Board of Directors

Dave Donaldson

Chair

Dave Donaldson is the retired Dean of the School of Business at Algonquin College and previously Dean, Hospitality, Business and Music at Vancouver Community College. He is currently on the board of the Ottawa Safety Council with previous volunteerism including Chair of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Canadian Business Schools.

Additional community activity has included being a member of the Marches d’Ottawa Markets, Tourism Development Council of Ottawa Tourism, past director with that organization, BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, Council of Tourism Associations and Director, Tourism Vancouver. He was a member of the Yes 2010 Steering Council which generated the vote endorsing the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and a founding principal in Stars4SUCCESS, a unique partnership with downtown Vancouver hotels which retrained street youth.

Dave has been recognized by the Canadian Association of Food Professionals with an Educational Excellence Award and the Food Executive of the Year for western Canada. He has a lifetime membership with the Ottawa Board of Trade, received the Algonquin College President’s Star award and was the inaugural winner of the Community Booster award from the Best Ottawa Business (BOBs) awards. He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal and the Order of the Tulip as a Chamber past chair. He has also received an Algonquin College Student Association award of excellence recognizing outstanding contribution to student life at Algonquin.

Dave has a Bachelor of Education degree (McGill) and an MBA (Simon Fraser University). Dave also serves as Ex-Officio Director member on all committees.

Catherine Danbrook

Vice-Chair

Catherine has over 35 years of health care experience, including more than 25 years in leadership positions in both community and hospital organizations. Her areas of expertise include Geriatrics, Mental Health, Palliative and Hospice Care, Home and Community Care and Rehabilitation. Recently retired after eight years as CEO of Community Care Health Network in Kawartha Lakes, Catherine has held positions of Vice-President Clinical Programs at The Ottawa Hospital; Chief Executive Officer of the Rehabilitation Centre of Ottawa; and Executive Director of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Home Care Program.

While in Kawartha Lakes, Catherine chaired The Central East LHIN Mental Health Network as well as the Central East Senior Care Network.

Catherine holds a Master of Health Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, both from the University of Ottawa and is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. She has interests in change management, quality improvement, patient safety, and population health initiatives.

Catherine was a surveyor with Accreditation Canada on its National and International teams for 12 years and in the spring of 2019, she was appointed to the Ontario Consent and Capacity Board as a Public Member.

Catherine has also served as a member of the CEO Succession Planning Adhoc Committee and is Chair of the Governance Committee.

Darryl Squires

Treasurer

Darryl Squires has been active for the last 20 years as the co-owner of a successful medium sized construction firm and property developer.

Prior to that Darryl spent 11 years in a senior financial role advising public corporations on mergers and acquisition and raising equity and debt capital. He also has experience sitting on the board of directors of public and private corporations, including audit committee service. Darryl has an HBA from the Ivey School of Business (with distinction) at the University of Western Ontario.

Darryl also serves as co-Chair of the Finance Committee.

Robin Sellar

Board Member

Robin Sellar has over 30 years of executive-level experience in external audit, taxation, corporate and financial planning, risk management, internal audit, strategy development, and governance and alliance management. She is a highly experienced, mature professional with outstanding credentials and impeccable personal ethics. She is an accomplished communicator, composed and diplomatic, and has had extensive experience speaking to large audiences, especially in the area of governance, risk management and internal audit.

Robin is currently the Managing Partner of Sellar Consulting, successfully providing governance, risk management, performance management and assurance services to public and private sector organizations.

She is a global thought leader at the Committee level with the Institute of Internal Auditors. She has significant governance experience and currently serves on a number of paid and volunteer Boards as Chair of the Audit Committee and/or Treasurer.

Robin is a Chartered Accountant, a US CPA, CIA, and holds a Kellogg MBA from Northwestern, Illinois.

Robin also serves as co-Chair of the Finance Committee.

Steve Ball

Board Member

Steve is the President of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association and involved as a Board director in the Shepherds of Good Hope, Ottawa Tourism, and Ottawa Celebrations Inc.

Steve’s previous positions included Vice President of Media at the Canadian Medical Association and Publisher with St. Joseph Media. He has three grown children and is very active in the community.

Steve also serves as a Director on the Finance Committee.

Chantal Desmarais Barton

Board Member

Chantal is a dynamic leader and innovator who has advanced social, educational, scientific, technological, and healthcare outcomes over a 25-year career span.

She holds an executive role as Director, Special Initiatives at the National Research Council’s Digital Technologies Research Centre.

Chantal earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a graduate diploma in Social Organization Management. She is fluently bilingual, an accredited Project Management Professional and continuously seeks to contribute to society in positive and impactful ways.

Chantal is also committed to making a difference in the community and for future generations related to climate action and inclusive youth environmental leadership initiatives.

She has previous experience as the President and Chair of a non-profit board and has served on each of the board committees since joining the SGH Board.

Ahmer Gulzar

Board Member

Ahmer is a technology leader with a wide range of experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors. As the Director of Information Systems and Web Services, he is a member of the senior leadership team at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) where he is responsible for aligning organizational goals with technology strategy and implementation.

Ahmer is co-chair of CCSA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee since the committee’s inception in 2020. His areas of expertise include technology strategy, enterprise and business architecture, digital services, cybersecurity, people leadership, human resources and EDI.

Ahmer holds an Executive MBA from the University of Ottawa, Bachelors of Engineering from Carleton University, is a licensed professional engineer, a Project Management Professional and is ITIL certified.

In addition to serving on the board of directors of Shepherds of Good Hope, Ahmer is a community board member for the Queensway Carleton Hospital.

Michael Laviolette

Board Member

Michael Robert Laviolette recently took a new position with the Canadian Senate following a role as Director of Risk Management at Algonquin College and a 31-year career with the Ottawa Police Service retiring as the Specialized Investigations Inspector, Criminal Investigations Directorate.

His responsibilities at Algonquin College included Risk Management, Occupational Health and Safety, Corporate Security and Internal Controls as well as the development, implementation and deployment of emergency management and business continuity policies, plans, procedures and response capacity for the College.

His Ottawa police services responsibilities included specialized investigations inspector, criminal investigations directorate; central district inspector, central district community; and staff sergeant with the drug unit, guns and gangs unit, central front line deployment and international peace operations branch – RCMP.

His honours and Awards include the Exemplary Service Medal, Senior Officer Commendation for Project Sleepwalker – 2011 and the RCMP Director’s Certificate of Appreciation for exceptional dedication and professionalism carrying out duties in support of Canadian police in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake disaster.

Michael has served as the Board Chair of the Ottawa Humane Society and during his police service was the Diplomatic Liaison Officer for the Ottawa Police Service working with Global Affairs Canada, RCMP and all Embassies and Consulates within the Ottawa Region. He was also a member of the Hospital Liaison team representing the Criminal Investigations Directorate working with all Ottawa area hospitals to manage risks, roles and responsibilities. He has served as Chair of the Violence Against Women Partner Assault Advisory Committee and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Police Service Senior Officers Association.

Donna Lougheed

Board Member

Donna Lougheed is a semi-retired psychiatrist with many years of experience working with adults who are homeless or marginally housed. She has worked with the Royal Ottawa Hospital, TOH, CMHA, and Renfrew County Mental Health Services. In addition, she spent a formative year in Jamaica working as a general psychiatrist in the public health care system.

A professor at the University of Ottawa, Donna has taught health care professionals, emphasising the concepts of social determinants of health in the Canadian health care system, and the biopsychosocial model of understanding and treating mental illness. She previously served on the boards of Ottawa Salus, and Project Upstream.

Prior to specializing in psychiatry, Dr Lougheed worked as a family physician in rural British Columbia. Her interests include international and cross-cultural issues in psychiatry and health. She is active in her woodlot when she is not singing in a community choir.

Donna also serves as a Director of the Finance Committee.

John Peters

Emeritus Officer

John has been on the Board of Directors of Shepherds of Good Hope since 1993. He has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board as well as Chair of the Human Resources Committee (HRC), which he continues to contribute to as a member. John is also Past Chair and a Director on the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation Board.

John is a partner at Gowling WLG practising in the Advocacy Department and in particular, the Employment, Labour and Equalities Group. Prior to joining Gowling WLG, John was Principal Litigation Counsel at Export Development Canada (EDC) where he led the Litigation Management team, which delivers advice on all liability-related issues. With over 29 years of experience as a lawyer, John has extensive legal knowledge and experience in the areas of insurance and employment law as well as general litigation matters.

John has received both the Gordon F. Henderson Award from the County of Carleton Law Association (2007) and the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from the Governor General of Canada (August 2017) in recognition of his work with Shepherds.

John will continue to serve as a member of the HRC and is an Emeritus Officer of Shepherds of Good Hope.

Julie Terrien

Board Member

Julie is an Advocacy lawyer with both a law degree and a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.B and LL.M). Through the Canadian Bar Association, Julie provides strategic advice for governance and advocacy initiatives while helping 40 Sections, subcommittees, and countless working groups to focus their influence with government, regulators, and the courts.

Julie served as Deputy Commissioner in the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada from 2017 to 2019. During that time, she was responsible for providing legislative, policy, and management direction required to meet the Office’s mandate set out in Part 1 of the Judges Act.

Julie was a Senior Counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada since 1990 where she was responsible for the planning, direction and provision of legal advice to the Office of the Registrar and the Supreme Court judges.

Her volunteer work includes Board Director and past President, Roberts Smart Centre (1991-1997), a tertiary provider and provincial leader in the delivery of inclusive, community-based, individualized treatment and clinical services to improve the lives of youth and their families from across Ontario living with complex mental health and behavioural needs. Julie is an active Soup Kitchen volunteer with Shepherds of Good Hope and serves on the Governance Committee.

Kassondra Walters

Board Member

Kassondra Walters is the founder of a multi-disciplinary, 100% Indigenous-owned management consulting social enterprise. Her heritage is Oneida & Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River and Settler from England, Wales, and France. Born on the east coast of Turtle Island, like both of her parents, Kassondra now lives on unsurrendered Algonquin Territory in Ottawa. KD Management & Consulting donates 5% of annual revenues to the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, ON whose Mission is to protect, promote, interpret, and present the Hodinohsho:ni worldview.

Her career progression includes owner/operator of an Indigenous owned and operated social enterprise bringing communities together and connecting people with the knowledge and resources they seek to impact change; Integrated Marketing Specialist; Manager, Membership Experience, Ottawa Board of Trade; Community Engagement & Information Coordinator, Kingston Military Family Resource Centre, Business Development Director with the West Ottawa Board of Trade and various administrative and sales positions with a number of diverse organizations.

She is the past first Chair, Birch Path Healing Forest, National Healing Forests Initiative, past Vice-Chair, Women’s Business Network (WBN) as well as First Nations Selection Panelist, CP Quilliq Bursary Program and a past Selection Panelist, Women’s Business Network (WBN) Businesswoman of the Year Awards.

Kassondra also serves on the Governance Committee.

John James

Board Member

Growing up in Toronto’s Scarborough neighbourhood, John developed an interest in people and helping the community at a young age. John obtained a B.A. in Political Science from York University and then embarked on a three-month backpacking tour across Europe. This trip inspired a lifelong love of travel and connecting with people.

In 1995, John joined the RCMP. Over his career as a Mountie, he was posted in British Columbia, Nunavut, Nova Scotia and recently retired at HQ Ottawa. John has varied police experience including general duty, serious crime, crisis negotiation, human trafficking, crime prevention, tactical team and First Nations policing. John’s work for the RCMP has taken him to every province and territory with the exception of the Yukon.

John brings to the Shepherds of Good Hope Board an extensive background in volunteer work. He has held a variety of roles across the country in both frontline volunteering duties and several non-profit boards of directors. Some of the organizations John has served with include the Scarborough Distress Centre, Big Brothers, Pathways to Education, youth softball organizations and several adult literacy organizations in BC, Ontario and Nova Scotia. More recently, John served as the President of the Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre Board and as President of the Canadian Mental Health Association Board, Ottawa Branch. John has served on the National Board of Pathways to Education Canada and currently serves on the Board of Operation Come Home. He has also served with the Ontario Trillium Foundation. John is a volunteer tutor with the Pathways to Education program and can be found every Wednesday volunteering at the Ottawa Hospice.

John’s passion is travel, and he has currently backpacked to some 65 countries. When he’s not on the road, John enjoys a quiet existence with his wife and son and their dog, Barley, in his adopted home of Ottawa.

John serves as a Director on the Governance Committee. 

Mitchell Lafrance

Adjunct Advisor

Mitchell retired in 2023 after more than 35 years in executive, operations, professional services and finance roles, with the last 27 years working for global enterprise software and related professional services organizations.

Mitchell was most recently Senior Vice President, Customer Advocacy for Infor, an enterprise software company, where he managed a global team responsible for commercial and legal resolution of customer disputes. Prior to that, he held executive and management roles at Infor, Oracle, PeopleSoft and several Ottawa Crown Corporations.

During Mitchell’s career, he developed proficiency in conflict resolution, negotiations, governance, project/program management, change management, communications and finance. He also developed a cultural awareness and intelligence from significant travel to the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and European regions.

Mitchell is a member of the Finance Committee.