Board of Directors
The Staff
Visiting Scholars
Board of Directors
The Wellesley Institute is guided by a dynamic and committed Board of Directors. Our Board members have a wealth of experience in health research, urban policy issues, and community capacity building as well as management and governance. Our Board is comprised of representatives from the business, academic, health care professional, and community sectors.
Roger Barton, LLM
Co-chair, Board of Directors
Former General Counsel and Secretary, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board
Former Director, St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital
Susan Williams, RN, BNSc, Med
Co-chair, Board of Directors
Dean Emeritus, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University
Rick Blickstead, MBA
Secretary, Board of Directors
CEO, Wellesley Institute
Mohammed Donaldson, CGA
Treasurer, Board of Directors
Roster Member, Maytree Foundation’s DiverseCity onBoard Project
Chris Brillinger
Executive Director Social Development, Finance and Administration, City of Toronto
Lisa Forman, BA, LLB, MA, SJD
Lupina Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
Michaela Hynie, PhD
Associate Director, York Institute for Health Research; Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, York University
Liz Janzen
Former Director of Healthy Communities, Healthy Living, Toronto Public Health
Peter MacLeod
Principal and Co-founder, MASS LBP
Colette Murphy
Executive Director, Atkinson Foundation
Susan Takahashi
Senior Manager, Pension Investments, Bank of Montreal
Ali R. Suleman
Vice President and Treasurer, Hydro One Inc.
Stephen Ellis
Chief Operating Officer, Canadian First Financial Holdings
Alper Ozdemir, MBA
Director, Business Process Integration, Acklands Grainger, Inc.
Wellesley Institute Staff
(Click the name for Bio)
Rick Blickstead, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
rick@wellesleyinstitute.com
Sheila Block, MA Econ
Director, Economic Analysis
sheila@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 226
Bob Gardner, PhD
Director, Policy
bob@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 229
Michael Shapcott
Director, Housing and Innovation
michael@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 231
Brenda Roche, PhD
Director, Research
brenda@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 257
Steve Barnes, MA
Policy Analyst
steve@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 258
Aziza Mahamoud, BSc, MPH
Research Associate, Systems Science and Population Health
aziza@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 221
Lisa Marie Williams, BA Urban and Regional Planning
Research Assistant
lisamarie@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 234
Jo Snyder, MPub
Communications Manager
jo@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 230
Nadiya Troyan, MA
Board Administrator and Office Manager
nadiya@wellesleyinstitute.com
416-972-1010 ext 222
Emily Wong, MPA
Policy Analyst
emily@wellesleyinstitute.com
April Xie
Special Projects Lead
april@wellesleyinstitute.com
Visiting Scholars and Fellows
Trish Hennessy
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Nathaniel Osgood
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
Associate Faculty, Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, School of
Public Health, and Bioengineering Division
University of Saskatchewan
Peter Hovmand
Director, Social System Design Lab, Brown School
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Adalsteinn Brown
Director, Dalla Lana School
University of Toronto
Past Fellows
Budd Hall
Centre for CBR
University of Victoria
David Hulchanski
Director-Center for Urban and Community Studies
University of Toronto
Grace Edward Galabuzi
Faculty of Arts
Ryerson University
Meredith Minkler
Head: Community based Participatory Research
University of California at Berkeley
John Myles
Dept of Sociology
University of Toronto
Susan Phillips
School of Public Policy
Carleton University
Dr. Tyrone Turner
Chief of Psychiatry
St. Joseph’s Health Centre
Dr. Michael Wright
Coordinator HIV/AIDS and Participatory Research
Research Group Public Health
Social Science Center Berlin (WZB)
