Board of Directors

Roslyn Bern

President, Leacross Foundation
Chelsea, QC

“Women are intimately entwined with life. We have a unique and special relationship through our ability to nurture other human beings” 
- Dr. Jennifer James.

As president of the Leacross Foundation, Roslyn Bern has been creating opportunities for women and girls throughout Canada. . She has worked on initiatives for over 20 years, as an educator, a business woman, and as a philanthropist.

She has focused on developing scholarships and bursaries for girls in non-traditional roles. She has been instrumental on sending teenage girls to both North and South Poles with Students on Ice, setting up internships at the Ottawa Heart Institute in Biomedical Engineering, and enabling over 21 women to earn a management degree at Canadian universities. She has assisted with Habitat for Humanity, coordinating youth construction with refit homes, and served on the Family Selection Committee for 5 years. Her family company Bow has donated plumbing products for builds in the Ottawa region since 2003.  She has been a board member for Canadian Women's Foundation for 4 years, has been involved with Violence Prevention Committee and Multi-Year Teen violence Prevention Committee for 3 years, and currently volunteers on the Women's Economic Committee.

Claire Crooks

Associate Director of the CAMH Centre for Prevention Science,  Assistant Professor (Faculty of Education), University of Western Ontario.
London, ON

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
– Jack Layton

Dr. Claire Crooks is one of the lead developers and researchers of the Fourth R, a relationship-based program aimed at preventing violence and related risk behaviours in adolescents. The Fourth R has been implemented in over 1000 schools in Canada and the United States and is identified as a best practice program by the Public Health Agency of Canada. She is particularly interested in the development and evaluation of strategies that meet the unique needs of Aboriginal youth, and is the lead author of Engaging Aboriginal Youth: A toolkit for service providers (2010, Trafford).  Claire is also a co-founder of the Caring Dads program, a parenting intervention for men who have maltreated their children. In addition to being an author of the program manual, she has been involved with training, consultation, and research on the Caring Dads project.

Claire is co-author of more than 40 articles, chapters, and books on topics including children’s exposure to domestic violence, child custody and access, child maltreatment, adolescent dating violence and risk behavior, intervening with fathers who maltreat their children, strength-based programming for Aboriginal youth, and trauma. She is a co-author of Adolescent Risk Behaviors: Why teens experiment and strategies to keep them safe (2006, Yale University Press). She is on the editorial board of the Violence Against Women journal.
Claire is actively involved with training judges, lawyers, and other court personnel through her work as a faculty member for both the U.S. National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence. She conducts training in the areas of custody and access evaluations, violence prevention, bullying, media violence, vicarious trauma, and self-harm among adolescents. She has testified before the Canadian Senate Committee on Human Rights about the intersection between domestic violence and child custody as a children’s rights issue.

Claire received her undergraduate education at Princeton University in New Jersey and obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. from Queen’s University in Ontario. She lives in London, Ontario with her husband George and their three young children.

Margot Franssen

Philanthropist
Toronto, ON

"Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says “Oh shit…she’s awake”. 
- Author unknown

Margot Franssen has passionately and effectively brought women’s issues to the forefront of the Canadian public consciousness.  Believing we are all responsible for driving social change, not merely responding to it, fighting for women is integral to her.

In 1980 Margot founded The Body Shop Canada creating a company recognized for its ethical business practices.   From 1994 until 2004 she used her company to campaign to Stop Violence Against Women.  $1.3 million was raised for prevention and recovery programs, 192,000 hours of community work were performed in women’s shelters at the company’s expense.

A leading voice on the issues of social justice and women’s rights, Margot received the United Nations Grand Award for addressing an issue of vital concern to the UN and was their guest speaker at the World Conference of Women in Beijing.

In 2002 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour.  And she has received the Outstanding Achievement in the Advancement of Women Award from UNIFEM.

In 2004 Margot sold her company and devoted herself to the advancement of women and girls in Canada.  She served as the Canadian Women’s Foundation Co-Chair for 6 years.  She also served on the board of Women’s College Hospital, Women’s Funding Network, CIBC bank and many other boards and is an honorary director of York University.  Margot is on the board of the Canadian Women's Foundation and co-chairs our Endowment.  She is a Co-Chair of Women Moving Millions, a visionary philanthropic effort to raise millions for women and girls globally.

She has been with her husband for 40 years, has three children and still maintains a sense of humour.

Julie George

Co-chair, Canadian Women's Foundation
Calgary, AB

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Julie George, presently Canadian Women's Foundation Board co-chair, has been a philanthropist and committed volunteer in the non-profit sector for over 25 yrs.  As a proud dual citizen, Julie feels a responsibility to help drive social change in Canada. She helped develop Juno House,  a center of excellence for adolescent girls and their families in Calgary and subsequently created the Juno House Foundation to build capacity and support those in need of its services. 

Julie is a member of the William Roper Hull Foundation Board after being chair of Hull Child & Family Services for 5 yrs. She is a past volunteer of Kids Help Phone and was President of the International School Parents Forum in London (TASIS) while living overseas. She took various leadership roles on school councils where her children attended school, among those Western Canada and St. Mildred's Lightbourn School in Ontario. 

In the 70's, Julie taught in an inner city high school in Houston, Texas which she credits as being a defining introduction to the importance of making change happen.

She and is the proud parent of three grown children, 3 grandchildren, and has been married for 39 yrs. The family is very active in skiing hiking, biking, golfing, and exploring new places together.

Sheherazade Hirji

Vice President - Client Services, Tides Canada
Toronto, ON

"If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk with others"
- African proverb

Sheherazade has worked in the philanthropic sector for the past 20 years. Her work experiences include the Ontario Trillium Foundation where she held a variety of positions, including Director of Learning and Evaluation, Vice President of Grants, and Acting CEO. Between 1999 and 2004, Sheherazade was Executive Director of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, through which she transformed the company's charitable impulse into a national strategy focused on support for women's shelters across Canada and on violence prevention. In 2005, Sheherazade turned to consulting full time with business partner Julie White (a CWF Founding Mother). Hirji + White Consulting promoted excellence in philanthropy by working with private and public foundation, agencies and corporations. In her current position, Sheherazade supports philanthropists and works with social and environmental innovators towards realizing their philanthropic aspirations.   

Sheherazade qualified as a Solicitor in England and Barrister and Solicitor in British Columbia. She is an alumnus of the Niagara Institute's Leadership Development Program and of The Rotman School of Management's The Judy Project: An Enlightened Leadership Forum for Executive Women. Her volunteer commitments have included the Ismaili Council for Canada and the Wellesley Institute. She is currently on the National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation Canada. Sheherazade served on the Canadian Women's Foundation violence prevention committee for several years and joined the Foundation's Board of Directors in 2008. In 2009, Sheherazade received the Hope Award from the North York Women's Shelter, in recognition of her outstanding commitment and record of contribution to improving the lives of women and girls.

Natasha Jackson

Policy Analyst, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (Nova Scotia Office)
Halifax, NS

Natasha has over fifteen years of experience in the areas of affordable housing, community development, communications, policy and program development, adult education and project management.

Currently working as the Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs (ANSA), Natasha develops and promotes strategies that deal with issues related to African Nova Scotians and their communities - the history of African Nova Scotians stretches back 400 years. ANSA is a public service entity which builds on community and government successes to facilitate innovative solutions that lead to self-reliance and sustainable development of the community.

Natasha is an active member of numerous community groups and, since 2001, has served on the Board and committees of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network.

Crystal Laborero

Director, Human Resources with Tribal Wi-Chi-Way-Win Capital Corporation
Winnipeg, MB

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
- Maya Angelou

Crystal Laborero is a band member of Sapotewayak Cree Nation and was born and raised in Winnipeg. She is presently the Director, Human Resources with Tribal Wi-Chi-Way-Win Capital Corporation (TWCC). She is the founding CEO of TWCC’s wholly owned subsidiary, Aski Financial.  Crystal has extensive experience in Aboriginal human resource issues as well as community development. In a previous role, Crystal was Director of Aboriginal Relations for United Way of Winnipeg where she was charged with the responsibility to develop a first of its kind strategy that builds and enhances relationships with the Aboriginal community. 

Crystal was also pivotal in the development of the Aboriginal Employment Initiative with the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Manitoba. This initiative was the first of it kind in Canada as it brought together two major business groups, two levels of government and representation from a national Aboriginal organization. Crystal also spent 10 years working with Royal Bank Financial Group in many capacities ranging from management to human resources where she specialized in the Recruitment & Retention of Aboriginal employees. She was also part of the team to open the first on-reserve branch for the bank in Manitoba located at Peguis First Nation.  

Ildiko Marshall

Toronto, ON

"Belief creates the actual fact." 
- William James

Ildiko Marshall has been involved with the Canadian Women's Foundation for over seven years and has served on the board for close to three years. She is deeply committed to the work and strongly believes in the organization's mission statement of "investing in the power of women and the dreams of girls". Former VP and Group Publisher at Rogers Publishing, she became involved with the Canadian Women's Foundation while VP and Associate Publisher of Chatelaine magazine. She  continued to support us personally and also through her work as VP and Group Publisher at the Today's Parent Group. She is a major champion of the Shelter from the Storm fund raising, an initiative that has raised over $7M, in the past seven years, with the aid of Winners, BMO and Rogers.  The Girls' Fund is extremely close to her heart as helping girls to become strong and independent women is what she believes breaks down walls and opens doors to a successful future.

Ildiko brings to the board a strong background in publishing, marketing, public relations and sales. 

She believes in giving back to the community and serves on the Boards of the Ontario Media Development Corporation and The Cardiac Health Foundation.
 

Sheila O'Brien

President, Belvedere1 Investments
Calgary, AB

"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers "Grow, Grow"
- The Talmud

Sheila O’Brien, President of Belvedere1 Investments, is a corporate director and business consultant specializing in workforce and leadership capacity with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas, pipeline and petrochemical sectors in Canada, USA, South America and Europe. She has held executive positions in the areas of human resources, investor relations, public affairs and government relations with Amoco International, Petro-Canada and NOVA Corporation.  She created and implemented an innovative workforce restructuring program, based on the dignity of the employee, which was designated a Worldwide Best Practice by Watson Wyatt International Consultancy.

Ms. O’Brien has been active in the not-for-profit sector, having served on over 25 Boards of Directors dealing primarily with human rights, women’s rights and giving voice to marginalized members of society. She is the founder of several enduring community events celebrating the accomplishments of women and she has received numerous awards for her work in the advancement of women. In 1998 she was invested in the Order of Canada.

Ms. O’Brien currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Gildan, a publicly traded, vertically-integrated marketer and apparel manufacturer based in Montreal; Advantage Oil and Gas Company, a Calgary-based, publicly traded corporation; MaRS, a biotechnology accelerator based in Toronto; is a member of the Board of Governors of Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary; The Canadian Women’s Foundation in Toronto; and as Executive in Residence at Canada West Foundation in Calgary where she co-authored, “An Extraordinary West: A Narrative Exploration of Western Canada’s Future”, published in November 2010 and“Catching a Rising Tide: A Western Vision for Energy in Canada”,published in October 2011.

In 2006 and 2007 Ms. O’Brien served on the Board of Directors of TransForce Income Fund, Canada’s largest trucking enterprise, publicly traded and headquartered in Montreal, and in 2007 to August 2008 on the Board of Directors of Skye Resources, a Vancouver-based, publicly traded nickel mining company.  From 1998 to 2003 Ms. O’Brien served as a member of the Board of Directors of CFM Majestic, a Canadian, publicly traded company.

Angela Robertson

Director of Equity and Community Engagement, Women’s College Hospital
Toronto, ON

"Give me silence, water, hope 
Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes"
- Pablo Neruda

Angela Robertson is the Director of Equity and Community Engagement at Women’s College Hospital. Angela is also an activist in the Black, women’s and LGBTQ community and is current Board Chair at the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, a member of the Canadian Women’s Foundation Board, and a past member of U of T’s Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies Advisory.  Angela was Executive Director at Sistering:  A Woman’s Place, a multi-service centre for marginalized, low-income and homeless women, is also co-editor with Ena Dua of the book Scratching the Surface:  Canadian Anti-Racist Feminist Thought, published by Women’s Educational Press, and Coordinator of Sistering’s community-based research report Common Occurrence:  The Impact of Homelessness on Women’s Health.

Angela is a founding member of Blockorama, a celebration of black PRIDE for the LGBTQ community from the African Diaspora.  Angela was recognized by Toronto’s Now Magazine as one of the top 10 community activists on social justice issues, received the Rubena Willis Women of Distinction Award for her work on violence against women, and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Awards for her work on equality and social justice issues.  Angela was also a recipient in 2009 of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Social Change, and the Fred Victor Centre Mary Sheffield Award for work addressing poverty and homelessness in the City of Toronto.

Recently Angela was a member of the Pride Toronto Community Advisory Review panel, which launched its report and findings in February 2011.

Patricia Rossi

Co-chair, Canadian Women's Foundation
Director of Philanthropy, Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation
Montréal, QC

“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”
- Maya Angelou

Since August 2011, Patricia Rossi is the Director of Philanthropy at the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation whose mission is the prevention of poverty.  This work is done primarily by working on educational success of children from conception to age 17 and their parents.  Between March 2009 and July 2011, Patricia Rossi was the Executive Director of Autonomie Jeunes Familles, an organization supporting first-time parents, mostly mothers, who survived traumatic events in their lives. From 2001 to 2009, she was the Executive Director of the Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre, located in Montreal’s Little Burgundy area, amongst the largest concentration of low cost housing for families in Quebec. Programs ranging from early childhood to employability were offered.  Between 1983 and 2000, she was the Director of Le Parados, in Lachine, a shelter for abused women with children.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in women’s studies from McGill University and a Master’s degree in management and development of organizations at Université Laval. 

Patricia is very involved in social issues (violence against women and children, poverty, gender equality, low cost housing etc.) and has been on numerous Boards committees, round tables etc.

Beth Summers

Chief Financial Officer, Just Energy Group Inc
Toronto, ON

"Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible."
- Cherie Carter-Scott

Beth Summers is the Chief Financial Officer of the Just Energy Group Inc. Just Energy’s business involves the sales of natural gas and electricity to residential and commercial customers under variable and fixed rate long term contracts. Just Energy operates across North America in 5 Provinces and 11 States. Prior to joining  Just Energy, Beth was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hydro One Inc.

Beth was a member of the national committee for the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Girls’ Growth Fund campaign and joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2008.