Paola Leal has worked in different community organizations where she worked with many passionate workers and learned the impact these organizations have in the well-being of the people they support. She now works both in the social and research sectors to promote a change in the culture’s social and health care system. Most notably, Paola works at the Eva Marsden Center as the project manager of their new community-based initiative: the social prescription project.

For 22 years now, Pauline Wiedow has been involved in creating MWCN, a non-profit community organization, first with a few friends in Châteauguay, then later in the Montérégie Ouest region serving five MRCs. Pauline Wiedow’s vision, generosity and determination have never ceased to attract and mobilize friends, collaborators, volunteers and now a dozen employees who all work in unison to offer services to a community happy to meet and be together in English. As neighbours of Kahnawake, an indigenous community, we continue to find ways of working together to support this very valuable community partner. The MWCN serves an area with over 85,000 English speakers.

Peter completed training as a Public Health and Preventive Medicine specialist at the University of Toronto. He practices family medicine in the community, with a focus on palliative home visits. His research focuses using linked health administrative databases to develop population perspectives on health care use and outcomes associated with aging and end of life in Ontario. He holds a Tier 2 Clinical Research Chair in Palliative Care and Predictive Analytics.

Raphael Lavoie-Brand is a certified massage therapist, leading expert in self-massage and founder of the Mindful Self-Massage Approach. He teaches in French and English to local and international audiences through online courses, businesses, community organizations, colleges and self-care oriented events. His passion is to help people discover the soothing power of their own hands.

Raymond Villeneuve is the Executive Director of the Regroupement pour la Valorisation de la Paternité and the father of two grown children aged 23 and 26. For the past fifteen years, he has been involved in promoting fatherhood, integrating fatherhood realities into Quebec public policies and adapting organizational practices to the particularities of fathers. He has also worked hard to improve the health and well-being of Quebec fathers.

Roen Higgins is an award-winning spoken word poet, educator, dynamic speaker, and certified impact coach. Founder of The Elevated Creative, her mission is to elevate her audience with important life skills such as self-care, resilience, leadership, creative literacy & community well-being. An active Special Care Counsellor for the past 20 years as well as a community change agent, Roen loves helping young people emerge and adults shift towards elevation. As a coach, she is dedicated to raising others to get unstuck and tap into their genius zone.

The Executive Director of Neighbours Regional Association since its incorporation in April 2004 – of which prior she was the Community Organizer of Alliance Quebec Abitibi West Chapter.
Sharleen began working with the English Community of Rouyn-Noranda as the youth delegate in 1984. Through her employment and community involvement, Sharleen has access to various sources of information and knowledge concerning the Abitibi-Témiscamingue community as well as the Provincial English community. Regular and meaningful contact with the English community and an interest in politics have led to a lifetime of defending and working for the improvement of the quality of life for English-speakers in the Belle Province.

Sheri McLeod received her degree in social work from McGill University and has worked with the Eva Marsden Centre for Social Justice and Aging for over 30 years. She has been an advocate for the rights of the marginalized older population throughout her life and has collaborated on research initiatives at the provincial, national, and international levels. She has been involved with the Age-Friendly Cities movement in Montreal since 2013 and is consulted widely for her experience in reflecting the realities of vulnerable seniors and their needs.

Syeda Nayab Bukhari earned her doctorate from the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University, BC

Prior to joining RPCU, Ms. Tremblay was Executive Director of the Montreal Association for the Intellectually Handicapped. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the École nationale d’administration publique and did master’s studies in sociology at Université Laval. During her career, she has been an executive in the Quality, Evaluation, Performance and Ethics Department at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Executive Director of the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec, Coordinator of Special Projects at the CRDITED in Montréal, and Assistant to the Ombudsperson. She has also served as an advisor in various ministers’ offices.

Tania Callender studied in business administration and economics but took a turn from the corporate sector to the community non-profit sector eight years ago working as a volunteer then administrator and in 2015 the Executive Director of the African Canadian Development and Prevention Network (ACDPN). At ACDPN, Tania not only drives forth the mission of solidarity and inter-organizational collaboration across sectors that influence the health and wellness of the English-speaking Black community (ESBC) in Montreal but she also advocates for access to programs that are adapted both linguistically and culturally for this double minority. Mother of two young boys, Tania is inspired to make changes in the system that will positively impact the community now and for future generations.