We are celebrating our 25th year anniversary
our board
board of directors
PHYLLIS SANTONE
Chair
Phyllis began Alternatives in 1998 as Alternatives Integrating Special People. With a combination of efforts with a collective group of families, Chocolate Concepts Inc. provided financial support to begin Alternatives as an incorporated private not for profit organization. Alternatives was incorporated in 2002, and Phyllis joined the board in 1999, separating Chocolate Concepts Inc. as a separate retail entity. The two still work in conjunction providing an environment that hosts work skills training.
Phyllis’ specialties and interests:
• Small business operation
• Management and operations
• Job identification and role specifics
• Partnership
• Fundraising
• Special event planning and execution
Robert Fox
Co Vice-Chair
Robert Fox joined OntarioMD as CEO in January 2022. Robert has 25 years of experience leading large teams, defining health policy and enhancing the health care system. Robert believes that technology adoption is a critical success factor for the optimization and sustainability of Canada’s health care system.
Rob held senior positions at TELUS Health and Cisco Systems, where he was responsible for digital transformation of health care delivery across Canada to improve patient outcomes. Rob focussed on leveraging digital network and collaboration solutions to improve the quality of patient care in hospitals and enhance technology adoption to enable patient engagement with Ontario Health Teams.
Before working in health technology, Rob was an executive at St. Michael’s Hospital for 20 years where he held leadership positions in Quality, Laboratory Medicine, Corporate Performance & Strategy, Decision Support, and Capital Development. He played a crucial role in key projects such as the first fully automated hospital laboratory in Canada, the integration of Wellesley Hospital into St. Michael’s, and major construction projects. Rob has also advised the Ministry of Health on capital infrastructure planning and the funding formula for hospitals.
Chris Sulway
Co Vice-Chair
Chris Sulway is currently the VP for Strategy, Growth and Stakeholder Relations at OntarioMD, shaping the direction of the organization to better serve the digital needs of community based physicians across the province. Previously Chris has worked in a variety of leadership roles across the health system including provincial policy development, regional performance management and local delivery.
He started his career as a physiotherapist where he learned the power of enabling people to achieve their full potential. He has previously held governance positions at Realize (a national charity and HIV partner agency), Applegrove (a City of Toronto agency) and the Canadian College of Health Leaders.
PAT DI FRANCESCO
Treasurer
Pat has been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years in various roles within finance. He is a two time Circle of Excellence award winner, in recognition of his accomplishments. Pat is very involved in the Caledon Senior Hockey League where he sits on their Executive.
Pat’s Specialties and Interests:
• Strategic Planning
• Budget Development and Management
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Providing balanced oversight in support of Contract Negotiations
RON GRUENBERG
Director
Ron graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from York University, with that went on to work for Canada Customs where he additionally received French training. Ron spent the majority of his career in Consumer & Corporate Affairs, which was later subsumed under the Competition Bureau. Retiring in 2009, Ron now is a dedicated board member of the York Support Services Network, where he is currently Chair, and Alternatives.
Ron’s specialties and interests:
• Analytics
• Investigating
• Detail orientated
• Legalities
• Consumer based competition analysis
• Experience as Union Local President and member of two school councils
KIMBERLEY GADWAH
Director
Kimberley Gadwah is a development strategist who thrives on supporting programs driven around social impact, humanitarian relief and capacity building. In her current role as Head of Philanthropy at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders, she leads the Philanthropy division of the Canadian fundraising department, with a focus of raising private funds to support 400+ humanitarian missions in 70+ countries.
During Kimberley’s 15 year portfolio in the charitable sector, she has successfully developed and delivered optimal fundraising strategies for national and international immigration, refugee, settlement programs, poverty alleviation projects, children’s charities and health care organizations. Her areas of specialization include developing and implementing best practices for sustainable programs for marginalized and displaced populations; targeted fundraising campaigns, ongoing revenue generation and organizational growth plans.
Kimberley is a champion of building inclusive societies and is committed to vision of Creating Alternatives – to transform the landscape of social services by developing integrated support systems and community resources that are optimal, accessible and sustainable.
Shavone Lazarus, MHRM, CHRL
Director
With over 15 years of progressive Human Resources and leadership experience, Shavone is a passionate and award-winning leader and philanthropist. She is committed to driving better business outcomes through well designed and executed people plans grounded in sound operational knowledge. She believes HR effectiveness is rooted in leadership committed to doing the right thing for people, stakeholders and the environment.
Her broad Human Resources and People Leadership experience comes from her roles in Public, Not for Profit and Private sectors such as Board of Directors, Employee and Labour Relations Director and Human Resources Business Partner. She believes Human Resources leadership centered in empathy and compassion, builds effective teams and encourages engagement for all employees to thrive and bring their best everyday.
Janelle Walsh
Director
Janelle is a CPA and seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in professional services. As EY’s Director of Enterprise Support Services (ESS) for Canada, she heads a diverse national talent pool with a focus on delivering exceptional support to client-serving professionals and ensuring access to essential resources for the firm’s business.
She is responsible for EY’s administrative, creative and workplace services teams with a particular focus on developing the national strategy for their workplace experience across the firm’s 17 offices nationwide. Janelle has invested time in better understanding how to create an accessible workplace, and the enhancements that were particularly important for neurodistinct professionals.
Janelle is passionate about creating an environment where everyone who collaborates in person feels valued and supported and treated with respect and dignity.
ROB CAMPAGNA
Director
Rob is responsible for delivering on the strategic direction and growth of Cisco Systems Canada Public Sector segment. He leads a high performing team to help their customers connect, secure, and automate to accelerate their digital agility in a cloud-first world. Rob and his team focus on sales and thought leadership on secure, agile networks; hybrid work; optimized application experiences; end-to-end security and internet for the future; to enable digital transformation for their customers.
Rob has a proven track record and over 25 years experience in developing and growing high performing Sales teams in the technology industry. He is passionate about innovation, customers, partners and driving an inclusive future for all.
Prior to Cisco, Rob held Sales leadership roles with EDS and Allstream. He has a Bachelor of Arts, Economics from Carleton University. Rob sits on the Board of Directors for Creating Alternatives (a day program for adults over the age of 21 with a developmental disability) and is also a Board Member of Technation.
Rob enjoys playing golf, soccer and hockey and he resides in Burlington with his daughter and son.
Join our board of directors
Find us
- 4300 Steeles Ave W #18, Woodbridge, ON L4L 4C2
- Monday-Friday: 8am to 4pm
- (905) 264-9007
- Registered Charity No. 864168711RR0001
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