Dana Robbins, Board Chair

Dana Robbins is Vice President, Community Brands, Torstar Corporation. Over the course of his 35+ years in media, Dana has served as publisher of more than 50 newspapers, including some of Canada’s most prominent dailies and award-winning community newspapers.

Dana, a graduate of Ryerson University, regularly speaks on media, journalism and innovation. He has addressed such diverse groups as the American Society of Newspaper Editors, American Press Institute, Canadian Newspaper Association, New York Times Regional Media Group, International Newspaper Marketing Association and both the Medill School of Journalism and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

An active volunteer, Dana’s past involvement has included board positions on the United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Hamilton Community Foundation, St. Matthew’s House, Dundas Valley School of Art, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, Leadership Waterloo Advisory Council and Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Community Advisory Council.

Dana is passionate about issues connected to poverty, and he is regularly asked to speak on this subject. His speech ‘Wayne’s Story: Eradicating Poverty in Canada’ was the 2015 grand prize winner in the Cicero Speechwriting Awards.

A father of three, Dana has been married to Catherine for 36 years.

Sameer Akhtar, Vice Chair 

Sameer is a lawyer with over 15 years of experience in a range of public and private sector roles, as well as non-profit board and volunteer experience.

He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto (in Computer Science and Economics) and his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. He holds a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C) designation.

He speaks Urdu / Hindi and lives in Mississauga with his wife and three kids.

Sameer rejoins the board of CFSPD after having been on the board in the past (2013-2018).

Sue McAuley, Treasurer

Sue McAuley is a CPA, CA with more than 30 years experience in Accounting, Financial Systems Implementations, Audit and Management Consulting.   She has spent the last 20 years implementing major financial and regulatory systems in the Financial Services sector.   Sue has a Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Windsor.

Sue is currently Board Chair at Catholic Family Services of Peel-Dufferin.   She has completed 4 years on the board, 3 of them as Treasurer.   Prior to joining the Board, Sue was on the Board of Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of Toronto where she served as Treasurer and Chair of an Allocations panel.   She was also a board representative on the CCAT Shared Services Steering Committee and volunteered as a member of the CCAT membership review.

Sue is committed to the mission of CFS-PD and constantly amazed by the difference the agency makes in the lives of the community.   She is honoured to work with the senior staff and appreciates the leadership they demonstrate.

Devan Lobo, Secretary

Devan is a public policy professional with experience in policy formulation, implementation and analysis at the provincial and municipal level in Ontario. She currently works as a Senior Business Analyst at the Town of Caledon coordinating the Town’s long-term strategic planning, and leading corporate policy development, organizational reviews and service initiatives.

Devan completed her Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management with specialization in Social Policy at the Carleton University as well as a graduate degree from the University of Toronto.

Always striving to make a positive contribution to her community, Devan has volunteered in various capacities with the United Way of Greater Toronto, Public Good Initiative and Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.

Devan is excited to work with an organization that, like her, values collaboration and community partnerships.

Lucian Grela

Lucjan Grela MPA, P.Log, is an accomplished professional with over 30 years of progressive experience in leadership and management.  He currently works as a Senior Military Logistics Officer at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He is fluent in English, Polish and has working knowledge of French, Russian, Ukrainian and Slovak language.

Lucjan completed his Master of Public Administration at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.  Professional Logistician with extensive logistics and related experience in Business Planning, Operational Planning, Supply Chain Management, Project Management, Finance/Accounting, Auditing, Operations Management, Life Cycle Management, Contracting/Procurement, Human Resources, as well as in policies, procedures, and operational accountability.

An active volunteer, Lucjan’s past community involvement including Copernicus Lodge, Canadian Cancer Society, Essa Township Development Committee and St Casimir Parish in Toronto.

Lucjan is passionate about serving community and is a strong believer in giving back to the communities in which he lives and works.

Kelly Montague

Kelly Montague is Vice President, Community Brands Torstar Corporation. Kelly has worked in media for the past 31 years with various roles at both community and daily newspaper brands, including the role of publisher. The bulk of her career has been in sales and marketing, helping to provide print and digital solutions to local business.

Kelly is a graduate of McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts and an Advertising diploma from Sheridan College. Kelly is a McMaster University Academic Advisor who helps students with career advice and assist with the job search process. She is also the executive sponsor of the Torstar Client and Consumer Employee Resource Group that focuses on inclusivity and diversity.

Throughout her career, Kelly has been a member of several marketing committees for non-profit and community organizations, most recently with the Halton Learning Foundation. Kelly has extensive experience working with teams, collaborating on projects, and leading teams.

Married to Steve for 28 years, Kelly is the mother of two adult children.

Harpreet Hansra

Harpreet Hansra is General Counsel and Associate Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management at William Osler Health System. Harpreet is a lawyer with over a decade of legal experience in various areas of law including corporate commercial law and health law. Harpreet is a respected leader, credited with bringing the “right people together at the right time”.

Harpreet has a B.A. from the University of Waterloo with specializations in Economics and International Finance and her LLB from Queen Mary University of London.

Harpreet joined CFSPD’s Board of Directors in 2018 and currently is the Board Treasurer.

Much like her beliefs to support those in need, Harpreet is passionately vested in the achievement of CFSPD’s vision of building an inclusive community of healthy individuals, strong relationships and resilient families.

Nauman Khan

Nauman joined Sheridan College in March 2022 as the Associate Vice President of Government and Community Relations. Nauman has made great strides in building relationships with the external partners and stakeholders throughout the communities Sheridan resides. His key focus is to continue to trailblaze Sheridan’s reputation and meet community needs following the 3 P Model: place, population, and profession. The most recent success of leading the Centre for Healthy Community Roadshow and receiving a 2.5 million planning grant from the City of Brampton in support.

Nauman has most recently served as the Director of Community Relations at Ryerson University, where he has engaged hundreds of individuals and organizations to build positive momentum and public confidence for the Ryerson Medical School project.

Prior to his time at Ryerson, Nauman served as the Senior Manager of Public Affairs for the United Way, Greater Toronto where he enabled the work of colleagues in fundraising and community investment to fight local poverty and address social needs such as housing, workforce development and employment, and education and training pathways for those facing barriers in the labour market.

His work at the United Way followed three years of service at Queen’s Park, where he led strategic communications and media relations for elected officials including the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Children and Youth Services, the Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, the Minister of Energy and the Attorney General of Ontario.  Nauman also worked for eight years at OMNI Television, serving as a senior correspondent, anchor and news coordinator.

Kamela Shah

Kamela Shah, MBA CHRP is a Human Resources professional with almost 20 years of experience in strategy formulation, analysis, and implementation of new organizational initiatives.

She currently works for Peel Regional Police and is also a member of the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Health and Safety Committee, and Healthy Living Committee. Kamela holds a Master of Business Administration specializing in Strategic Management and is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP). She has volunteered with several charities and non-governmental organizations over the last 18 years.

Kamela is motivated and committed to the CFSPD mission and vision and is passionate about the values it represents to the Region.

Anne White

Anne White is a retired Senior Communications professional with more than 25 years of experience in Ontario government communications.

Prior to that, she worked for six years with Covenant House Toronto where she was instrumental in establishing their Ask, Before You Run program, a runaway prevention initiative. An active member on the Board of the African Canadian Christian Network, a GTA-based agency serving Black youth and their families, Anne has served the organization for more than 10 years.

She is an award-winning graduate of Ryerson (Toronto Metropolitan University) where she obtained a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Radio and Television. Strategic Communications planning, writing, event planning, media relations and teaching are some of her key skills and strengths.

A practicing Roman Catholic, Anne has been a resident of Brampton for more than 30 years.

 

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