Board
Joanne McKiernan, President
Over the last decade, Joanne McKiernan has inspired community, corporate and government partners to rally in support of volunteer-driven social change. Most notably, working with thousands of organ and tissue transplant recipients and donor families at Trillium Gift of Life Network to double the size of our provincial registry – an increase of nearly 2 million individual donor registrations, and thousands of lives saved.
Now, as Executive Director of Canada’s largest volunteer centre (Volunteer Toronto), Joanne uses her passion for public engagement to connect volunteers to the non-profits that need them, overseeing corporate and public educations programs that attract over 1500 non-profits and a half a million prospective volunteers each year.
Joanne holds a BA(h) in Political Studies from Queen’s University and an MSc.in Comparative Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh. When she’s not in the (virtual) office, Joanne can usually be found playing competitive recreational volleyball, practicing a new culinary skill or sitting on the Halton Hills Active Easy Alliance—a municipal committee focused on encouraging active transportation.
Ancilla Ho-Young, Secretary
Ancilla is a member of the Cultural Community in Burlington and the 2012 Recipient of Ontario Medal for good Citizenship as well as Burlington Citizen of the year. For many years Ancilla has been an advocate for Inclusivity and Diversity in the City of Burlington. She has been a leader in promoting awareness of Caribbean Culture and Black History in Burlington and has received the John C. Holland Award for this work. She has participated on committees in the City of Burlington and the Region of Halton giving a voice to those who cannot advocate or speak for themselves. Ancilla has recently retired from a very long career in the healthcare field with the last 10 years working to help women who have experienced sexual assault and domestic violence. She continues to remain involved in the community with her main goal being to help make Burlington the Vibrant and Inclusive City it could and should be.
Bolu Babatope, Treasurer
Bolu is a resident of Oakville. She is a seasoned finance professional with over a decade of experience in the financial services industry across the United Kingdom and Canada. She is passionate about equality, inclusiveness, and women empowerment.
Bolu is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) who is licensed to practice in Ontario. She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA) and holds an MBA from the Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow, UK.
Outside of the professional network, Bolu enjoys experimenting with new culinary activities and seeing new places.
Gay Loveland, Board Director
Gay has been a counsellor, teacher and administrator for more than 25 years. She has worked for several public boards of education, including the Halton and Toronto Boards of Education, as well as a rural Ontario board and in the private school system. She has served as a department head in Learning Resources, Senior Student Services and Community Outreach. These positions involved working with students, parents, administrators, community organizations, colleges and universities. She has Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, English and Education and a Master’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Toronto, with a specialist certification in Guidance, Counselling and Special Education. She has resided in Oakville for many years and is a volunteer with Kerr Street Mission’s Neighbour Care Network and a home for disabled children. She is currently serving as the Co-President of Canadian Federation of University Women-Oakville.
Stephanie Phillips, Board Director
Stephanie is a technology leader in the Canadian tech space, recently named Evoke’s Tech Titan: Top 19 of 2019 and awarded PayPal’s Exceptional Leadership in Technology Award. After graduating from Western University, she completed continuing studies at Bitmaker and University of California San Diego where she expanded her knowledge on coding and interaction design. She is passionate about community and encouraging women and minorities to excel in their careers. Since 2016, Steph has served as a Director for not-for-profit group, Women Who Code (EIN 46-4218859) building free resources, mentorship programs, and events for the community.
She is currently serving as the Head of Product Design & Research at Voyager, a public company. Stephanie is also the proud Co-Founder of Digital Entertainment Magazine, Brief Take. Prior to these roles, she worked as a Chief Product Officer at Flashfood and in tech leadership roles at Flashstock (acquired by Shutterstock NYSE:SSTK for $65MM CAD), and Coinsquare.
Fawzia Patel, Vice-President
Fawzia is a resident of Oakville and has been a registered Social Worker for 24 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from the University of Toronto, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work from the University of Calgary. She has worked as a clinical social worker in hospital, governmental, and non-profit organizations, as well as in private practice. Her areas of specialization are trauma and intimate partner violence. For the past 9 years, she has been working as a clinical investigator with The Office of the Children’s Lawyer conducting custody and access assessments for the courts. She has also volunteered on the parent councils of two local schools. Fawzia is passionate about social justice and improving the quality of life for all members of our community.
Tricia Williams, Board Director
Deinde Olatunde-Austin, Board Director
Andrew Drummond, Board Director
Blessing Olutoto, Board Director
Oluseyi Okanla, Board Director
Hami Mafi, Board Director