data Driven Design and BRAIN) and cultural analytics (supporting cultural industries, audiences and funding agencies) and was co-principal investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design). Diamond was founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, founded OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst Incubator and OCADU CO, its commercialization agent. Diamond continues to write and lecture on the subjects of digital media history and practice, visual analytics, strategic foresight; mobility and design strategy for peer-reviewed journals. Her artwork (1982 – 1995) is held by prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Diamond currently serves as co-Chair of Toronto’s Year of Public Art with Counsellor Crawford and is Chair of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto Advisory Committee. Diamond has served the larger university community as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and through her membership on committees of Universities Canada. Diamond was a member of the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies' expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She is a member of Toronto Regional Board of Trade and City of Toronto’s Smart City Working Group, and on the Government of Canada Service Advisory Council.

Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. In this role she assisted with the development, incubation and support of many of Canada's leading new media companies, as well as international think tanks and collaborations in ICT, digital media and science research with artists, designers and scientists from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Central and Western Europe and the U.S.A., as well as Canada.


Eval(

David Green

 

David Green is a semi-retired business person with a broad background in numerous aspects of real estate.  Both alone and with various family companies, David has developed, built and managed multi-family residential buildings, industrial buildings and office buildings in Toronto and South Florida.   David is currently active in community affairs, having served in Board of Directors and/or Committee capacities the UJA, Baycrest Health Sciences, Miles Nadal JCC, YMCA-GTA and Canadian Friends of Kishorit.  He is the founder and chairman of Canadian Friends of Rambam Health Care Campus (Haifa).  David holds an M.A. degree in Urban Geography from the University of Chicago.   He is a 5th dan Karate student of the late Masami Tsuruoka.  David enjoys fishing and cottage life and lives in downtown Toronto with his wife, Daphne Wagner and children Lita and Michael.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Anthony Melman

 

Anthony (Tony) Melman is a highly accomplished Senior Executive, Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Board Member with more than 35 years of success across the financial services, strategic acquisitions, healthcare, technology, transportation and gaming sectors. His broad areas of expertise include business development, global strategy, corporate finance, private equity, due diligence, growth, and mergers & acquisitions.

Tony holds a key leadership position as the Chairman of NuMiner Global and the Chairman & CEO of Nevele Inc. where he provides strategic business and financial advice to a wide range of businesses. He also served as the CEO of Acasta Capital and as the CEO of Acasta Enterprises.

Prior to Acasta, Tony served for over 22 years as Managing Director and Partner of Onex Corporation where he led many of the major acquisitions, and made an enormous contribution to Onex's success, creating billions of dollars in value for Onex shareholders and co-investors. He negotiated the acquisition of Sky Chefs, a leading provider of food services to major airlines and was involved in the acquisition and roll-up of ProSource Inc. a major player in the US food distribution industry. He was the driving force behind the acquisition of Celestica Inc. which generated enormous value for Onex and its shareholders. He also structured Onex’s bids for Labatt Breweries and Air Canada and arranged substantial and innovative related financings. During his tenure, Onex grew from $50M to more than $15B in assets under management, becoming one of Canada’s largest companies during his tenure.  

Prior to joining Onex, Tony was the Head of Global Project and Acquisition Financing for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce where he was in charge of worldwide merchant banking, project financing, acquisitions, and other specialized financing activities.

Tony is a Founder and key member of the Board of Baycrest Global Solutions and previously served for five years as Chair of The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, one of the world's premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging. He was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Cogniciti Inc., a for-profit joint venture created by Baycrest and MaRS Discovery District.

He also served on the Board and was Chair of the Finance Committee of CP Rail, having joined with Bill Ackman CEO of Pershing Square and the ‘Directors for Change’. He was previously on the Board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as a director and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.  and the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation. He was instrumental in the growth of the Childhood Cancer Charitable Council of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) and a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Tony obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Business Administration degree (Gold Medalist) from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand.


Eval(

Dr. Gary Naglie

Chair, MAC

Dr. Gary Naglie completed his medical school training at McGill University, specialty training in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto, and graduate training in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University. He is a full Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and he holds the George, Margaret and Gary Hunt Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

Dr. Naglie is the Vice President of Medical Services, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Medicine at Baycrest Health Sciences and is a scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute and at the University Health Network-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. His research has focused on outcomes evaluation and quality of life in cognitively impaired and medically complex older adults. His current major research interests are driving issues in older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment, and innovative models of care for frail, complex older adults.


Eval(

Ken Dryden

 

Ken Dryden was a Member of Parliament and was Minister of Social Development in the Martin government. He played goal for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1970s, during which time the team won six Stanley Cups, and was a member of Team Canada 1972. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and is the author of six books, including The Game and, most recently, Becoming Canada. He teaches at McGill, Calgary, Ryerson, Saskatchewan and Memorial universities. He and his wife, Lynda, live in Toronto and have two children.

Mr. Dryden is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors.


Eval(

Shirlee Sharkey

 

Shirlee Sharkey is recognized as one of Canada’s foremost experts on home care and healthy aging. As a registered nurse and the long-time CEO of SE Health, a unique not-for-profit social enterprise, she has dedicated her career to empowering people, championing compassion and advancing social innovation to forever impact how people live and age at home. In May 2022, Shirlee stepped down from SE Health following 30 years of breakthrough leadership.

Shirlee shares her passion and expertise as a thought leader, speaker, author and mentor. In 2020, she collaborated with a range of experts to co-author The Future of Aging, a book that has been described as “a brilliant and powerful challenge to locked-in ageist mindsets, policies and service models.” Naturally curious and committed to lifelong learning, Shirlee regularly engages with students, entrepreneurs and business leaders from other industries. Academically, she is cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation as an adjunct professor.

Shirlee’s commitment to public service is evident in her leadership and involvement on many boards, including University Health Network, the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, and BAYADA Home Health Care. She also serves as a senior fellow of Canada’s top think tank, the CD Howe Institute. Internationally, Shirlee is a Healthcare DENMARK ambassador. Committed to global influence, she has gained and shared health system insights through her experiences in the Middle East, Australia and northern Europe.

Shirlee has received many accolades and awards throughout her distinguished career, including the IHPME Graduate Leadership Award, the Innovation Award for Health Care Leadership, and being named one of the top 10 Canadian Women Leaders in Digital Health. In 2017, she was presented with an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.


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Gitta Kulczycki

 

The first of her German immigrant family to attend university, Gitta Kulczycki earned a Commerce Degree (Cum Laude) in Accounting, Finance and Mathematics from Laurentian University and an MBA (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Ottawa. She also holds the Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Over her 40-plus year career, Gitta has served in a number of senior leadership roles in Canada’s post-secondary education, healthcare and high-tech sectors. Before coming to Dalhousie, Gitta was vice-president finance and administration at the University of Alberta. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as vice-president resources and operations at Western University in London, Ontario. She has also served as vice-president and chief financial officer for the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, the South East Health Care Corporation in Moncton, and the Calgary General Hospital.

In November 2020, Gitta joined Dalhousie University as vice president finance and administration. As vice president finance and administration, Gitta plays a key role in the development, management and planning of Dalhousie’s infrastructure, human resources, information management and information technology services, ancillary services, environmental health and safety, athletics, sustainability and financial services.

Gitta has been heavily involved in her profession and in every community in which she has resided. She currently serves on the boards of CURIE and Interuniversity Services Inc. She is past-president and past chair of the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) and was previously involved with the County of Lambton Community Development Corporation, the TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, Ivey Management Services Companies and the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, to name a few.


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Paul Godfrey

 

Mr. Godfrey is the Executive Chairman of Postmedia Network.

Prior to this he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Postmedia Network from July 2010 to November 2017 and was Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from November 2017 to January 2019. Postmedia Network is a Canadian news media company representing more than 125 brands across multiple print, online, and mobile platforms. Prior to the start of Postmedia Network Inc., Paul Godfrey served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Post from January 2009 to July 2010.

Mr. Godfrey was appointed Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) by the Ontario Provincial Cabinet and served in this role from January, 2010 to May, 2013.

Mr. Godfrey is a life-long Torontonian.  He attended Bathurst Heights Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1962 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering.

Mr. Godfrey’s career encompasses long stints in the publishing business, professional sports management and politics.

Mr. Godfrey entered politics in the previously known Borough of North York.  He was elected a Councillor in 1964 and an Alderman in 1966 and 1969.  He was appointed Controller in 1970 and was re-elected to that position in the general election in 1972.  In 1973, Mr. Godfrey was elected by the Metropolitan Toronto Council as its Chairman.  This was prior to the 1998 amalgamation of the City of Toronto.  Mr. Godfrey held this position, known as Metro Chairman, for four terms - a record 11 years.

In August 1984, Mr. Godfrey left the political world to take on the role as Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Sun newspaper.  In April 1991, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation and, on November 5, 1992, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.  In 1996, Mr. Godfrey successfully headed up a management-led buy-out of the company and the Sun Media Corporation was subsequently formed in October, 1996.  Mr. Godfrey held the position of President and C.E.O. of Sun Media Corporation until his departure on June 30, 2000.

Following Rogers’ purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Mr. Godfrey was appointed the Club’s President and Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2000.  Mr. Godfrey was previously involved with the Club, as he was part of the group (during his career as Metro Chairman) which lobbied to bring a Major League Baseball club to Toronto, a dream that was realized when the Blue Jays played and won their first home game on April 7, 1977 at Exhibition Stadium on a snowy day.  

In September, 2008, Mr. Godfrey announced his decision to leave his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre at the end of that year.

Mr. Godfrey serves on the following boards:

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust   
Chairman

Cargojet Inc.
Director

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Vice-Chair

Mr. Godfrey was Chairman of the Molson Indy Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2005 and also Chairman of its successor, the Grand Prix Charitable Foundation of Toronto, from 2006 to 2007.

Mr. Godfrey is a great fan of the National Football League and he continues to pursue, on behalf of Toronto, an NFL franchise for this wonderful city.

Mr. Godfrey has received many honours.  In 1990, he received the City of Toronto’s highest award, the Civic Award of Merit.  In 1998, Mr. Godfrey received the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada.     In 1999, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.  In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctorate (Hon.D.Eng). from Ryerson University.  In 2004, Mr. Godfrey was honoured to receive the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumni Medal.  In January 2010, Mr. Godfrey received Ontario’s Highest Honour – the Order of Ontario.

He was the Salvation Army’s National Spokesperson from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Godfrey is married to the artist, Gina Godfrey. They have three sons, Rob, Noah and Jay and nine grandchildren.


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Scott Ovenden

President

Scott Ovenden is the President & CEO of the Baycrest Hospital and the President of The Baycrest Day Care Centre. Since joining Baycrest in 2016, Scott has held a number of leadership positions including Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Chief Operating Officer of Baycrest Global Solutions and most recently, Executive Vice President, Clinical Programs.

Scott is a healthcare executive who has held progressive leadership positions in acute care hospitals and as a management consultant. These professional experiences have allowed him to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ontario. Scott started his healthcare career as a physiotherapist in a number of clinical environments including; acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and outpatient services. He holds a BPE, BSc (Physiotherapy) and a Masters of Health Administration (MHSc) from the school of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Scott is a member of the Ontario Long Term Care Association Board of Directors, and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Quality Committee.  Prior to that, he was a Trustee at Grandview Children’s Centre and completed his final term on the Board as the Vice-Chair.


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David Posluns

 

David Posluns possesses more than 30 years of experience in finance, business, and technology development, and has established many global business relationships.

Mr. Posluns serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Cedarpoint Investments Inc., a private equity and alternative investments management firm. He is a board member of NXM Labs Inc, a Blockchain based IOT Cyber Security Firm, and is a board observer of Telmediq Inc, a healthcare communications Technology company (now Perfect Serve). He formerly served on the board of 4Tell Inc. until 2016 when it was acquired. In addition, Mr. Posluns has developed and financed real estate projects in the commercial and self-storage sectors.

Mr. Posluns serves on the advisory committee of The Rising Tide Seed Fund in San Francisco, California.

Mr. Posluns is currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory of the Baycrest Hospital Foundation and the past chair and current member of the Jewish Federation of Toronto Endowment Fund Advisory Board. He also sits on the Board of Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions.

Mr. Posluns holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Chicago.


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


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Annamie Paul

 

Annamie Paul is a lawyer, former diplomat, social entrepreneur, and politician. Ms. Paul has worked in the office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court and in Canada's Mission to the EU. She is co-founder of the Barcelona International Public Policy HUB, founder of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership and co-founder of the Operation Black Vote Canada 1834 Public Policy Fellowship. Ms. Paul holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and is called to the Bar of Ontario. She is an Action Canada Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Government of Canada Policy Leaders alumna and a BPPA Harry Jerome Award recipient. She is a vocal advocate for senior care and long-term care reform.


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Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

David Lindeman

 

David Lindeman David Lindeman, PhD, is Director Health, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), UC Berkeley, and Director, Center for Technology and Aging (CTA). Dr. Lindeman has worked in the fields of health care and long-term care for nearly 40 years as a health services researcher and gerontologist, conducting research related to telehealth, health care technology, chronic disease management, healthy aging, disabilities, dementia, community-based and residential services, health care workforce, and family caregiving. Dr. Lindeman’s current focus is working with researchers, entrepreneurs and investors on the incubation, start-up, evaluation, and scaling of technology-enabled health care solutions, including initiatives that address critical health care challenges through telehealth, mobile/cloud, sensors/IoT, robotics, assistive technologies, and machine intelligence (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning). These technology-enabled solutions cover a continuum of health care issues, ranging from wellness to complex chronic conditions and precision health, with an emphasis on global applications. Dr. Lindeman serves as an advisor to foundations, government agencies, start-ups, businesses, and venture firms. Dr. Lindeman previously served as the founding Director of the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging; Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center; and Co-Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Dr. Lindeman received his PhD and MSW from the University of California, Berkeley.


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Katie Smith Sloan

 

Katie Smith Sloan is president and CEO of LeadingAge, a national association of over 5,000 mission-driven providers primarily for older adults. Sloan advances the organization’s strategic priorities to support members and improve our current system of housing, services and supports, guided by the organization’s mission to be the trusted voice for aging.

Sloan also serves as the executive director of the Global Ageing Network, an organization with a presence in over 50 countries committed to improving the quality of life for people as they age through shared learning, exploration and innovation.

Sloan serves on the Board of Directors of the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) based in Toronto, HelpAge USA, the Long Term Quality Alliance (LTQA), ValueFirst, and the Alliance for Home Care Quality and Innovation. She is national co-chair of Dementia Friendly America, a multi-sector national collaborative with a mission to foster dementia friendly communities.


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Len Fishman

 

Len Fishman is director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1984, the Institute is the research, policy and public service arm of UMass Boston’s gerontology program, one of the oldest and largest aging studies programs in the world. From 2000 to 2013, Len was CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, New England ’s largest non-profit provider of senior housing and healthcare, and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Before joining HSL, Len was president of Leading Age, in Washington D.C., which represents 6,000 non-profit senior housing and health care providers, serving over three million seniors in the U.S. and Canada. Len served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services. For a decade earlier, he practiced health care law in NJ and PA.


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Gordon Nelson

 

Gord Nelson joined Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1988 and has held various successive financial roles. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (predecessor entity to Cineplex Inc.) in 2004. Mr. Nelson oversees the finance, purchasing, risk management, legal and corporate development areas of the company. Mr. Nelson holds an MBA from the University of Toronto as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Mr. Nelson was named Canada’s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International – Canada, PwC and Robert Half.


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David Posluns

 

David Posluns possesses more than 30 years of experience in finance, business, and technology development, and has established many global business relationships.

Mr. Posluns serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Cedarpoint Investments Inc., a private equity and alternative investments management firm. He is a board member of NXM Labs Inc, a Blockchain based IOT Cyber Security Firm, and is a board observer of Telmediq Inc, a healthcare communications Technology company (now Perfect Serve). He formerly served on the board of 4Tell Inc. until 2016 when it was acquired. In addition, Mr. Posluns has developed and financed real estate projects in the commercial and self-storage sectors.

Mr. Posluns serves on the advisory committee of The Rising Tide Seed Fund in San Francisco, California.

Mr. Posluns is currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory of the Baycrest Hospital Foundation and the past chair and current member of the Jewish Federation of Toronto Endowment Fund Advisory Board. He also sits on the Board of Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions.

Mr. Posluns holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Chicago.


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David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


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Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Scott Ovenden

President & CEO

Scott Ovenden is the President & CEO of the Baycrest Hospital and the President of The Baycrest Day Care Centre. Since joining Baycrest in 2016, Scott has held a number of leadership positions including Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Chief Operating Officer of Baycrest Global Solutions and most recently, Executive Vice President, Clinical Programs.

Scott is a healthcare executive who has held progressive leadership positions in acute care hospitals and as a management consultant. These professional experiences have allowed him to work with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ontario. Scott started his healthcare career as a physiotherapist in a number of clinical environments including; acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and outpatient services. He holds a BPE, BSc (Physiotherapy) and a Masters of Health Administration (MHSc) from the school of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Scott is a member of the Ontario Long Term Care Association Board of Directors, and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Quality Committee.  Prior to that, he was a Trustee at Grandview Children’s Centre and completed his final term on the Board as the Vice-Chair.


Eval(

Paul Godfrey

 

Mr. Godfrey is the Executive Chairman of Postmedia Network.

Prior to this he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Postmedia Network from July 2010 to November 2017 and was Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from November 2017 to January 2019. Postmedia Network is a Canadian news media company representing more than 125 brands across multiple print, online, and mobile platforms. Prior to the start of Postmedia Network Inc., Paul Godfrey served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Post from January 2009 to July 2010.

Mr. Godfrey was appointed Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) by the Ontario Provincial Cabinet and served in this role from January, 2010 to May, 2013.

Mr. Godfrey is a life-long Torontonian.  He attended Bathurst Heights Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1962 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering.

Mr. Godfrey’s career encompasses long stints in the publishing business, professional sports management and politics.

Mr. Godfrey entered politics in the previously known Borough of North York.  He was elected a Councillor in 1964 and an Alderman in 1966 and 1969.  He was appointed Controller in 1970 and was re-elected to that position in the general election in 1972.  In 1973, Mr. Godfrey was elected by the Metropolitan Toronto Council as its Chairman.  This was prior to the 1998 amalgamation of the City of Toronto.  Mr. Godfrey held this position, known as Metro Chairman, for four terms - a record 11 years.

In August 1984, Mr. Godfrey left the political world to take on the role as Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Sun newspaper.  In April 1991, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation and, on November 5, 1992, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.  In 1996, Mr. Godfrey successfully headed up a management-led buy-out of the company and the Sun Media Corporation was subsequently formed in October, 1996.  Mr. Godfrey held the position of President and C.E.O. of Sun Media Corporation until his departure on June 30, 2000.

Following Rogers’ purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Mr. Godfrey was appointed the Club’s President and Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2000.  Mr. Godfrey was previously involved with the Club, as he was part of the group (during his career as Metro Chairman) which lobbied to bring a Major League Baseball club to Toronto, a dream that was realized when the Blue Jays played and won their first home game on April 7, 1977 at Exhibition Stadium on a snowy day.  

In September, 2008, Mr. Godfrey announced his decision to leave his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre at the end of that year.

Mr. Godfrey serves on the following boards:

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust   
Chairman

Cargojet Inc.
Director

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Vice-Chair

Mr. Godfrey was Chairman of the Molson Indy Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2005 and also Chairman of its successor, the Grand Prix Charitable Foundation of Toronto, from 2006 to 2007.

Mr. Godfrey is a great fan of the National Football League and he continues to pursue, on behalf of Toronto, an NFL franchise for this wonderful city.

Mr. Godfrey has received many honours.  In 1990, he received the City of Toronto’s highest award, the Civic Award of Merit.  In 1998, Mr. Godfrey received the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada.     In 1999, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.  In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctorate (Hon.D.Eng). from Ryerson University.  In 2004, Mr. Godfrey was honoured to receive the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumni Medal.  In January 2010, Mr. Godfrey received Ontario’s Highest Honour – the Order of Ontario.

He was the Salvation Army’s National Spokesperson from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Godfrey is married to the artist, Gina Godfrey. They have three sons, Rob, Noah and Jay and nine grandchildren.


Eval(

Andrew Szende

 

Andrew Szende was the Founding President and CEO of the Electronic Child Health Network (eCHN), Canada's first province-wide integrated electronic health record system. Previously, Mr. Szende worked for the Ontario government in various roles, including Associate Secretary of the Cabinet, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, and Ontario’s Senior Agent in Hong Kong. Mr. Szende has been actively involved in the not-for-profit sector. He is a former member of the University of Toronto’s Governing Council and a Director of Family Service Toronto. He is the current Chair of the Board of Health Claims for Auto Insurance Processing, Director of OECM, and Director of the Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation.

Mr. Szende received a BA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and an MSocSci from the National University of Singapore.


Eval(

Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease. In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Talia Varley

MD MPH CCFP

Dr. Varley is a clinician leader and executive advisor at the intersection of business and healthcare,
with responsibility for the strategic and day to day success of major corporate engagements. 
  • Primary Care physician with subspecialty work in Addiction Medicine and Chronic Pain, practicing across urban inner city and rural settings at the front lines of the opioid crisis. Clinical interest areas include women’s health, mental health, substance use, healthcare systems and management, women & leadership development
  • Physician Lead of Advisory Services at Cleveland Clinic Canada, holding P&L responsibility and advising cross industry executives. Member of Senior Leadership Team which includes developing annual strategic and financial planning , succession planning, setting of corporate policy, talent management, risk management as well as monitoring of corporate performance against business plans and KPIs. Published ESG thought leader (Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Globe and Mail, National Post)
  • Clinician leader with unique management background that combines the rigour of medicine with corporate training excellence of management consulting. Deep experience at McKinsey & Company across broad spectrum of international corporate mandates including due diligence, corporate finance , operations, human resources & talent, enterprise strategy and organizational agility as well as digital transformation. Work experience further includes sustainability, People Risk, executive resilience, corporate & community partnerships, DEI and governance
  • Master in Public Health from Harvard University, MD & CCFP from McMaster University and BSc from Western University. Work experience at Harvard Business School, University of Toronto and SickKids Hospital, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Institute of  Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME)


Eval(

David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Dr. Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease.

In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Talia Varley

MD MPH CCFP

Dr. Varley is a clinician leader and executive advisor at the intersection of business and healthcare,
with responsibility for the strategic and day to day success of major corporate engagements. 
  • Primary Care physician with subspecialty work in Addiction Medicine and Chronic Pain, practicing across urban inner city and rural settings at the front lines of the opioid crisis. Clinical interest areas include women’s health, mental health, substance use, healthcare systems and management, women & leadership development
  • Physician Lead of Advisory Services at Cleveland Clinic Canada, holding P&L responsibility and advising cross industry executives. Member of Senior Leadership Team which includes developing annual strategic and financial planning , succession planning, setting of corporate policy, talent management, risk management as well as monitoring of corporate performance against business plans and KPIs. Published ESG thought leader (Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Globe and Mail, National Post)
  • Clinician leader with unique management background that combines the rigour of medicine with corporate training excellence of management consulting. Deep experience at McKinsey & Company across broad spectrum of international corporate mandates including due diligence, corporate finance , operations, human resources & talent, enterprise strategy and organizational agility as well as digital transformation. Work experience further includes sustainability, People Risk, executive resilience, corporate & community partnerships, DEI and governance
  • Master in Public Health from Harvard University, MD & CCFP from McMaster University and BSc from Western University. Work experience at Harvard Business School, University of Toronto and SickKids Hospital, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Institute of  Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME)


Eval(

Daniel Sauder

 

Daniel N. Sauder, M.D., is past chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also past Chief of Dermatology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sauder has held senior positions with biotechnology companies and has assisted in the development of numerous novel biologics. He is past head of Dermatology at University Medical Centre of Princeton and past medical director of Outward-Bound Canada. Currently, he practices general dermatology as well as consulting for biotech companies.

Dr. Sauder trained at McMaster University School of Medicine and at McGill University Medical School. He completed his Dermatology training at the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. He is past president of the Canadian Dermatology Association, past and founding president of the Canadian Society for Investigative Dermatology and founding editor of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. He has also served on numerous other editorial boards, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Lymphokine Research, Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, and International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, and Experts Review of Clinical Immunology.

His research has focused on the molecular mechanism of the cutaneous (skin) immune response. He was instrumental in developing the field of cutaneous cytokine biology by identifying the role of certain immune system molecules, interleukins and cytokines, in inflammatory skin diseases and tumors.

Dr. Sauder has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. He is a highly regarded clinician, educator and investigator.


Eval(

Kathryn Parker

 

Kathryn received her PhD in program evaluation from the University of Toronto in 2006. Kathryn has presented her work at various national and international conferences and has applied her program evaluation skills when working with numerous academic/clinical groups to facilitate and direct program evaluation efforts. Her collaborative work moving educational innovations forward within academic health science centres have garnered numerous awards including the Larry Chester Award for Excellence in Strategic Leadership from the University of Toronto in 2013, the Sherman Award of Excellence in Patient Engagement in 2017 and the 2018 Award of Excellence in Organizational Leadership from the Canadian Association of Pediatric Healthcare Centres. She is an Associate Professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and was also the recipient of the 2013 AMS Phoenix Fellowship. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Academic Affairs at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and is an Associate Director with the Centre for Interprofessional Education.

Outside of her professional life, Kathryn can be found teaching sea kayaking skills to fellow kayak enthusiasts or spending quality time with her daughter Rachel.


Eval(

Ellis Jacob

 

Mr. Jacob has been working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987. Prior to assuming his current position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation in 2003, Mr. Jacob was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Galaxy. Prior to founding Galaxy, Mr. Jacob represented Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. as Head of Integration during 1998 and 1999. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Jacob held various positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and, ultimately, Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his role as a Director of the Corporation, Mr. Jacob also serves as a director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rogers Communication Inc.

He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), an executive committee member of the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committee of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Jacob is an active community member, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics, where he also sits on the Executive Committee and is a member of Baycrest’s Finance and Audit Committee. Along with his position at Baycrest, Mr. Jacob is a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Governors for Mount Sinai Hospital. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA). He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2013 he was recognized as Canada’s Most Innovative CEO by Canadian Business Magazine, in 2014, he was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired CEO, Enterprise, by Waterstone Human Capital and in 2019 he received the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award


Eval(

Leo Van Den Thillart

 

Leo van den Thillart is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sera Global, a real assets private markets advisory firm.

Prior to Sera Global, Mr. van den Thillart was a Managing Partner at Brookfield Asset Management which he joined in 2008 and held several roles across the organization in Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom until his retirement in February 2020, including the role of Global Head of the Private Funds Group, where he was responsible for the global marketing strategy, fundraising and product development for all of Brookfield’s private funds. Mr. van den Thillart is a business builder and has over 20 years of financial and asset management experience in senior management positions in firms including Brookfield Asset Management, Bear Sterns/J.P. Morgan and Crane Capital Associates.

Mr. van den Thillart is currently a Foundation Board Member and Foundation Investment Committee Member of The Menninger Clinic, a leading specialty psychiatric hospital that is a nationally ranked leader in psychiatry in the US for 30 consecutive years.


Eval(

Annamie Paul

 

Annamie Paul is a lawyer, former diplomat, social entrepreneur, and politician. Ms. Paul has worked in the office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court and in Canada's Mission to the EU. She is co-founder of the Barcelona International Public Policy HUB, founder of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership and co-founder of the Operation Black Vote Canada 1834 Public Policy Fellowship. Ms. Paul holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and is called to the Bar of Ontario. She is an Action Canada Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Government of Canada Policy Leaders alumna and a BPPA Harry Jerome Award recipient. She is a vocal advocate for senior care and long-term care reform.


Eval(

Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO, BSC

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


Eval(

Dr. Rulan Parekh

 

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease.

In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.


Eval(

Randy Weisz

 

Mr. Weisz is currently working with Auberge Resorts Collection as their Executive Advisor. He provides advice and direction to the Board and the Senior Management Team to help them develop and execute a strategic plan for Auberge Resorts Collection to become a global luxury brand.
 
Randy has extensive experience in all aspects of the development and operation of luxury hospitality companies and their properties. Most recently, he has been involved in designing and building a new luxury brand with a view to global recognition and expansion. Over the years he has been involved in    structuring and implementing transactions involving more than 75 hotel and resort properties worldwide and multiple corporate transactions in the hospitality industry.
 
Previously, Randy held the position of Executive Vice President Business Administration and General Counsel at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where he was responsible for managing the worldwide business and legal affairs of the company relating to property investments and other corporate initiatives. Randy was a member of the Management Committee of Four Seasons, responsible for running their business affairs worldwide, and was involved in all of the corporate transactions critical to the emergence of Four Seasons as a globally recognized hospitality brand.
 
He is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Western Ontario and previously practiced corporate and commercial law as a Partner of Goodmans LLP in Toronto, Canada.


Eval(

Dr. Allison Sekuler

President and Chief Scientist,
Baycrest Academy and CABHI

Dr. Allison Sekuler is the Vice-President, Research, and the Sandra A. Rotman Chair at Baycrest Health Sciences. Dr. Sekuler joins Baycrest after a long and distinguished career as a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where she was the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011). She is also the Chair of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada‘s (NSERC) Scholarships & Fellowships group along with being a member of NSERC’s Committee for Discovery Research.

The recipient of numerous awards for research, teaching and leadership, Dr. Sekuler has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging and vision science, cognitive neuroscience, learning and neural plasticity, and neuroimaging and neurotechnology, as well as vast experience in senior academic and research leadership roles.


Eval(

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson

 

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson brings a wealth of experience to her role as a Board Director and Committee Chair. A graduate from the University of Toronto Masters of Social Work program and several Executive programs at the Rotman School of Management, she has worked in a variety of settings and roles, including health care, education, government and community as a clinician, administrator and consultant. Her invaluable first-hand experience as a leader and change agent has been very helpful for those institutions and businesses undergoing change. In addition, her expertise in interprofessional and team-based care has led to several award winning initiatives.

Lorie has held a variety of positions over the years. As President and CEO of JVS Toronto, she led the organization through a time of tremendous change, including addressing its financial challenges, a new strategic framework, new Mission, Vision and Values, and implementing a more efficient governance model.
At George Brown College, Lorie was a member of the senior management team. As Dean, Health Sciences and Community Services and later as AVP Waterfront Campus, Lorie co-led the development, design and implementation of George Brown College’s new $175M Waterfront Campus that opened in the Fall 2012. The Campus houses the Centre for Health Sciences. The new facility is designed to embrace an interprofessional learning education framework enhancing wellness and health promotion.

Lorie has also authored articles on social work, marital and family therapy, interprofessional education and its impact on design, as well as two books on eating disorders. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the recipient of the Colleges Ontario 2010 Exemplary Service Award and the Ontario Association of Social Workers’ 2011 Inspirational Leader Award.

Lorie has been an active member on several agency and government committees and professional boards both locally and across Canada, as well as community boards. These have included the UHN Family Health Team Board, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Baycrest’s Clinical Strategy, Quality and Safety Committee, Ministry of Health’s Interprofessional Education Working Group, Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), and Jewish Family and Child Care Services. She has also chaired the United Way campaigns at several organizations and has been the recipient of the United Way Spirit Awards.


Eval(

David Kassie

 

David Kassie has been Executive Chairman of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. since May 2010 and was Chairman and CEO from April to October 2015. David was Principal, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Capital Markets (November 2004 to May 2010) at which time Genuity was acquired by Canaccord Financial. He is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets and the Vice Chairman of CIBC (1979 – 2004).
 
Mr. Kassie has extensive experience as an advisor, underwriter and principal.  He sits on a number of corporate boards. Mr. Kassie is actively involved in community and charitable organizations and is a Director and former Chairman of Baycrest Health Sciences, Chairman of Baycrest’s commercialization activities and was formerly on the Boards of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Hospital for Sick Children and Ivey School of Business.
 
Mr. Kassie holds a B.Comm. (Honours) in Economics from McGill University, 1977 and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, 1979.


Eval(

Kiran Rabheru

 

Dr. Kiran Rabheru is a Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). He obtained his medical degree (MD) from University of Western Ontario. He is board certified in Family Medicine in Canada. He is also board certified in Psychiatry and a subspecialist in Geriatric Psychiatry in both Canada and the United States. Dr. Rabheru is passionate and committed to serving older persons and is recognized nationally and internationally for his work. He is designated as a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is recipient of the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada award by the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP www.cagp.ca) and has served as its President and on its Board. He is Co-Leader of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (https://ccsmh.ca/), Chair of the Board, International Longevity Centre -Canada (https://www.ilccanada.org/), Board member- International Psychogeriatric Association (www.ipa-online.org), Chair - Section of Positive Psychiatry, World Psychiatric Association (https://www.wpanet.org/) and on the National Leadership Team, Fountain of Health (www.fountainofhealth.ca), promoting healthy aging, brain resilience and vitality. He is the elected Chair, Steering Group for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) (https://rightsofolderpeople.org/), with 390 members from over 80 counties worldwide, united in the work to strengthen and promote the rights and the voice of older persons globally to live free from discrimination and fully enjoy their rights.


Eval(

Sheldon Levy

 

Sheldon Levy is a higher education leader and visionary with a passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy. Sheldon has been an instrumental figure in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in the last decade, spearheading the creation of such organizations as Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, and Scale Up Ventures, Inc.

As President and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University from 2005 to 2015, Sheldon drove the creation of the Digital Media Zone (DMZ), an early-stage incubator for student entrepreneurs which has since become an international success. He is also a founder and advisor to Ryerson Futures Inc., an accelerator that has exported the DMZ concept to such locations as Calgary and Mumbai.

From 2015 to 2017 Sheldon served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, where he helped prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Ontario’s postsecondary education and training system. In 2017 he became CEO of NEXT Canada, an organization that provides mentorship, education, networks and funding to Canada’s most promising entrepreneurs.

In December 2018, Sheldon was appointed Special Advisor to Canada’s Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, Mary Ng, on the issue of scaling up small and medium-sized businesses.

Sheldon recently joined the Board of Directors of Baycrest Health Sciences.

Sheldon previously served as President of Oakville’s Sheridan College from 1997 to 2001, overseeing the growth of its renowned animation department during the early years of computer-generated imaging. Sheldon’s other prior positions have included Vice President Finance and Strategy, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Vice President of Governmental and Institutional Relations, University of Toronto; and Vice President Institutional Affairs, York University. Sheldon recently received The Order of Canada.


Eval(

Mary Sano

 

Dr. Mary Sano is Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Alzheimer’s disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC. She is also the Director of Research and Development at the James J Peters Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Sano is a neuropsychologist by training and has been involved in designing and conducting clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other conditions of aging. She is the author of more than 200 publications and holds more than $2million in peer reviewed funding. Currently a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group the Alzheimer Association and the Immediate Past President of International Psychogeriatric Association, she uses her local, national and global roles across these groups to contribute to harmonizing efforts to define and treat the cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with dementia. Recent topics she has been involved in are amyloid targeted therapies, technology in assessment and care of cognitive impairment and dementia and engaging diverse populations in dementia care and research.


Eval(

Kenneth R. Wiener

 

Kenneth Wiener retired on December 31, 2017 after thirty years as a partner and securities law specialist with the Goodmans LLP law firm. Mr. Wiener was a member of the Asia Practice Group of Goodmans and in that capacity assisted Canadian companies planning to do business in Asia and Asian enterprises planning to establish a presence in Canadian capital markets. Prior to joining Goodmans in 1988, Mr. Wiener was Director, Listed Company Policy and Regulation at The Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Wiener participated in continuing education programs sponsored by the Ontario Bar Association, The Law Society of Ontario and other organizations. He served as chairman of the Business Law section of the Ontario Bar Association. Mr. Wiener was a director of the public company CML HealthCare Inc.


Eval(

Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


Eval(

Daniel Sauder

 

Daniel N. Sauder, M.D., is past chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also past Chief of Dermatology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sauder has held senior positions with biotechnology companies and has assisted in the development of numerous novel biologics. He is past head of Dermatology at University Medical Centre of Princeton and past medical director of Outward-Bound Canada. Currently, he practices general dermatology as well as consulting for biotech companies.

Dr. Sauder trained at McMaster University School of Medicine and at McGill University Medical School. He completed his Dermatology training at the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. He is past president of the Canadian Dermatology Association, past and founding president of the Canadian Society for Investigative Dermatology and founding editor of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. He has also served on numerous other editorial boards, including the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Lymphokine Research, Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, and International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, and Experts Review of Clinical Immunology.

His research has focused on the molecular mechanism of the cutaneous (skin) immune response. He was instrumental in developing the field of cutaneous cytokine biology by identifying the role of certain immune system molecules, interleukins and cytokines, in inflammatory skin diseases and tumors.

Dr. Sauder has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. He is a highly regarded clinician, educator and investigator.


Eval(

Joni Kent

President & Chief Human Resource Officer, BCGC

Joni Kent is Baycrest’s President Corporate Services and Chief Human Resources Officer. Joni has responsibility for Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, Occupational Health and Safety, Volunteer Services, Legal Services, Strategy, Stakeholder Relations, Redevelopment, Support Services and Food Services.

Prior to joining Baycrest in 2006, Joni was Vice President, Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa for six years. Prior to this, Joni was at University Health Network as the Director, Employee Relations and with the Greater Niagara General Hospital as Director, Human Resources.

Joni previously practiced law in Toronto for five years with Mathews, Dinsdale and Clark.

Joni grew up in Montreal, graduated from McGill University in Industrial Relations in 1987 and graduated from The University of Western Ontario in Law in 1990. Joni is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada


Eval(

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson

 

Lorie Shekter-Wolfson brings a wealth of experience to her role as a Board Director and Committee Chair. A graduate from the University of Toronto Masters of Social Work program and several Executive programs at the Rotman School of Management, she has worked in a variety of settings and roles, including health care, education, government and community as a clinician, administrator and consultant. Her invaluable first-hand experience as a leader and change agent has been very helpful for those institutions and businesses undergoing change. In addition, her expertise in interprofessional and team-based care has led to several award winning initiatives.

Lorie has held a variety of positions over the years. As President and CEO of JVS Toronto, she led the organization through a time of tremendous change, including addressing its financial challenges, a new strategic framework, new Mission, Vision and Values, and implementing a more efficient governance model.
At George Brown College, Lorie was a member of the senior management team. As Dean, Health Sciences and Community Services and later as AVP Waterfront Campus, Lorie co-led the development, design and implementation of George Brown College’s new $175M Waterfront Campus that opened in the Fall 2012. The Campus houses the Centre for Health Sciences. The new facility is designed to embrace an interprofessional learning education framework enhancing wellness and health promotion.

Lorie has also authored articles on social work, marital and family therapy, interprofessional education and its impact on design, as well as two books on eating disorders. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the recipient of the Colleges Ontario 2010 Exemplary Service Award and the Ontario Association of Social Workers’ 2011 Inspirational Leader Award.

Lorie has been an active member on several agency and government committees and professional boards both locally and across Canada, as well as community boards. These have included the UHN Family Health Team Board, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Baycrest’s Clinical Strategy, Quality and Safety Committee, Ministry of Health’s Interprofessional Education Working Group, Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), and Jewish Family and Child Care Services. She has also chaired the United Way campaigns at several organizations and has been the recipient of the United Way Spirit Awards.


Eval(

Sheldon Levy

 

Sheldon Levy is a higher education leader and visionary with a passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy. Sheldon has been an instrumental figure in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in the last decade, spearheading the creation of such organizations as Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, and Scale Up Ventures, Inc.

As President and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University from 2005 to 2015, Sheldon drove the creation of the Digital Media Zone (DMZ), an early-stage incubator for student entrepreneurs which has since become an international success. He is also a founder and advisor to Ryerson Futures Inc., an accelerator that has exported the DMZ concept to such locations as Calgary and Mumbai.

From 2015 to 2017 Sheldon served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, where he helped prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Ontario’s postsecondary education and training system. In 2017 he became CEO of NEXT Canada, an organization that provides mentorship, education, networks and funding to Canada’s most promising entrepreneurs.

In December 2018, Sheldon was appointed Special Advisor to Canada’s Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, Mary Ng, on the issue of scaling up small and medium-sized businesses.

Sheldon recently joined the Board of Directors of Baycrest Health Sciences.

Sheldon previously served as President of Oakville’s Sheridan College from 1997 to 2001, overseeing the growth of its renowned animation department during the early years of computer-generated imaging. Sheldon’s other prior positions have included Vice President Finance and Strategy, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Vice President of Governmental and Institutional Relations, University of Toronto; and Vice President Institutional Affairs, York University. Sheldon recently received The Order of Canada.


Eval(

Graeme Prior

 

 
 
 
Mr Graeme Prior is the co-founder and CEO of Hall & Prior; which began with a single family-owned nursing home and now operates 31 aged care communities and 2 home care services across Australia, offering world-class care to over 1000 clients and employing approximately 2,500 permanent staff.
 
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a chartered accountant. Having worked with the top four international accounting firms Mr Prior recognised his passion for aged care while running his own accounting practice. Giving back to the local community while advocating for aged care globally has always been the cornerstone of his business ethos.
 
Along with his passion for the industry he has an innate understanding of the issues facing aged care; his commitment to supporting research and education and significant sector investment, including designing and building new, world-class aged care homes that respond to Australia’s growing demand for quality aged care choices in both workforce and care outcomes. 
 
His current positions include; President of International Federation on Ageing (UN Auspice Organisation based in Toronto), with a focus on delivering global outcomes in aged care; Board Member of Baycrest Health Sciences; Deputy Chairman of the CRC for Mental Health and Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee; Director of the Australian Aged Care Workforce Industry Council; Committee Member of the Commonwealth Department of Health’s Aged Care Sector Committee (Ministerial Appointment); Chairman of Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, Board Member of ADNeT Ltd (Australian Dementia Network Ltd), Member of the Steering Committee National Comprehensive Dementia Centre and Member of the National Aged Care Advisory Council. 
 
 


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


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Lehana Thabane

 

Dr. Lehana Thabane is a Vice-President of Research at St Joseph’s Healthcare—Hamilton; Scientific Director of the Research Institute at St Joseph’s Healthcare; Professor of Biostatistics and Former Interim Chair/Associate Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; Associate Member of the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and Anesthesia, School of Nursing, and School of Rehabilitation Science, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. He is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute, Fellow of the American Statistical Association, Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Honorary Foreign Associate Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is the Society for Clinical Trials President-Elect for 2021-2022; and SCT President for 2022-2023. He is the Editor- in-Chief of the journal Pilot and Feasibility Studies; and he is a member of the editorial board for many journals including Trials, and Clinical Trials.


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Bisi Williams

 

Aiyemobisi “Bisi” Williams serves as Chief Insights & Analytics Officer for Massive Change Network (MCN), the design consultancy she co-founded in 2010 with Bruce Mau. She is also a co-founder and co-host on the Health2049 podcast, a platform that engages today’s top thought leaders from diverse backgrounds in inspirational conversations regarding the future of health care. Bisi combines more than 20 years of communications experience and strategic design expertise with a deep focus on innovation. By applying the methodology of life-centered design, she takes a holistic approach in designing sustainable solutions to influence change. She collaborates with MCN clients to create impact at scale and drive growth while making the world a better place for all. Under Bisi’s leadership, MCN has become a global leader in the field of enterprise design and is pushing the traditional boundaries of communication and branding.

Bisi has addressed groups on the power of design to drive positive economic, social and cultural change. Her speaking engagements have included “Future Unknown: Global Education Summit,” held at CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) in Beijing, China; “What Design Can Do,” a global design conference held in Amsterdam, and at “The Human Element Communications Consortium,” a conference hosted by Johnson & Johnson. She also spoke to students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she has served as an academic advisor.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bisi graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in Journalism. Prior to the inception of Massive Change Network, Bisi worked with media, arts and cultural organizations to develop programs and events at the intersection of popular culture, fine art and social transformation. In her adopted hometown of Chicago, Bisi has been involved in shaping fundraising events at several major cultural institutions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Ravinia Festival and the Fashion Department of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She served on the Ravinia Women’s Board and with the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and is a proud mom of three beautiful daughters.


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Paul Verhoeff

President, PSA

Dr. Paul Verhoeff is a Staff Psychiatrist at the Ross Memory Clinic and at the Geriatric Psychiatry Community Centre at Baycrest. Dr. Verhoeff obtained his MD from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dr. Verhoeff specialized in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. Dr. Verhoeff’s research activities have centered around neuroreceptor imaging in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) or single-photon computerized tomography (SPECT) in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy control subjects. The research projects are listed according to the neurochemical transmission systems that have been studied, with further clarification as to which patient groups were involved during which period:
  1. Cerebral β-Amyloid imaging with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (2001-present) and with SPECT in patients with amyloid angiopathy (1991-1996).
  2. Neostriatal dopamine D2 receptor imaging with PET in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy subjects before and after catecholamine depletion with α-methyl-para-tyrosine (1999-2001), in patients with schizophrenia off and on antipsychotics (1999-2004), and in patients with major depressive disorder (2001-2004), bipolar disorder (1997-2000); with SPECT in patients with Tourette disorder (1990-1994), partial epilepsy (1991-1994), Parkinsonian syndromes (1990-1993), pituitary macroadenomas (1990-1993), migraine (1990-1993), HIV encephalopathy (1990-1991), in patients with schizophrenia off and on antipsychotics (1990-1995), in healthy subjects (1990-1993), and in MPTP-treated and control nonhuman primates (1990-1994); with a planar gamma-camera for dosimetry in healthy subjects (1990-1993); ex vivo in rodents (1988-1991); and in vitro in humans and rodent brain tissues (1988-1991).
  3. Extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor imaging with SPECT in healthy subjects (1997-2000).
  4. Neostriatal dopamine D1 receptor imaging with PET in healthy subjects before and after catecholamine depletion with α-methyl-para-tyrosine (1999-2001); and with SPECT in healthy subjects (1991-1993).
  5. Cerebral serotonin 5-HT1A receptor imaging with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (2001-present), frontotemporal dementia (2001-present), and schizophrenia (1999-2003), and in healthy subjects (1999-2001).
  6. Cerebral serotonin 5-HT2A receptor imaging with PET in patients with schizophrenia (1999-2000).
  7. Cerebral GABAA-benzodiazepine receptor imaging with SPECT in patients with alcohol dependence (1997-2004), post-traumatic stresss disorder (1997-2004), major depressive disorder (1997-2003), schizophrenia (1994-1999), epilepsy (1994-1999), and in healthy subjects off and on benzodiazepines (1988-1999).
  8. Cerebral muscarinic acetylcholinergic mACh receptor imaging with SPECT ex vivo in rats (1988-1993).
  9. Pituitary somatostatin receptor imaging with SPECT in patients with pituitary adenomas and in healthy subjects (1992-1996).
  10. Cerebral blood flow imaging with SPECT in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (1988-1992), partial epilepsy (1988-1992), and ischemic stroke (1988-2001).
  11. Physiological measurements of early and late asthmatic responses to submaximal exercise challenge before and after nedocromil sodium in patients with intrinsic and extrinsic bronchial asthma (1988-1990).


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Saäd Rafi

 

Saäd Rafi has gained a well earned reputation as someone who goes into challenging departments and organizational situations with a commitment to deliver more resilient organizations and better results for Ontarians. He has been tapped to start new businesses — be that in Infrastructure Advisory or Pension management. As a result, Rafi has developed strong knowledge and experience in change management leadership, operations management, strategic infrastructure deployment, financial administration and governance. Mr. Rafi spent over 24 years in senior positions in the Ontario Public Service. He has also held leadership positions in Infrastructure Advisory and Project Finance and as the National Government and Public Services leader, both as a Partner at Deloitte LLP. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of the
Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administrative Corporation (ORPPAC) where he was responsible for
starting up Ontario’s attempt at a provincial pension plan. Other former positions include: Chief Executive
Officer of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee. His public service leadership roles included: Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Deputy Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Transportation, and the Deputy Minister of Community Safety. Mr. Rafi graduated from Carleton University in 1983 with a B.A. in Law and then went on to earn a M.A. in Public Administration in 1988. Rafi also is a member of the Board of Governors for Sick Kids Hospital, a Board Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vice Chair of Trent University’s Board of Governors.
 


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Brian Mirsky

 

Mr. Mirsky is a highly experienced food, beverage and consumer packaged goods executive. He is the CEO of Freshchange Foods Group, a company that invests in food companies across North America. The most recent investment is BHC Holdings Inc., a New Jersey based supplier of pet chews and supplements. This investment is jointly held with Imperial Capital, a Toronto based private equity company.

In addition, Mr. Mirsky is the Chairman of Beefeaters Holdings, Inc. which sells pet products under the Beefeaters™ brand name and is a portfolio company of Imperial Capital.

Mr. Mirsky’s operating career spans more than 30 years. Most previous to his current roles, Brian was the President of Europe for Campbell Soup Company, and has served in senior management positions with Pizza Hut, Pillsbury, and the H.J. Heinz Company. Brian currently serves on the Board of Directors of Inscape, a publicly traded (symbol: INQ.TO) maker of office systems and storage.

Mr. Mirsky has an MBA in marketing and a BA in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Mirsky is a member of the Baycrest Centre Board of Directors and serves as a member of its Commercialization and Strategic Planning Committees.


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Kenneth R. Wiener

 

Kenneth Wiener retired on December 31, 2017 after thirty years as a partner and securities law specialist with the Goodmans LLP law firm. Mr. Wiener was a member of the Asia Practice Group of Goodmans and in that capacity assisted Canadian companies planning to do business in Asia and Asian enterprises planning to establish a presence in Canadian capital markets. Prior to joining Goodmans in 1988, Mr. Wiener was Director, Listed Company Policy and Regulation at The Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Wiener participated in continuing education programs sponsored by the Ontario Bar Association, The Law Society of Ontario and other organizations. He served as chairman of the Business Law section of the Ontario Bar Association. Mr. Wiener was a director of the public company CML HealthCare Inc.


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Graeme Prior

 

 
 
 
Mr Graeme Prior is the co-founder and CEO of Hall & Prior; which began with a single family-owned nursing home and now operates 31 aged care communities and 2 home care services across Australia, offering world-class care to over 1000 clients and employing approximately 2,500 permanent staff.
 
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a chartered accountant. Having worked with the top four international accounting firms Mr Prior recognised his passion for aged care while running his own accounting practice. Giving back to the local community while advocating for aged care globally has always been the cornerstone of his business ethos.
 
Along with his passion for the industry he has an innate understanding of the issues facing aged care; his commitment to supporting research and education and significant sector investment, including designing and building new, world-class aged care homes that respond to Australia’s growing demand for quality aged care choices in both workforce and care outcomes. 
 
His current positions include; President of International Federation on Ageing (UN Auspice Organisation based in Toronto), with a focus on delivering global outcomes in aged care; Board Member of Baycrest Health Sciences; Deputy Chairman of the CRC for Mental Health and Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee; Director of the Australian Aged Care Workforce Industry Council; Committee Member of the Commonwealth Department of Health’s Aged Care Sector Committee (Ministerial Appointment); Chairman of Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, Board Member of ADNeT Ltd (Australian Dementia Network Ltd), Member of the Steering Committee National Comprehensive Dementia Centre and Member of the National Aged Care Advisory Council. 
 
 


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO, BSC

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Phyllis Yaffe

 

Ms. Yaffe has held a number of strategic positions in film and television in Canada since the 1980s including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc.  Most recently, she served as Consul General to New York for the Government of Canada from July 2016 through December 2019.  In addition to being Chair of the Board of the Cineplex Entertainment Inc. she currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Ant Media, a privately held Canadian media company. She has previously served on the boards of Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Torstar Corporation and Astral Media Inc. In 1999, Ms. Yaffe was selected as the Canadian Women in Communications Woman of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Film and Television in 2000. In 2006, she was included in the Women’s Executive Network’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women; in 2007, she was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Hall of Fame; in 2015, she was honoured as a recipient of the Order of Canada.  In her volunteer time, Ms. Yaffe has previously served on the Boards of Directors for Baycrest Health Sciences and Women Against Multiple Sclerosis, as well as the Chair of the Board of Governors for Ryerson University.
 


Eval(

Saäd Rafi

 

Saäd Rafi has gained a well earned reputation as someone who goes into challenging departments and organizational situations with a commitment to deliver more resilient organizations and better results for Ontarians. He has been tapped to start new businesses — be that in Infrastructure Advisory or Pension management. As a result, Rafi has developed strong knowledge and experience in change management leadership, operations management, strategic infrastructure deployment, financial administration and governance. Mr. Rafi spent over 24 years in senior positions in the Ontario Public Service. He has also held leadership positions in Infrastructure Advisory and Project Finance and as the National Government and Public Services leader, both as a Partner at Deloitte LLP. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of the
Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administrative Corporation (ORPPAC) where he was responsible for
starting up Ontario’s attempt at a provincial pension plan. Other former positions include: Chief Executive
Officer of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee. His public service leadership roles included: Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Deputy Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Transportation, and the Deputy Minister of Community Safety. Mr. Rafi graduated from Carleton University in 1983 with a B.A. in Law and then went on to earn a M.A. in Public Administration in 1988. Rafi also is a member of the Board of Governors for Sick Kids Hospital, a Board Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vice Chair of Trent University’s Board of Governors.
 


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.


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Dr. William Reichman

President & CEO

Dr. William E. Reichman, an internationally-known expert in geriatric mental health and dementia care, is President and CEO of Baycrest, one of the world’s premier centres focused on aging, seniors’ health and residential care and brain function. Baycrest is home to both the largest research institute and the most comprehensive innovation accelerator in the global senior care industry. Dr. Reichman also serves as President and CEO of two commercial subsidiary firms, Cogniciti and Baycrest Global Solutions. He holds an academic appointment as Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
 
Dr. Reichman is the current President of the International Psychogeriatric Association and is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. He has advised the World Health Organization and several levels of government in the United States, Canada and China on the impact of an aging society on health care demand and the mandate to support innovative approaches to service delivery. He has been instrumental in the development of Canada’s new National Dementia Strategy and co-chairs the federal panel overseeing its implementation across the nation. He is a passionate advocate for building innovation capacity in the senior care sector and speaks across the globe on this theme to care providers, policy makers, academic audiences and industry.
 
Dr. Reichman was the founder and inaugural Chair of the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative, a collaborative of prominent eldercare organizations and their affiliated universities in the United States and Canada, working together to advance the effectiveness of long-term care across the globe.  
Among honors received, Dr. Reichman was named among the Best Doctors in America and Canada, and has been recognized by the New Jersey Society on Aging as Gerontologist of the Year. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Canadian-based OCAD University for his work in advancing innovation in seniors care. Dr. Reichman is a recipient of a Telly Award for an educational documentary film that he co-created and hosted entitled, Reflections of Memory Lost: Understanding Alzheimer’s disease.


Eval(

Jakov Zaidman

 

Jakov Zaidman is a Principal Information Technology Consultant with decades of technology and business experience, with over 30 years in technology consulting. Jakov holds an ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Jakov specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Privacy, IT Architecture, Network Security and Infrastructure, and in assessing and enhancing customer cybersecurity programs by following best practices and industry regulations.

Jakov founded InterLAN Consulting in 1991, to focus on providing advisory services in the areas of network infrastructure and cybersecurity. Over the years, Jakov advised organizations, established cybersecurity programs, and designed and built secure network architectures. Jakov worked with enterprises in both public and private sectors and a wide range of verticals, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. Jakov was also the lead IT architect behind the creation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

Jakov started his professional career in the Israeli Air Force, working on the nation-wide deployment and maintenance of modernized air traffic control systems. Before founding InterLAN, Jakov worked in senior IT architecture roles for companies Digital Equipment and Intel.