Board of Directors

Brian D. Lawson is Senior Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer at Brookfield Asset Management, where he has held senior management positions since the early 1990s. Brian graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto (Bachelor of Arts) in 1983, and received his CA designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1985. He has served in various capacities with a number of community and academic organizations, including as director of Community Food Centres Canada, and as a member of the President’s Investment Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto. He currently chairs the finance committee for the Trinity College School Foundation. He and his wife, Joannah, live in Toronto and have three children, Tristan, Alexander and Gillian.

Dr. Kwame McKenzie is CEO of the Wellesley Institute. He is an expert on the social causes of illness, suicide and the development of effective, equitable health systems. As a physician, researcher and policy advisor, Kwame has worked to identify the causes of illness in cross-cultural health for over two decades. He is a researcher of social, community, clinical and policy issues with nearly 200 academic publications including five books.
 
Kwame is also the Director of Clinical Health Equity at CAMH and a full Professor and the Co-Director of the Division of Equity Gender and Population in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. He sits on the Boards of the United Way Toronto & York Region and the Ontario Hospitals Association. He is a Senior Fellow at Massey College.
 
Kwame is a member of the Ontario Government’s Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council and sat on the Expert Advisory Group for Ontario’s Homelessness Strategy alongside numerous other committees. Kwame completed his medical training at the University of Southampton and was trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry and Harvard University

Ana Lopes, born in Lisbon, Portugal, is a Toronto-based social innovator and entrepreneur who has led numerous not-for-profit transformations with a focus on corporate governance and philanthropic strategy. She has worked for 25 years in senior positions in both the private and public sector and is Director of the Tapscott Group – a privately held think tank focusing on the digital revolution in business and society.

She is Director of numerous organizations including the World Wide Web Foundation, the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and the Toronto Symphony Foundation. She is a Member and Canada’s representative to the International Portuguese Diaspora Council, a Member of the Advisors Group of the Fraser Mustard Institute at the University of Toronto, and Director and Past Chair of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation. She is a Governor Emeritus of Trent University, former Chair of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, and a past Director of many organizations including Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Women’s College Hospital Foundation, Business for the Arts and a former member of the Partnership Forum, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration for Ontario.

Ana is the recipient of numerous awards including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) of Greater Toronto Fundraising Volunteer of the Year in 2009 and was listed as one of WXN 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada in December 2013. In 2014 the President of Portugal awarded Ms. Lopes Portugal’s Order of Merit. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011.
 

Sandy Houston is the President and CEO of the Metcalf Foundation. Sandy has led development of Metcalf into a leading private foundation engaged in helping Canadians imagine and build a just, healthy and creative society. Prior to joining Metcalf, Sandy practiced corporate litigation at Oslers and was a founding partner in Stitt Feld Handy Houston, Canada’s first law firm to focus predominantly on alternative dispute resolution.

Much of his current work is focused on creating opportunities for innovation and collaboration and in advancing new thinking and policy approaches. Sandy has been instrumental in the establishment of a number of Canadian not-for-profits. He was the founding chair of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, an arms-length, public foundation created by the Government of Ontario to support the environmental and agricultural integrity of province’s new Greenbelt. He is currently the chair of Community Food Centres Canada and past chair of Philanthropic Foundations Canada. He is a director of the Tides Canada Foundation and the Toronto Community Foundation. He also serves as advisor to a number of charitable organizations including CivicAction, Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, and Imagine Canada. Sandy is a Senior Fellow at Massey College.

Joyce Carter is President and Chief Executive Officer of Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA). Joyce joined HIAA in 1999, and since then she has been integral in HIAA’s growth and development, becoming Chief Financial Officer in 2006, Chief Strategy Officer in 2008, and President & CEO in 2014.

Joyce is a board member of the Airports Council International (ACI) World Governing Board and is Vice Chair of the Canadian Airports Council, and currently serves as Board member and past President of the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Canada Airports Association. She also proudly serves as a member of Dalhousie University’s Board of Governors, and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Waterfront Development Corporation Ltd.

She is past Chairwoman of the Halifax Gateway Council, a public/private group formed to pursue multi-modal transportation opportunities in the region, and served as a Board Member of the Board of Trustees of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia for nine years.  

Ms. Carter has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Saint Mary’s University and is a graduate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia.  In 2012, she was awarded the prestigious designation of Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA).  She obtained the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designation in 2015, and was named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEO’s by Atlantic Business Magazine in 2017 and 2018.  
 

Phil is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Precision Nutrition, the largest private nutrition education and research company in the world. PN has advised top organizations like Apple, Nike, Titleist, the Seattle Seahawks (as Super Bowl champions), the San Antonio Spurs (as NBA champions) and numerous Olympic teams. Its work and research have been widely cited in the media, from the New York Times to the Harvard Business Review. Fast Company named Precision Nutrition one of the most innovative companies in the world. Personally, Phil advises young Canadian entrepreneurs and leaders, and he and his family have been long-time donors and supporters of the CFCC.

Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed is a public health physician, a dedicated leader and a passionate advocate for the role public health can play in advancing health equity. She is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Nova Scotia, as well as Assistant Dean of Serving and Engaging Society for Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine, and Chair of Engage Nova Scotia’s board. In November 2019, Gaynor was named as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network.

Judy Pfeifer has held senior leadership positions across multiple sectors including the private, not-for-profit, public and municipal sectors, most recently as the Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer at Metrolinx. She was also a Professor in the School of Media, Faculty of Communication, Art and Design at Seneca College.

A published author, Judy is a highly sought after speaker on public engagement, stakeholder relations and communications. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Carleton University and a graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management from Seneca College.

Kelly has worked as a registered dietitian for over 18 years, focusing on community wellness.  Kelly is Kanyen’keha (Mohawk) and a proud mother of two energetic children.  A graduate from McGill University, she has strived to use her experience and knowledge to support well-being within Indigenous communities.  Currently Kelly works with Six Nations Health Services as a team manager of health promotion; she previously worked for Toronto Public Health, Davenport Perth Community Health Centre and she continues to work with various Indigenous organizations.  Kelly is co-chair of the Nourish Indigenous and Allies Advisory, supporting work to increase access and availability of Indigenous foods within healthcare settings.  Kelly has presented and advocated to a variety of audiences speaking to how “food is a pathway towards reconciliation”, looking towards Indigenous food and food ways in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s calls to action. Kelly’s work focuses on acknowledging of Indigenous knowledge and how it can be integrated into her everyday work, supporting community members on their journey towards their own wellness.