Leadership Team - Bellwoods Centres

Board of Directors and Senior Leadership Team

Our Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors represents the communities we serve and is made up of volunteers who are deeply committed to Bellwood’s vision and mission. The Board is responsible for defining the goals of the organization, and monitoring performance related to strategic and financial targets. Members represent the health and community care, public services, non-profit, business and education sectors.

Aly N. Alibhai, Chair/President

Aly is a lawyer by profession with extensive experiences in the public sector at both the federal and provincial levels of government. Currently, Aly works for the provincial government in the executive cadre with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. His previous professional experiences include working as part of the senior management team for an Indigenous organization and as a political aide and lawyer in different capacities with the Government of Canada. Aly has a longstanding history of community service and engagement with civil society organizations. Over the years, he has given of his time and knowledge as a member of the Board of Directors of organizations such as Habitat for Humanity GTA, Legal Aid Ontario, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation and FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance Canada, an international humanitarian relief agency affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network.

Angela Bonfanti, Director

Angela is the Chief Operating Officer at The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) with extensive experience in public policy, not-for-profit management and business transformation. Angela has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the inclusion of Canadians with disabilities in every aspect of society and has played key roles in the development of historic Government accords, including the Accessible Canada Act. She has developed meaningful partnerships and programs with corporate Canada to include more people with disabilities in the workforce. She is an advocate for diversity and equal representation and continues to serve as an ally to underrepresented communities.

Farrell Hall, Director

Farrell is the Chief Inclusion Officer at 9 Story Media Group since September 2021, based in Toronto. He’s the first in this role at this children’s television show production company. He’s very much looking forward to leading and implementing the DEI strategy at 9 Story Media. He was previously employed at the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto where he held the role of Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as of May 2019. He’s held other roles within the Ontario Public Service as well. Farrell comes from a background in Human Resources (HR) and holds the Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation and a degree in Business. He has worked in HR for over 20 years and has held HR leadership roles in the not-for-profit, private and the corporate sectors.

Iona MacRitchie, Director

Iona is a Clinical Services Manager at Lyndhurst Centre Spinal Cord Rehabilitation , part of the University Health Network – Toronto Rehab. Iona trained as an Occupational Therapist and has over 13 years as a healthcare leader. She has clinical experience in the areas of chronic pain management, musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomics and return to work planning. Iona has a keen interest in quality improvement and program development. Throughout the past 25 years, Iona has served on various professional and community committees and associations as a board member and director which has provided invaluable insight and experience in diverse environments.

Stanley Makuch, Director

Stanley is a lawyer with extensive experience in municipal and planning law. Born and raised in Toronto, he is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School and Harvard Law School. Stanley has taught and practiced municipal, planning and environmental law, and is the author of numerous books and articles. He has served on several community boards and tribunals including The Toronto Police Commission and the Toronto Local Appeal Body.

Debbie McDonald, Director

Debbie is a Senior Partner at Agnew Peckham – a health care programming and facility planning firm that provides operational and facility planning services for health organizations across Canada. In addition to providing management for the firm, Debbie leads the firm’s practice in mental health and addictions and non-acute services planning. Over the years, Debbie has served on a number of Boards for not-for-profit organizations in the community. She holds a Master of Health Science, Health Administration and an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Nancy Polsinelli, Director

Nancy is the Commissioner of Health Services for the Region of Peel. She is responsible for the overall leadership of the Region’s innovative planning and delivery of health service – Public Health, Senior Services (Long-term Care and Community Services) and Paramedic Services. Under her leadership, the Region of Peel was the first health provider in Ontario to implement the Butterfly Model of emotion-based person-centred care to support frail seniors who live in long-term care and independently in the community. Nancy also co-chairs the Region of Peel Community Safety and Well-being plan. The plan addresses health and social system gaps and supports coordinated, human-focused programs and services in collaboration with school boards, health and social service providers, and other community voices. Nancy holds a Master of Public administration from Queen’s University and professional certificates in Advanced Health Leadership from the Rotman School of Management and Public Policy & Governance from the University of Victoria.

Louise Stratford, Director

Louise is a retired lawyer and Ontario Public Service executive with several years of experience serving on boards of not-for-profit organizations. After working as Deputy Legal Director at the Ministry of Health and Legal Director at the Ministry of Housing, Louise was appointed by the Ontario Government to serve as Public Guardian and Trustee and oversee a decentralized office of 400 staff working throughout the province to protect the interests of over 10,000 mentally incapable persons under guardianship. She later worked in the Victims and Vulnerable Persons Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General where she led a staff of 900 as the Assistant Deputy Attorney General until her retirement. Since then, Louise has chaired the board of a community service agency that provides homecare services to seniors, a social service agency providing clothing and employment skills to newcomers, and a combination long-term care home and seniors rental residence.

Jim Tom, Treasurer

Jim is an independent consultant in information, technology and management strategy, helping organizations understand and seek advantage in a constantly shifting landscape. He was the founding Chief Information Officer for Public Health Ontario and Associate Vice-Chancellor for IT at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has held executive and senior management roles in the public and private sectors. Jim has served on the Boards of several non-profit organizations. He holds a PhD from Stanford in Engineering-Economic Systems and attained the ICD.D from Rotman/Institute for Corporate Directors.

Pegeen Walsh, Director

Pegeen is a retired executive who led health promotion and public health initiatives within the federal and provincial government and not-profit sector. In her past leadership roles with the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, YMCA Canada and most recently as Executive Director for the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA), she oversaw the design and delivery of a wide range of programs, policies, partnerships, advocacy and research that supported individual and community health and well-being. She designed and is teaching, on behalf of OPHA, an alternative careers bridging program in health promotion for international medical graduates in collaboration with the Learning Enrichment Foundation and is partnering on various public health consulting projects.

Melissa Ying, Director

Melissa is a Manager within KPMG Canada’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice in Toronto. Melissa has extensive experience working with governments and provider organizations in Canada and the United States. As a passionate advocate for integrated care, her focus has been on strategy development and implementation for large-scale initiatives that promote improved transitions of care across acute, home, and community care. At KPMG, Melissa is a leader within the Care System Redesign proposition and Ontario Health Team community of practice and brings her cross-border experience to support solution design. Prior to joining KPMG, Melissa was a Senior Manager with Lucania Partners, a healthcare strategy firm in New York City. She holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy & Management from Columbia.

Our Senior Leadership Team

Our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is led by Susan Andrew, Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The team works in collaboration with the Board of Directors, clients, staff, community partners and other key stakeholders to inform decision-making, implement the strategic plan and engage stakeholders to fulfill our mission and advance our strategic directions.

Meet the members of our Senior Leadership Team:

Susan Andrew,
Bellwoods VP, Corporate Services and Support

Other staff members supporting the Senior Leadership Team

Irena Apostolovska, Bellwoods Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Rebecca Chaston, Bellwoods Manager, Procurement, Facilities & Special Projects
Alicia Drzewicki, Bellwoods Manager, Human Resources
Awais Khan, Bellwoods Controller
Jan Mowat, Bellwoods Manager, Service Excellence
Joana Nunes, Bellwoods Manager, Service Excellence
Ajit Prabhu, Bellwoods Director, Transitions & Community Partnerships
Constantine Simpson, Bellwoods Director, Quality & Client Engagement