The current members of the Board of Directors, approved at the Annual General Meeting held June 21, 2011 are:

Faye Wightman, Chair
President and CEO, Vancouver Foundation
Vancouver, British Columbia

Ian Bird
President & CEO, Community Foundations of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Tim Brodhead
(outgoing) President and CEO, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
Montreal, Quebec

Owen Charters
Executive Director, CanadaHelps
Toronto, Ontario

Marcel Côté
Founding Partner, SECOR Consulting Inc.
Montreal, Quebec

Miranda Lam
Lawyer, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Vancouver, British-Columbia

Susan Lewis
President, United Way of Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Kevin McCort
President and CEO, CARE Canada
Ottawa, ON

Don McCreesh
President, The Garnet Group Inc.
Oakville, Ontario

Tim Moro
Senior Vice-President, Ipsos Reid
Calgary, Alberta

Hilary Pearson
President and CEO, Philanthropic Foundations Canada
Montreal, Quebec

Martha J. Tory
Senior Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Toronto, Ontario

Stéphane Vaillancourt
President and CEO, The YMCAs of Québec
Montreal, Quebec

Willy Van Klooster
Executive Director, Vanier Children's Services
London, Ontario

Bob Wyatt
Executive Director, The Muttart Foundation
Edmonton, Alberta

Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Faye Wightman is the President and CEO of The Vancouver Foundation, Canada’s largest community foundation. Faye joined the Foundation from the University of Victoria, where she served as Vice President, External Relations for two years. As president of the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation she oversaw a 650% increase in revenue during her 14 year tenure, and led the marketing efforts that saw the Foundation win the Marketer of the Year award from the B.C. chapter of the American Marketing Association. Faye has always been involved in the nonprofit sector in higher education, health care, the Canadian Red Cross, and the United Way of the Lower Mainland.

Ian Bird is the Senior Leader at Sport Matters Group. Most recently, Ian supported the development of a sport and social inclusion strategy within the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, a pan-Canadian municipal sport and physical activity policy framework, and a series of campaigns to ensure provincial and federal sport policy commitments during recent elections. A two time Olympian in field hockey, Ian has volunteered in a leadership capacity with Motivate Canada, the Public Policy Forum, SportWeb, Coaches of Canada, Athletes CAN, Commonwealth Games Canada, and with the advisory committee to the Secretary of State (Amateur Sport). In 2003, Ian was selected (over Wayne Gretzky, amongst others) as the recipient of the Bruce Kidd Award as Canada’s Athlete Leader of the Year.

Tim Brodhead is (outgoing) President and Chief Executive Officer of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Canada’s largest private foundation. The Foundation, based in Montreal, funds national programs that build a “more resilient, inclusive and sustainable society”. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1992, he was for five years Executive Director of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), a national body representing over 120 non-governmental organizations working in international development. 

Upon graduating from McGill University in 1964 (Honours Political Science and Philosophy), Tim Brodhead taught political science as a CUSO volunteer for three years at the University of Ife, Nigeria. In 1973 he founded ACORD, a consortium of European and Canadian non-governmental organizations, to plan and implement development projects in Africa, particularly in refugee, post-conflict, and disaster situations.

In 1977, Tim returned to Canada and co-founded Inter Pares, a not-for-profit development agency and wrote on the role of Canadian non-governmental development organizations; the book Bridges of Hope? was published in 1987.

In a voluntary capacity he has served on many boards. He currently chairs the board of the ETC Group, which addresses the social implications of new technologies, and is a director of Centraide Montréal and of Knowledge1. He is a past chair of Philanthropic Foundations Canada, and a founding board member of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. He is a former board member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Calmeadow Foundation, Unitarian Service Committee (USC), North South Institute, Vartana Charity Bank, and others.

In 2001 Tim was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2002, he was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from Carleton University, and in 2005, from Dalhousie University.

Owen Charters is Executive Director of CanadaHelps, Canada’s online charitable foundation. Previously, he held senior marketing and development roles with both Muscular Dystrophy Canada and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Foundation in Toronto. He is currently a board member for the Human Resources Council for the Nonprofit Sector, a member of the Advisory Council and the Public Policy Committee for Imagine Canada, and on the Advisory Committee for the Fundraising and Resource Development program at Georgian College. He holds an MBA, and a Graduate Diploma in Nonprofit Management, both from the Schulich School of Business, York University. He is also a part-time lecturer in the Nonprofit MBA program at Schulich.

Marcel Côté is a founding partner of SECOR Consulting. Over his 30-year career as a consultant, he has specialized in strategy consulting for senior management both in Canada and in France.

Mr. Côté holds an MSc in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) and is a Fellow of the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. He taught at the Université de Sherbrooke and the Université du Québec à Montréal, before co-founding SECOR in 1975, which he managed during 25 years.

Mr. Côté is also known as an expert on economic-growth policies, a subject on which he has written several books. Finally, over the course of his career Mr. Côté has always taken a special interest in public policy. In particular, from 1986 to 1988, he was economic advisor to the Premier of Quebec. In 1989 and 1990, he was Director of Strategic planning and communications in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa.

He sits on the Board of Directors of INTACT Financial Corporation, Empire Ltd. And Osisko. He is also active in community organizations, particularly in the Foundation of Greater Montreal and the Compagnie de danse Marie Chouinard, where he chairs the Boards of Directors as well as with the YMCA du Québec and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Miranda Lam is a lawyer in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Vancouver. Her practice comprises a wide variety of complex commercial disputes, including securities, employment and insurance coverage litigation, as well as shareholder and real property disputes. She also has experience in dealing with administrative and criminal matters.

Ms. Lam has written on the topics of insurance coverage and securities regulation, as well as participated in seminars on insurance issues. She is also a contributor to the Annotated British Columbia Securities Legislation, 4th Edition (2009) published by CCH Canadian Limited. 

Ms. Lam received her LLB from the University of British Columbia in 2002, where she received the Honourable Ray Herbert Award as the All-round Graduating Student and the Alumni Association Achievement Award as Outstanding Student of the Year. After graduation, Ms. Lam served as a judicial law clerk for five justices of the BC Supreme Court. She was called to the British Columbia bar in 2004.

In 2007, Ms. Lam received the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna Award, and in 2001, she was named YWCA Young Woman of Distinction. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of the Lower Mainland and is the Vice Chair of the Board for the University of British Columbia Alumni Association. She is also involved in a number of other community activities, including serving as a mentor for the YWCA mentorship program and previously served as the Chair of the board of Volunteer Vancouver (now Vantage Point). She is a frequent speaker at various events and conferences on board governance for not-for-profits, leadership, community building, and civic engagement.

Susan Lewis has been committed to the United Way movement since 1977, when she began with the Winnipeg agency. Since 1985 she has served as President. She also sits as a board member for the Winnipeg Free Press and Centennial Neighbourhood Project and was a member of the Advisory Committee to Mayor Murray on “The New Deal.” She is a current member of the Manitoba Voluntary Sector Council and the Manitoba Foundations Council.

Kevin McCort has spent nearly his entire adult life engaged in international humanitarian and development work. After graduating from high school Kevin McCort took part in a Canada World Youth exchange between Canada and Indonesia. He spent over three months in a remote Indonesian village in South Kalimantan.

During his university years Kevin volunteered with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). For almost a year he worked with a Malian agriculture parastatal company, living in a small village just north of the border with Cote d’Ivoire.  His work helped the people of Mali look at ways to improve livestock management and commercialization, dealing with issues such as migrant herders moving large cattle herds through agricultural land, and managing conflicts between migrants and sedentary farmers.  After Mali, Kevin went with WUSC to Zimbabwe. There he spent two years placing and supporting Canadian teachers who were assigned to Zimbabwean high schools and teacher training colleges.  In those two years he drove 100,000km visiting 60 different mission schools, and remote government schools.

In 1992 Kevin joined CARE Canada. From 1992-1997 he was involved in humanitarian and emergency relief missions around the globe. He has dealt with a food crisis in Haiti, drought and conflict in Somalia, aiding Somali refugees in Kenya, helping people in Bosnia and Croatia caught in the civil war there, and dealing with the effects of the Rwandan genocide in Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi. Kevin was one of the first humanitarian workers in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when 1 million refugees flooded across the border.  Arriving in the area by plane, he landed right in the middle of a war zone as the refugees all around them came under attack.

From 1997 to 2000 Kevin headed CARE’s operations in Zambia as Country Director. He helped create and manage development programs in agriculture, education, health, micro-enterprise and humanitarian assistance.  

In 2000 Kevin become part of the senior management team of CARE Canada, and in 2008 was appointed CEO.  Today he oversees all the operations of CARE Canada around world, and is CARE Canada’s primary representative within the global CARE movement. In Canada he is a recognized national spokesperson on international development issues, particularly on economic development and microfinance.

Don McCreesh is an active leader in Canada’s voluntary sector having served for over 35 years as a leader with a number of charities and not for profit organizations. He currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Imagine Canada and acts as the Chair of the HR and Governance Committee. Don is also Chair of the Standards Program and Promising Practices Initiative.

He began his “35 year volunteer career” with the YMCA where he was appointed a “youth” member of the board of the YMCA of Hamilton – Burlington and eventually went on to serve as Chair of that board; Chair of YMCA Canada; a member of the Executive Committee of the World Alliance of YMCAs (where he served as Treasurer and Chair of a Global Organization Review that led to a reorganization at the international level and the creation of the Global Operating Plan); and is a Past Chair of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. During that time Don has also served as a volunteer and on the boards of a number of other not for profit organizations focusing on fundraising, youth, employment, governance and immigrant issues.

During 2006 he served as the voluntary sector’s Interim Fairness Advisor resolving issues between Service Canada and from 2000 to 2005 served with federal Voluntary Sector Initiative as Co-Chair of the IM/IT Joint Table and as a member of the Senior Sector Steering Committee.

Professionally Don is a management consultant and a corporate director currently on the boards of Brainhunter Inc. (Chair), Educators Financial Group (formerly Ontario Teachers Group) and VenGrowth Private Equity. He has served as Lead Director of Rand. These roles follow a 35 year career with five major international blue chip corporations culminating in roles as a corporate officer and global head of the Human Resources functions at Nortel Networks, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Celestica.

As President of The Garnet Group Inc., Don consults to the corporate and not for profit sectors, focusing on personal and organization performance issues, executive coaching, executive compensation, HR functional audits, merger & acquisition support, corporate social responsibility, governance and organization design.

Don has an MBA and BA, Psychology from McMaster University and is certified as a Chartered Director by the Directors College. At the Chartered Director graduation ceremony 2006, Don was awarded the “Gilbert Bennett Gold Standard Award” as the top graduate of the Chartered Director Program. He now serves as a leader in the professional development of other directors, acting as a faculty member at The Directors College.

Tim Moro is a Senior Vice President & Managing Director for Ipsos based in Calgary. He is responsible for all market and public opinion research conducted by Ipsos in Alberta and heads up the North American Energy Practice. Tim is now in the twentieth year of his research career and in this time has conducted studies with many thousands of respondents of all descriptions across North America and in countries around the globe.

Tim works with clients across the full spectrum of business and government in Canada. His energy clients include oil and gas companies, pipeline transportation companies, electric and gas utilities, alternative energy providers, energy industry associations, government energy departments and industry regulators. Tim is regularly engaged as a speaker at business conferences and major client meetings in Canada and the United States.

Tim has extensive experience working in both a voluntary and consulting capacity with nonprofit and charity organizations. These roles have included governance (Executive and Board positions), committee and task force positions (ongoing and initiative specific roles) and advisory services in areas such as communications, public relations, reputation and brand along with program and service development, delivery, management and evaluation.

Tim holds a BA (first class) from the University of Victoria and a MA in Political Science from the University of Calgary. His graduate work focused on the history of political movements, populist politics and the rise of political parties in Canada. His academic background additionally includes studies in economics, psychology and sociology.

Tim holds a BA from the University of Victoria and a MA in Political Science from the University of Calgary.

Hilary Pearson’s career has spanned the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She began her career in policy with the federal government, moving to Montreal to become Vice-President, Strategic Development at Royal Bank of Canada. As a management consultant she worked with several national and local charities in health, culture and social services. Since 2001, Ms. Pearson has headed up Philanthropic Foundations Canada. As a volunteer she serves on the boards of the Stratford Festival of Canada, Centraide of Montreal and is a member of the Charities Advisory Committee, reporting to the Minister of National Revenue.

Martha J. Tory is a senior partner at Ernst & Young specializing in serving not-for-profit organizations. She has extensive experience serving on charitable boards of directors. She is currently the Treasurer and a member of the following boards of directors: the Institute of Competitiveness & Prosperity, The Learning Partnership and PREVNet (a Networks of Centres of Excellence). She is also Chair of the Governance Committee and on the Board Directors of Crescent School.  Ms Tory has served as Chair of the following boards: the United Way of Greater Toronto, Family Service Association of Toronto, St. Clement's School and Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

Stéphane Vaillancourt holds a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal and an MBA from McGill University, and has enjoyed a highly successful career holding senior management positions in the areas of business development, sales, marketing and strategy development with Bell Canada, Stentor and Connexim.

He was appointed President and CEO of the YMCAs of Quebec in November 2002. The YMCAs of Quebec is a charitable organization that contributes to the development of spirit, mind, and body, and to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. It works especially to help children, seniors and the disadvantaged, as well as families, new arrivals and youth at risk. Its twelve centres and multiple other points of service are visited yearly by over 100,000 people who benefit from the many programs it offers ranging from community and child development programs to language courses and physical fitness activities.

In addition to a wide range of professional and personal responsibilities, he has been involved for many years in a variety of social and community works in support of youth and seniors, notably as Chair of the “Petits Frères des Pauvres”, the mission of which is to provide a lifelong friendly and affectionate presence to relieve the isolation and loneliness among the elderly.

Stéphane is currently Vice-Chair of Cybercap, a charity with a mission to help youth at risk by offering them the possibility to discover and experiment digital media in order to help them better their personal, social and professional situation.

Willy Van Klooster has served as Executive Director of Vanier Children’s Services in London from 2009 to the present, Ontario. Vanier offers a school, residential care, and several community-based services for children 0-14 experiencing mental illness. Vanier is currently engaged in conversation with three other child and youth mental health organizations contemplating an amalgamation into one regional service.

Prior to joining Vanier, from 2003-2008, Willy was the Executive Director of Westover Treatment Centre which provides residential treatment to women and men dealing with drug and alcohol addictions. During the period of 1998-2003, Willy served as Executive Director of London Interfaith Counselling Centre (now Daya Counselling).

After completing a Masters of Divinity degree, from 1985-1997, Willy was a Roman Catholic priest serving in various church communities in leadership roles at local and regional levels. In 1997, he married the love of his life, Deborah, and therefore needed to find a new job.

In 2001, after attending the annual Canadian Centre for Philanthropy symposium entitled "Telling our Story", Willy founded Pillar Nonprofit Network in London which currently serves 180 member organizations. He served as chair from 2001-2008. Willy founded the Ontario Addictions Recovery Awareness Campaign, has served on the local United Way Campaign Cabinet, and has been involved in other local and regional initiatives.

From 1985-2003, Willy coached high school athletes in Cross Country, Swimming and Track. He is happily married to Deborah and they live in London with their English Springer Spaniel, Eden.

Bob Wyatt has been executive director of The Muttart Foundation since 1989. He has been a leader in the voluntary sector at the local, provincial and national levels, including serving as sector co-chair of the Joint Regulatory Table during the Voluntary Sector Initiative. He has been involved in a large number of public-policy initiatives at both the provincial and national level, including serving as a member of Imagine Canada’s public policy committee and one of the original members of the Ethical Code committee. He is in regular contact with provincial and federal governments, including through the Muttart Consultations process that he initiated more than a dozen years ago. He is the author of “Letters to (not always of) Joy” a book resulting from a sabbatical research project examining the role of voluntary-sector umbrella organizations in affecting public policy related to the sector. He has served on a number of boards of directors, ranging from Philanthropic Foundations Canada to the governing body of his church and currently serves on the editorial advisory board of The Philanthropist. He is a credentialed parliamentarian and has provided advice to a large number of voluntary sector organizations.