Board of Directors
The Canadian MedicAlert Foundation is led by a volunteer Board of Directors with representation from across Canada.
Cheri Nijssen-Jordan, MD
Chair
Alberta
Cheri is a paediatrician and a paediatric emergency physician at the Alberta Children's Hospital, and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary. While continuing her clinical practice in both the urban and rural settings, she is also a medical administrator with a special interest in quality improvement in health care and continuing medical education. She participates in a variety of International Health missions around the world and has now visited all 7 continents.
Western Region
Len Kelsey
Board Member
British Columbia
Len is currently Chair and CEO of B.C. Utilities Commission and has held a number of executive positions with the British Columbia Automobile Association. Len is active in the volunteer community. He served as Public Administrator and Board Chair of the North Shore Health Region, Board Chair of Lions Gate Hospital and is currently a Board member of the MedicAlert Foundation International.
Melanie McKenzie
Board Member
British Columbia
Melanie is currently the Executive Director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation where she has helped annual revenues grow from $700,000 to over $7.0 million. The Foundation’s first major capital campaign received the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Capital Campaigns. VHF completed a second $17 million capital campaign in 2004, which represents the largest fundraising campaign for healthcare ever undertaken on Vancouver Island. Over $70 million has been raised since she joined the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
Melanie has been fundraising for 20 years, including time at BCIT and Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. She has been at the Victoria Hospitals Foundation for 16 years.
She holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Fundraising Executive. She is a member of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy, the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Canadian Association of Gift Planners. She is a member of the international Certified Fundraising Executive exam board. She is the past President of the BCIT Alumni Association and was a volunteer Big Sister through Big Brothers and Big Sisters for 10 years. Melanie chaired the 2004 National Symposium for Families in Business and currently sits on the Conference Board of Canada’s National Council of Foundation Executives. She serves on the British Columbia Medical Services Commission and the MedicAlert Foundation Board of Directors.
Melanie is married with two grown children. She is a frequent speaker on a variety of non-profit and fundraising topics. She was nominated as a YWCA Woman of Distinction in 2003 and received a British Columbia Community Achievement Award in 2008.
Charles Sun, MD
Board Member
British Columbia
Dr. Charles (Chuck) Sun is an Emergency Medicine physician on staff with the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) holding appointments with University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria as a Clinical Associate Professor. Dr. Sun's area of special interest is Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and its role / function relating to organ and tissue donation. Dr. Sun has been the Medical Director for Canada's largest Provincial EMS service in BC for 20 years and has participated in many research / educational projects involving Pre-hospital emergency care in Canada and internationally. Dr. Sun has been active in the promotion of "Advanced Directives" in introducing Canada's first provincial government and medical association recognized "NO CPR form and bracelet" in BC. Dr. Sun has been a pioneer in the introduction of Physician Assistants Profession to the Canadian Health Care system and currently is an advisor to the Canadian Forces and the Physician Assistant Foundation of Canada on issues related to the practice of Physician Assistants.
Central Region
Howard Berger
Board Member
Quebec
Howard is the Co-Executive Director of Agence Ometz, an integrated continuum of employment, immigration and social services to over 13,000 individuals yearly. Howard is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at McGill University and has practiced commercial and labour law for the past 25 years while remaining active in a variety of not-for-profit organizations.
Michael A. Cardiff
Board Member
Ontario
Mike Cardiff has over 20 years’ of experience in the creation, development and growth of companies in the technology, telecommunications, financial services and biotechnology sectors. Mike has extensive sales and operational experience as CEO and senior management of large multinational companies with operations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
In 2003, Mike founded Accelerents, a consulting firm focused on corporate strategy development through M&A, sales & marketing, organizational development, Canadian Private Equity and Venture Capital for both private and public clients in Canada and the U.S.
During Mike’s career he has been involved in a number of technology companies at all stages of development including large multinationals such as EDS and IBM as well as startup companies such as Fincentric, Convergent Technologies, Tandem, and Stratus Computer.
Mike has received his ICD.D certification and is currently a Director of the following companies: Descartes Systems Group, Burntsand Corporation, Hydrogenics Corporation, Software Growth Inc. He has also served on the following Voluntary Boards: The Toronto Film Festival and Roy Thompson Hall.
Françoise Faverjon-Fortin
Board Member
Quebec
Françoise Faverjon-Fortin is Vice-President, Infrastructure and Environment for EDC. In 2008, she distinguished herself in the area of finance and business and won the Leadership Award from the Association of Quebec Women in Finance. For the last 4 years, she also has been selected for the Canadian “Women in the lead” directory. Mrs Faverjon-Fortin was one of the first five women in Quebec to graduate from the Canadian Directors Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors. She was also received as fellow of the International Women Forum in 2006.
In addition to her work at EDC, Ms. Faverjon-Fortin is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of The Montreal Council on Foreign Relations and of the Dandurand Strategic and Diplomatic Studies Center. She is also a director on the board of the North American Forum on Integration. In the recent past, she was a director of the Financial Women’s Association - Quebec and the Quebec-New-England Cross-Border Forum.
Ms. Faverjon-Fortin has worked in the field of international trade and investment for twenty years. She has financing and risk management experience in the Infrastructure, Energy, Mining, and Transportation sectors. Prior to joining EDC, she worked for the Conference Board of Canada and for New York City’s World Trade Center. Ms. Faverjon-Fortin graduated with honours from the State University of New York and holds an MBA in International Finance.
Ms. Faverjon-Fortin is an adviser on various councils and a speaker on international business & finance, leadership and governance. For many years, she taught Export Financing to MBA students of l’École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC). Ms. Faverjon-Fortin was also a TV commentator.
Barry Kuntz
Past-Chair
Ontario
Barry has recently joined Madison MacArthur Inc., an executive search firm in Toronto, as Director of Executive Recruitment, after a thirty-year career with General Motors. His career there spanned sales, service, marketing and public affairs, in Regina, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972 with a Bachelor of Administration degree. Over the years, Barry has been an active supporter of a number of charitable and not-for-profit organizations.
Paul W. Rawlinson
Board Member
Ontario
Paul Rawlinson is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Risk Management expert with 25 years of senior executive experience at leading banks and other financial institutions in Canada. From 2004 to 2009, Paul served as Head of the Risk Management at ING Bank of Canada. Previously, he held a number of senior roles at the Bank of Montreal including Director of Integrated Risk Analysis and Reporting. From 1995 to 1998, he served as Vice President & Director, Head of Risk Controlling for Deutsche Bank Canada.
Areas of particular expertise include establishing, maintaining and evaluating risk governance programs associated with managing all aspects of market credit and operational risk. Paul currently serves as a Director of the Risk Management Association (RMA), Toronto Chapter. He holds a CA designation and earned his B.Comm from Queen’s University.
Geoffrey Rowan
Board Member
Ontario
Geoff Rowan brings more than 30 years of communications experience in the U.S. and Canada to his work with Ketchum, one of the world’s largest public relations agencies. More than 20 years of that experience was as a business journalist, writing for major print and broadcast outlets in both countries.
Geoff is experienced in stakeholder relations programs that include all levels of government, industry organizations, public and private companies, unions, academia, financial and industry analysts and employee communications. He has also been active in coalition building for Ketchum clients, in both industry and government circles. As a member of the leadership team of Ketchum’s Global Corporate Practice, a member of Ketchum’s global Issues and Crisis Management team, and one of Ketchum’s “Global Corporate Strategists,” Geoff has helped to manage a number of high-profile, multinational clients, including the Russian Federation, IBM, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Direct Energy, and others.
He is a graduate of The Institute For Corporate Directors’ Corporate Governance Course, offered through the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The program provides an “Accredited Director” designation to those who successfully meet its criteria. He is also a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Joyce Sumara
Board Member
Ontario
Ms. Sumara was appointed to the position of VP, Information Security Officer at Rogers in November 2009. Prior to this appointment, she was responsible for IT Governance and Strategic Planning.
Prior to joining Rogers, Ms. Sumara was the CIO, On Star at General Motors Corp. in Detroit, the CIO of GM Canada, and an IT Consultant in healthcare. She also held various positions at EDS Canada.
Ms. Sumara is an accomplished Information Technology Executive with 25+ years of broad experience in IT systems development, operations, and outsourcing.
Ms. Sumara graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Wayne State University, Detroit.
John Szold
Vice-Chair
Ontario
John Szold is the CEO of Planning for Succession. Planning for Succession works with boards of directors, management teams, private companies and family businesses to develop and implement effective succession planning processes.
John Szold’s career has spanned retail, manufacturing, sales, consulting and university lecturing. Guided throughout by the philosophy ‘if it’s not fun, why do it?’, today John’s work in the field of organizational development is driven by this seemingly simple concept that people should enjoy work and be suited to their job.
Throughout his 17 years consulting experience in the fields of organizational development and marketing, John has provided his clients with a perspective that can only come from real-life experience. As an entrepreneur, he knows the challenges owner-managed businesses face and as a post-graduate level lecturer at the Schulich School of Business and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, he understands the importance of executive education.
Eastern Region
Verna Skanes, PhD
Board Member
Newfoundland
Dr. Skanes is a former Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and Professor of Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Since retirement in 1999, Dr. Skanes has worked as consultant on various projects related to health research, ethics and policy. Dr. Skanes has chaired expert review panels for the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program. She was Chair of the NCE Selection Committee. She has served on various boards, including the Advisory Board of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Institute for Circulatory and Respiratory Health, the Advisory Board of the Atlantic Innovation Fund and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Stem Cell Network. Dr. Skanes has been a member of the Board of Directors of Canadian Blood Services and Chair of that board since 2003. She is also currently Chair of the board of the Stem Cell Network and a member of the board of the Newfoundland Quarterly.
Verne Somers
Board Member
Newfoundland
Verne, a CA, is a founding member and was First President of the Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni association. He is a senior financial and operational executive with experience in both the service and manufacturing sectors, and has held various senior executive positions with SCICAN and Peoples Jewellers Corporation.
