National Board of Directors

Chair

For much of his career, Marcel Lauzière has headed major national organizations: the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences; the Canadian Council on Social Development; and Imagine Canada. He has also been a senior civil servant: Special Advisor to the President at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Assistant Deputy Minister (DCE) in the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development. Marcel is currently President and CEO of the Lawson Foundation.

He has been an active volunteer on boards including the International Council of Social Welfare, the Statistics Canada Advisory Committee on Social Conditions, the Accounting Standards Oversight Council, and the Public Policy Forum.

He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Governor General’s Cross for Meritorious Service for his work in philanthropy. He holds an MA in History from the University of Ottawa and has received an honorary degree from George Brown College.

Vice Chair

A long-time YMCA volunteer, Mary is a Board Member and Past Chair of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver and a Trustee of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver Foundation. She became a member of the YMCA Canada Board of Directors in 2016. Mary is a retired member of the Law Society of British Columbia. She has received the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Mary is currently a member of the World Relationships Committee and Chair of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee of the National Board.

Vice Chair, Finance, Audit & Risk

Laurie provides strategic financial leadership as Chief Financial Officer for Universal Helicopters. Prior to this role, Laurie was the CFO for the KMK Capital Group of Companies. She is the former Deputy Minister of Finance for Newfoundland and Labrador and also served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Business, having held Assistant Deputy Minister positions in three areas of the Department of Finance. Laurie is a past board director of the Brother T.I. Murphy Centre and the Youth in Care Network of Newfoundland and Labrador. She volunteers her time on the Finance and Audit Committee of The Gathering Place, a member of the Rotary Group of Northeast Avalon and is past Board Chair of the YMCA of Newfoundland and Labrador. Laurie chairs the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee and is a member of the Executive Human Resources Committee of the National Board.

Director

Mostafa is an Engineer and Project Manager in the field of Media Broadcast with Evertz Microsystems in Burlington, Ontario. Born in Egypt and raised in Kuwait, Mostafa attended McGill University in Montreal where he was an HFA member of the historic Downtown YMCA. Here, Mostafa saw first-hand the positive impact a centre of community can bring to its neighbourhood. Following a move to Toronto, Mostafa jumped at the opportunity to volunteer with the YMCA of Greater Toronto, serving on the Youth Advisory Committee to the Board, as well as the Association’s Government Relations Task Force.  Mostafa was also an active member of YMCA Canada’s Accelerating YMCA Amalgamations (AYA) Ad-Hoc Committee.

Mostafa is currently a member of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and the Technology Committee of the National Board.

DIRECTOR

Colleen is an executive at TD Securities, where she leads marketing, communications, and client and colleague experience. Previously, she spent 18 years leading marketing and communications nationally and globally for some of the world’s largest professional services firms.

Colleen has served on a number of boards including the YWCA of Montreal and the YMCA of Greater Toronto, which included a term as Board Chair. She is currently a director of the board of ParticipACTION. Colleen’s achievements and contributions have been recognized with the Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. 

She is currently a member of the Finance & Audit Committee and Public Policy and Advocacy Committee of the National Board.

Director

Daniel has more than 25 years of experience as an executive leader in digital media, telecommunications, and emerging technologies with significant expertise in strategy, marketing, and business development. He has held executive positions with Cogeco Connexion, Bell Canada Enterprises and its subsidiaries, and Sympatico-Lycos Inc., and consults for many international telecom operators. Daniel has served on several for-profit and not-for-profit boards, including the YMCAs of Quebec where he is a former board chair. He holds an MBA from HEC Lausanne in Switzerland and has participated in Ivy League executive training.

Director

Nicole Callihoo is the Assistant Deputy Minister, First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Directorate at Alberta Education. In this position, Nicole works to advance Alberta Education’s goal of an education system that honours the history, cultures, languages, and perspectives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities with support from the Directorate and the Ministry. Nicole is from the Treaty 6 Territory (Paul First Nation, AB) and is an alumnus from the Johnson Shoyoma Graduate School of Public Policy. She obtained a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Saskatchewan in 2014 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Native Studies from the University of Alberta in 2002. She brings with her a very strong leadership background with more than 15 years of working with Indigenous communities.

Director

Sourov is a Managing Partner at Stryve Digital Marketing where he handles digital marketing executions for clients such as Intel, Oracle, and Syngenta. Previously, he worked in brand management at Unilever. Sourov is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier’s BBA program and attended Harvard Business School for his Executive Education. Sourov was named one of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Top 40 under 40 in 2012 and is a recipient of a Lazaridis School of Business Alumni Award for his business and community building efforts. He is the past chair of the YMCA of Kitchener-Waterloo.

Director

Neil is an Executive with Magnet Forensics, a high-growth technology company that develops tools to assist police and national security agencies to lawfully recover critical digital evidence in their investigations ranging from human trafficking to terrorism. He previously served in senior roles with the Government of Canada in the Prime Minister’s Office and Global Affairs Canada. He is a contributor to the Globe and Mail and Policy Options Magazine. Neil also serves as faculty with Singularity University, as a Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and as a board member of the Public Policy Forum. He holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree with honours from Carleton University.

Neil spent much of his time as a child and youth at the YMCA. He was a camper, played and coached basketball, was a camp councillor, camp director, and youth programming director at various YMCAs in Ontario. He was elected to the National Board in 2015, is a member of the Executive Human Resources and Public Policy & Advocacy Committees, and chairs the Technology Committee of the National Board.  

Director

Daniel is a Professor of Management at the University of New Brunswick where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in competitive strategy, strategic management of innovation, and entrepreneurship. Prior to starting his teaching career, Daniel founded two technology start-up companies for a corporate investor in the telecommunications industry. He is active on a number of boards and committees including the YMCA of Greater Saint John, where he is Vice Chair, chaired their Strategic Planning Task Force in 2017, and sits on the Governance, Research, and Nominating Committees. Daniel has a degree in Electrical Engineering from UNB, along with a Masters in the Management of Technology from MIT. He lives in Saint John. He is currently a member of the Governance Committee, Nominations Committee, and World Relationships Committee of the National Board.

DIRECTOR

Tyril is currently a partner with accounting firm MNP LLP. He joined the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Brandon in 2008 as a young leader. Tyril has become widely known in the Brandon community as “the face of the YMCA.” As the current Past Chair, he is especially proud of the YMCA of Brandon’s consistent scores in the coveted upper-right quadrant of the AHa! (Association Health Assessment) metric. He is actively working to expand the reach of the YMCA in Manitoba. He also volunteers his time with the Westman Dreams for Kids Foundation and the MS Society.

Tyril is currently a member of the Finance & Audit and World Relationships Committees of the National Board.

DIRECTOR

Ruhee is a public affairs strategist based in Calgary, Alberta currently leading provincial government relations at the University of Calgary. She is a member of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Board of Governors and has served on the Board of Directors of the Queen’s University Alma Mater Society and as Board Chair of the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society. Ruhee holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Queen’s University.

For Ruhee, the YMCA has been a part of life for as long as she can remember. She has been a long-time program participant and volunteer, and currently teaches fitness classes at her local YMCA. Ruhee was elected to the National Board in 2017, currently chairs the Public Policy & Advocacy Committee, and is a member of the World Relationships Committee of the National Board. 

Director

Leanne Standryk is a Senior Partner with the law firm Lancaster, Brooks & Welch specializing in management side labour, employment, and sports law. She acts for a variety of employers in the private, public, and not-for-profit sector. Leanne received her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Western Ontario. She is often called upon as a presenter on matters of continuing legal education and is a past recipient of the 40 under 40 Business Leadership award. Leanne was a member of a local panel instrumental in the organization of the local “Courts in the Classroom” initiative, developed to educate community youth about the justice system. She is a past chair and currently sits on the governance committee of the YMCA of Niagara. 

Director

Wan-Peng is the Software Development Supervisor at Libro Credit Union in London, Ontario where he advises the executive leadership team in the development of technology-informed strategy and initiatives.  Wan-Peng joined the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Western Ontario in 2012 as a Young Leader and currently chairs the Finance and Audit Committee.

He is currently a member of the Finance and Audit and Technology Committees of the National Board.

Director

A native Torontonian, Bruno is the Managing Partner for BDO Canada’s Greater Toronto Area Group, responsible for leading a practice of 1,000+ people across a variety of business sectors and service offerings. He has led the Canadian firm’s Private Equity group and represents Canada on BDO International’s global M&A and Private Equity Steering Committees. Bruno holds CPA/CA and CF (Corporate Finance) qualifications along with an Honors of Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. Bruno is a member of the Maple Leaf Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization.  

DIRECTOR

As Vice-President of University Advancement for McMaster University, Mary leads an award-winning team with a mandate that includes communications and marketing, government and alumni relations, and fundraising. Mary also serves on a wide range of non-profit boards. A long-time YMCA person, Mary grew up going to YMCA summer camps and continued her relationship with the YMCA when she got involved with the Board of the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford.  As a former Chair, Mary worked closely with the board and leadership team to foster unique partnerships between YMCAs and other partners like universities.  She is delighted that her Y story continues as she gets involved with YMCA Canada.   

Mary is currently a member of the Governance Committee, Nominations Committee and Public Policy & Advocacy Committee of the National Board.

Chair

Brenda is currently serving as the Board Chair and is in her second term on the National Board. She is Past Chair of the Board of the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford, and has served as Chair of the North Hamilton Community Health Centre Board. Brenda has a wealth of experience in hospital and community leadership and is presently serving as Chair of the Board of The Change Foundation. She recently retired from her role as Executive Vice President and COO at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). Brenda is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University’s School of Nursing and a past part-time instructor in McMaster’s MBA program.

Brenda chairs the Executive Human Resources Committee of the National Board.