Advisory Committee

Dr. Annalee Coakley has dedicated her medical career to caring for marginalized and vulnerable patients, including refugees who often arrive in Canada dealing with myriad health issues after enduring unimaginable trauma. As the medical director of the Mosaic Refugee Health Clinic in Calgary, she not only provides compassionate care to new Canadians, but also advocates for her patients locally, nationally and internationally.

Dr. Coakley received her medical degree from Queen’s University in 2001 and completed her residency in 2003 in the university’s Department of Family Medicine. Over the next several years, she practiced emergency and outpatient family medicine throughout Ontario and Nova Scotia, often working in remote, rural communities. In 2008, she relocated to Calgary, working as a hospitalist locum at the Peter Lougheed Centre and practicing outpatient family medicine and urgent care at the Sheldon Chumir Urgent Care Center. In 2009 she began practicing as a family physician at the Mosaic Refugee Health Clinic where, in 2012, she became medical director. She also practices at the East Calgary Family Care Clinic.

Dr. Coakley is a passionate advocate for programs that are crucial to her patients’ health and wellbeing. She was part of a team of concerned citizens who spoke out about cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program, and spent countless hours working directly with patients who had been declined status or lost their health care privileges. In instances when patients faced overwhelming bills for uncovered hospital stays or procedures, she fought to reduce these costs.

Her concern for vulnerable patients transcends borders and has led to her involvement with a charitable organization that provides medical care to a refugee camp in Kenya. That concern has prompted her to pursue additional training in tropical medicine and to teach about immigrant and refugee health at the University of Calgary. In 2016, Dr. Coakley marshalled the community to welcome and care for the influx of Syrian refugees coming to Calgary, establishing satellite clinics and caring for those who arrive battling illness, injury or trauma. Most recently, over the course of 2017 and 2018, Dr. Coakley has helped welcome the Yazidi refugees to Calgary, providing health care to this highly traumatized population.

As the Interim Executive Director of Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO), Karyn leads OCISO to support immigrants through the journey of making Canada their home, by building community through mutual respect and partnerships, and by fostering healthy and inclusive spaces for open dialogue and healing.

An experienced human resources, and employability development specialist, Karyn has worked internationally within Australia and the United Kingdom across a wide range of human resource disciplines.

Over the past two decades in Canada, she has combined her extensive knowledge of the human resources corporate world with her passion of supporting equity groups. Using her extensive expertise in project management and innovation, she has created and executed multiple programs for newcomers, women, Indigenous peoples, racialized people, and people with disabilities, specifically for not for profit organizations and government-funded projects.

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.

Jonathan Mitchell is Vice-President, Research and Policy, at HealthCareCAN in Ottawa. In this role, 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 leads the partnership with the Canadian College of Health Leaders to plan the National Health Leadership Conference, the largest annual health leadership gathering.

With over 15 years experience in national policy and research roles, 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.

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.

Jean McRae, B.A., C.P.Ed, M.B.A., is Chief Executive Officer of the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA).

Jean is sector Co-Chair for Pathways to Prosperity, Past-President of the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA), represents AMSSA on the National Settlement Council (NSC), and the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance (CISSA-ACSEI).

Jean has been working in the immigrant and refugee services sector since 1982, inclusive of three years working with refugees in Central America.

Karima Karmali has over 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare and is the Director of the Centre for Innovation & Excellence in Child and Family-Centred Care at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto. In this role, she provides strategic and operational leadership to advance the design and delivery of healthcare that is patient and family centric. Karima champions and leads initiatives aimed at improving patient and family experience and health equity at SickKids. A key area of her work has focussed on the health of vulnerable populations including newcomers.

Karima is a strong proponent of volunteerism and gives her time both locally and internationally.

She is a current member of the Board of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Canada.

Karima obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McGill University and a Master of Business Administration from Queens University.

Shelley Robichaud, is an Acadian Francophone born in New Brunswick and has been a resident of the northeastern part of the province her entire life. She obtained a degree in social work at Université de Moncton in 1984 and has mainly worked in management or director capacities for child protection services and community mental health services. She is currently Director for Primary Health Care Services at Vitalité Health Network. She also had the privilege to work in the non-profit sector with organisations addressing the health determinants and the importance of community implication and mobilisation when trying to improve health and wellness in communities.
Her main interests throughout her career have been to maintain equity for all and encourage women’s well being.

She is now involved in the collective effort aiming to transform the health system in the province., into one that emphases on the importance of health promotion and prevention services.

Teresa Burke lives on Coast Salish territory, specifically the ancestral land of the T'Sou-ke First Nation. As the Director of Language Support at the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations (MANSO) she supports the 30 formal and informal language programs in Manitoba by strengthening communication and capacity-building, facilitating professional development opportunities, and representing these members at local, provincial, and national tables. Teresa has over fifteen years of experience in the settlement language sector having worked in a variety of positions including EAL instructor in both Manitoba and Alberta, CLBPT and CELBAN language assessor, and ESP program coordinator. For the last three years she has been closely involved in developing a multi-themed Indigenous EAL curriculum with several Manitoba partner organizations. Teresa is excited to see this material integrated into formal and informal newcomer language programs so that newcomers receive accurate information about the First Peoples of Manitoba. Teresa is passionate about supporting a settlement sector that is strongly inter-connected and provides services that will effectively link newcomers to the supports they need.

Carolyn Whiteway is the Executive Director of the Atlantic Region Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (ARAISA), a bilingual umbrella organization providing a collective voice and regional forum for member agencies committed to the settlement and integration of immigrants in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.

ARAISA engages with and supports its membership through professional development and information sharing, and contributes to the settlement and integration sector through consultation, research collaboration and representation. Prior to stepping into the role of ARAISA’s first-ever executive director in January 2018, Carolyn worked for many years in the not-for-profit sector, both regionally and internationally, in the areas of international cooperation, youth programming, and member-based associations.

She is excited to contribute to a national project that will help support positive health outcomes for newcomers.

Dr. Tanya Lentz is a registered psychologist with a background in clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology. She heads the Pediatric Neuropsychology Service and is one of the psychologists responsible for the Rehabilitation Psychology Service at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St. John’s, NL.

In her private clinic, she provides psychological and neuropsychological assessments and treatment for children, adolescents, and adults. Throughout her career and education, Dr. Lentz has studied and worked in multiple provinces across Canada. She is a passionate advocate for improving medical care services across the country. She is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Respect and Civility Committee for Eastern Health.

Through these committees, Dr. Lentz strives to create bridges of understanding and communication between staff and patients, particularly those who are new to Canada.

Lana Beth Barkhouse is a family physician in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. She is a true Maritimer, born, raised and educated in Nova Scotia. She graduated from Dalhousie University and now teaches medical students and Family Medicine residents from there.

With the collaboration of a particularly enthusiastic Family Medicine resident (Dr. Christine Campbell) one year ago, they started a Refugee Clinic in their city. The local Association for Newcomers to Canada is also instrumental in helping organize this clinic. Although there are not large numbers of refugees coming to Prince Edward Island, their needs are similar to anywhere else in Canada, and by engaging with the N4 project and community , they hope to be continuously growing with the needs of their local community.

Jered is currently employed by the YWCA Settlement Services. At the YWCA, he provides resettlement and integration assistance to those who have newly arrived to Canada as Government Sponsored Refugees or Privately Sponsored Refugees. Through the YWCA, Jered provides necessary information on orientation and language training to see refugees through their settlement journey. With this assistance, Jered hopes refugees gain enough knowledge and independence to successfully live in Canada.

In 2018, Jered arrived to Canada as a refugee himself from Uganda. His family escaped the war torn Congo in 2001. He has first-hand the experiences that many of our clients have had and because of this, he is able to connect and assist other newcomers to Canada in a very informative way. Jered says, “I enjoy the opportunity I have to help them successfully integrate into our community here in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and to enjoy all the opportunities life has here in Canada.”

Bousi Al Ibrahim is a Syrian mother of six children. Her daughter, Rahma, is a special needs child. When the war broke out in Syria, and health care services for Rahma became scarce, Bousi moved her family to Lebanon. Two years later, a group of 20 Canadians worked together and brought Bousi and the kids home to Canada.

They arrived in Ottawa in 2016 and Rahma has been receiving care at CHEO.  Bousi is happily adjusted to her new life in Canada, and she volunteers her time to initiatives that aim to help navigators understand the needs and issues of newcomers in the Canadian healthcare system.

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.

Christine Kouri has over 30 years of experience in the Canadian healthcare system and is known for her initiatives and expertise in equitable health care across socioculturally diverse and marginalized populations. A graduate of McGill University, she worked at the Montreal Children's Hospital as a nurse for 8 years. Upon obtaining her Master's in Health Administration, she was recruited to CHEO to lead the development of their Patient Experience department.

As the Manager for that department, she led CHEO's efforts to ensure an optimal experience for the Syrian Refugees that were welcomed to Ottawa starting in early 2016. Christine developed the role of a Newcomer Navigator position to better support the unprecedented number of newcomer families and the multidisciplinary staff that were providing them with care. Based on that
experience, her team was approached by the federal government to develop a website to assist other healthcare organizations in managing the challenges of providing culturally safe newcomer navigation services as other cities also welcomed increased numbers of newcomers.

In 2019, CHEO received a three-year federal fund to further that work; developing a national platform to facilitate health and social inter-sectoral collaboration regarding newcomer navigation. In addition to oversight of the N4 project, Christine continues to lead CHEO's health equity efforts for their most vulnerable patients and families, including newcomers.

Sahar is the Project Manager for the N4. She has a Master and Doctor Degree in Pediatrics from Alexandria University in Egypt, and a Master of Health Administration from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. Dr Zohni brings to the role over 25 years work as a clinician, lecturer, researcher and passion for quality improvement.

She has worked internationally including Egypt, England and now Canada. Among her clinical roles have been Lecturer of Pediatrics at El-Shatby Pediatric University Hospital, Egypt and as an Associate Pediatric Specialist, Nottingham City Hospital, England.

She also managed two highly intense units; Pediatric Intensive care and Renal Unit. She has led many quality improvement projects along her years of practice which she brought to CHEO in roles in quality improvement and patient experience, including building the hospital's participation in the Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) Program and a learning federal grant to develop a Newcomer Navigator Toolkit.

Sahar's career path makes her the ideal leader for the N4 team to create a national network aimed to improve the experience of newcomers in navigating Canada's complex health and social services.

A passion for health equity is what drove Mariah to pursue her Master’s degree in Public Health at Lakehead University with a specialization in Northern and Indigenous Health Care. Prior to this, Mariah graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in Health Studies and Sociology.

Mariah brings over 6 combined years of project management, coordination and research experience to her role as Project Coordinator of the National Network Navigation Network. She is skilled at building partnerships across diverse sectors to improve health outcomes for people with complex social and health needs. In 2017, she led the implementation of a Situation Table in the city of Thunder Bay and coordinated a regional project that resulted in the development of over 50 formalized partnerships and brought together over 300 professionals from diverse sectors.

Mariah is looking forward to making connections with the pediatric and adult health care and settlement sectors, and finding ways the N4 project can build capacity within these systems to better support newcomers as they navigate Canada’s complex health and social service systems.

Lauren Provost is “A proud Canadian and native of our nation’s capital”.  She describes in her own words:

I endured the experience of a newcomer myself when I moved to the United Kingdom. I had to learn how to navigate through different and unfamiliar systems of transportation, currency, healthcare, and employment, to name a few.

Despite speaking the same language, it was a very challenging journey of settling into a new country without my friends and family by my side.

I am incredibly happy to support this passionate project as the Administrative Assistant working with the N4 team, supporting those who help newcomers settle into our amazing country. I wake up every day loving my job and giving my all to be part of the N4’s future accomplishments.