Advisory Committee

Andrea Gardner is the Associate Executive Director of Jewish Family Services of Ottawa. Working at Jewish Family Services for over 20 years she has been involved in the development and implementation of many of the programs that are the corner stones of the agency. 

Jewish Family Services prides itself in being a leader and collaborative partner in the areas of Settlement Services, Mental Health and Wellness Support, and Senior Services to both Jewish Community and the Ottawa Community at large. 

Andrea Gardner has a Masters of Social Work degree from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University and an Undergraduate Degree in Sociology from York University.

Jonathan Mitchell is Vice-President, Research and Policy, at HealthCareCAN in Ottawa. In this role since 2018, Jonathan leads research, advocacy and policy development for member academic health sciences centres, hospitals, and healthcare organizations across Canada. This involves partnerships with organizations across the country as well as the Vice Presidents of Health Research. Jonathan also led the partnership with the Canadian College of Health Leaders to plan the National Health Leadership Conference, the largest annual health leadership gathering.

With 20 years experience in healthcare, Jonathan previously worked for the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), Accreditation Canada, and the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Science from McGill University and a Master of Science in Business Administration from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business in Montreal. He holds a Certified Health Executive designation from the Canadian College of Health Leaders and is a fellow of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare.

Emilie Albert has been the National Project Coordinator at the Société Santé en français since 2022. She earned a Master’s degree in Communications and Public Relations in France and, since arriving in Canada in 2018, she has developed expertise in project management. Her knowledge of francophone and Acadian minority communities and her expertise in francophone immigration have built up over the past six years.

Her career path includes three years with the Réseau en immigration francophone du centre sud-ouest de l'Ontario, before successfully taking over two national programs, Healthy Early Years (HEY) and Francophone Immigration Heath (FIH), at the Société santé en français (SSF).

Her commitment to the francophone community is reflected in his daily work. She is particularly drawn to children’s rights and to the development of equitable access to quality French-language health care programs and services in Canada. She also champions the principles of a society where gender equality prevails and where women are free to exercise their rights. She is involved in the Greater Toronto Area’s francophone community, particularly through her position as treasurer with the organization La Maison.

Jewel Bailey is fully invested in promoting mental health and preventing mental illness among newcomers.

Equipped with a MPH in Health Promotion from the University of Toronto, she joined the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 2016 as a knowledge broker for provincial mental health promotion initiatives.

Jewel subsequently joined CAMH Office of Health Equity and is the coordinator of the Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Project. This federally funded, national, bilingual initiative builds the knowledge and skills of health, settlement, and social services providers to effectively support the mental health of immigrants and refugees in Canada.

Jewel is the lead for stakeholder engagement and convenes consultations with the project’s national advisory committee to ensure alignment between project components and the needs of direct service providers supporting the mental health of newcomers. She is also the point person for the project’s various panels of subject matter experts. These experts guide course development and support the learning of practitioners who are part of the Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health, online Community of Practice.

Jewel is an avid believer in the statement: “There’s no health without mental health” and supports promoting positive mental health across the life span, for everyone.

Deborah Cohen, PhD, is the Chief Operating Officer for Health Workforce Canada. Previously, she has been with CIHI for 20 years, conducting health services research, and building pan-Canadian data systems across multiple sectors of care. In her current role at CIHI, Deborah’s work focuses on enhancing and expanding the HHR data foundation, and advancing HHR analytics, forecasting models, and indicators to meet critical healthcare planning and policy priorities across Canada. She is also an adjunct Professor with the University of Ottawa, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, where she studies health system performance and population health. In her spare time, Deborah is a published author of historical fiction and thriller novels. 

Jodi Hall is the CEO for the Canadian Association for Long Term Care. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, President of the New Brunswick Continuing Care Safety Association and Co-Chair of the Collaborative for Healthy Aging and Care which works to create a shared conversation among stakeholders on the aging experience in New Brunswick. Hall also previously served in a range of leadership positions, including as Administrator of a Long Term Care home in New Brunswick. In addition to her work in Atlantic Canada, Hall was no stranger to CALTC prior to starting in the CEO position, as she served as CALTC’s Chairperson for two years.

Christian Hirwa is a passionate and dedicated professional in the field of health and advocacy for vulnerable and minority populations, particularly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), immigrants, and Francophones in minority situations (outside of Quebec). He holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences with a specialization in Public Health and Population Health from the University of Ottawa. During his studies, he sought to understand the socio-political determinants and health realities of marginalized and minority populations in Canada. He also conducted provincial (Quebec) and national studies on sensitive subjects such as medical aid in dying and euthanasia, with a particular focus on at-risk populations.

Mr. Hirwa has gained significant experience in the health and social services sector, holding positions in coordination, project management, and leadership. As an active community leader, he is deeply involved with various charities, giving him a broad understanding of multiple health and social issues.

As the Director of the Réseau TNO Santé (RTS) in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Hirwa leads the strategic, administrative, financial, and operational directions to advocate, promote, strengthen, and improve access to French-language health services and well-being for Francophone communities in the Northwest Territories. He collaborates with a variety of stakeholders, including government policymakers, health authorities, health professionals, post-secondary institutions, community organizations, and other groups to develop and implement evidence-based initiatives that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for the community. These initiatives focus on the social determinants of health and address the needs of Francophone communities and vulnerable populations within this group.

Doug Olthof is a co-lead of the National LIP Secretariat, a pilot project to coordinate national-level collaboration between more than 80 Local Immigration Partnerships across Canada. Prior to the launch of that project in April 2020, Doug was the Coordinator of the Jasper Immigration Coalition – a Local Immigration Partnership in Jasper, Alberta.

Doug holds an interdisciplinary PhD from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, where his research focused on the role of local-level experiences of citizenship in the formation of group identities. Outside of working hours, Doug can usually be found climbing, skiing, hiking, biking or, more recently, playing with his baby daughter.

Lisa Stromquist is Associate Director Strategy and Engagement at Children’s Healthcare Canada. Over twelve years at the association Lisa has developed and managed member facing initiatives and programs for an interprofessional membership across the care continuum.

She has led Collaboratives, Networks and Communities of Practice in the areas of Patient Safety, Complex Care, Pediatric Pain, Mental Health and Transition to Adult Healthcare.  She loves the challenge of working with a diverse group of individuals who bring unique experience and perspectives to find solutions to a common problem. This approach of sharing tacit and explicit knowledge in a focused community has resulted in the development of national guidelines, toolkits and resources used in child and youth health across Canada.

Laura Callaghan has been a nurse for over 22 years, with experiences working in both acute and primary care adult/pediatrics, public health, pediatric chronic pain, youth forensics and mental health.  Laura worked for 6 years in Africa, as a Kenyan Registered Nurse providing primary care to nomadic populations in Northern Kenya. Through experiences working with diverse populations she developed a deep interest about nursing care at the intersection of health and culture.  In 2020, Laura completed the N4 program through St. Paul University, moving into a program development/leadership role with the Mental Health/Addictions program at IWK, to initiate and engage in the work of building new pathways that allow for culturally congruent mental health care of newcomer children and youth in Nova Scotia. In addition to program development work, she works in an outpatient clinic located in ISANS (Immigrant Settlement Association of Nova Scotia).

Outside of her role at the IWK, Laura continues providing oversight for a health outreach-tuberculosis project in Kenya, and engages with African newcomer populations in Nova Scotia, meeting with International students at Acadia University.  For the last 6 years, (along with her family) she started and is co-director for Camp SOAR,- a one week overnight camp opportunity for African newcomer children and youth.  In addition to nursing degrees, Laura holds a graduate diploma in theology, loves gardening, reading, painting, music and spending time with her husband and their 5 children.

Dr. Nancy Clark studies the mental health impacts of forced migration with refugee and immigrant population groups, including access to health care services and social support systems. She is an affiliate with the Institute on Aging and Life Long Health at the University of Victoria, and co-leads the Health Services and Systems research cluster with a focus on the delivery of health care services from the micro to the systemic levels. She is an assistant professor in nursing in the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria.

She specializes in critical qualitative approaches, i.e. intersectionality to promote equitable care and culturally responsive health care services. Nancy has recently been awarded an early career scholar award from the University of Victoria, Faculty of Human and Social Development for outstanding community engaged research. She is also the director for social justice studies, undergraduate interdisciplinary program at the University of Victoria. Nancy’s current research program focuses on co-developing a model for integrated mental health services for refugees in BC.

Dr. Lentz, is a registered clinical psychologist in Newfoundland and Labrador. She is the founder of the NeuroSpark Clinic in Newfoundland and Labrador. This clinic provides psychological and neuropsychological assessment and treatment to adults, adolescents, and children. She obtained a master’s degree and doctorate degree in Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

Dr. Lentz has 15+ years of experience providing psychological and neuropsychological assessments to adults, adolescents, and children as well as therapeutic intervention and cognitive rehabilitation with the same populations. She was previously the head of the Neuropsychology Service at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre and the responsible psychologist for the Rehabilitation Division. She was a member of the Concussion Team and Brain Injury Team for at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre. She has supervised clinical psychology residents and has provided continuing education lectures and supervision for psychologists interested in adult neuropsychology within Eastern Health. Further, she has provided lectures for Memorial University, the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, and the Parkinson’s Society on the neuropsychological implications of brain injury and brain-related illness.

She is currently a member of the National Newcomer Navigation Network Board and the Make a Change Canada Board. As well, she was a member of the Diversity and Inclusion committee as well as the Respect and Civility committee for Eastern Health. Dr. Lentz has been involved in clinical research for over 10 years on a number of health-related topics. She was previously an adjunct professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Victoria for both graduate and undergraduate courses in adult and child neuropsychology and advanced biopsychology.

Dr. Geoffrey Maina is an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. His program or research focuses on improving health outcomes of people experiencing diverse forms of marginalization i.e. people living with HIV, immigrants, people living with diverse forms of mental illnesses and addiction and victims of domestic violence both locally and globally.

As a community-based researcher, he is committed to employing social justice principles that empower communities to be actively involved in the research process. He uses diverse community-based research methodologies that employ qualitative research methods such as art-based methods, and methodologies that honor lived experiences such as patient-oriented research in his work. Through them, he democratizes both the research process, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing.

Dr. Maina’s teaching focuses on teaching perspectives of nursing in a global context, mental health and addiction nursing courses, communication and therapeutic interventions, nursing research and knowledge translation approaches in both undergraduate and graduate programs. As a psychotherapist trainee in mental health and addiction, he has a keen interest in trauma interventions using diverse postmodern therapeutic approaches that attend to the reality of the clients. He hopes to develop mental health and addiction interventions for underserved communities both locally and globally. He is currently developing Dr. Maina has published over 50 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in diverse aspects of this program of research.

Anila Lee Yuen, MBA (she/they) is the president and chief executive officer of the Centre for Newcomers in Calgary, She has 28 years of experience in the settlement sector. Beyond traditional settlement services, Anila has spearheaded programming to include volunteer-led refugee supports; indigenous education for newcomers; LGBTQ+ supports, domestic violence, homeless and mental health support services and broadened vulnerable youth programming and social venture opportunities. Anila was the civil society chair for the Calgary COVID Care Table from Dec 2020 to Aug 2021, which assisted more than 30,000 vulnerable Calgarians during the pandemic, leading to a vaccination rate of 99% for NE Calgary. Anila continues to lead the Calgary sector collaborative transformation as the chair of the Calgary Newcomers Collaborative.

Manju Kochukunju, Internationally Educated Healthcare Professional

Manju embarked on her nursing journey 25 years ago as a Lieutenant in the Indian Armed Forces. Her commitment led her to obtain certification in paraplegic nursing, specializing in caring for soldiers with spinal cord injuries. Throughout her military service, she gained experience in diverse acute healthcare setting including world’s highest Altitude Hospital in Leh, India.

Her path led her to Canada in 2013, and it was there that she discovered her passion for elderly care, eventually earning certification in Gerontology from CNA. Presently, she holds the position of Facility Supervisor at a Long-Term Care in Nova Scotia. Her commitment was recognized through the 2016 RBC Diversity Scholarship administered by CNF and she continued to invest in leadership skills through programs such as LTC Executive Leadership from CHA Learning. Notably, her remarkable contributions during the challenging times Covid 19, earned her recognition through the Thank a Nurse Initiative of the Canadian Nurses Foundation in 2020.

Manju's leadership extends to Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) in Canada, as demonstrated by her involvement as an Executive in the Nova Scotia IEN Network and other provincial projects. Outside of work hours, she dedicates herself as a valuable resource and mentor for IENs. In all her endeavors, Manju epitomizes the essence of a dynamic and compassionate leader

Mateo Vitale was born and raised in Lattakia, Syria. When he was 11 years old the civil war started. After 5 years his family was able to leave the country and refuge to Canada. They arrived February of 2016. He joined the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth Mentorship Program on his second day of school. Since then he has volunteered with CBFY during the summer of 2016 and 2017 as a peer mentor in the summer program. He also became a peer mentor in his high school in the After School Mentorship Program.

He was a guest speaker in the CBF 2016 Annual Youth Meeting, 2016 Scholarship Gala Awards Night, and the 2017 Employment For Youth event. He got selected to be one of the CBF 2017 scholarship winners. He also volunteered as a tutor with The Calgary Catholic Immigration Society to help students in his school. Mateo joined the CBFY Board of Directors to represent the youth, learn from the experiences of other members, give back to the community and try to make a positive change.

After his term ended, he is now working with the city of Calgary as a recreational leader in programs for refugee children while completing his psychology degree at the University of Calgary. He is also working again with CBFY as a program facilitator for high school immigrant youth Mentorship Program.