BRAIN INJURY CANADA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager
Colt brings 23+ years of non-profit fundraising and leadership experience, including roles with the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation, BCCDC Foundation, Banff Centre, MacEwan University, and the University of Alberta to Brain Injury Canada. Colt is passionate about making a difference wherever he has lived, volunteering with The Salvation Army, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and many other non-profit organizations.
Colt spends his spare time exploring Vancouver Island, where he resides, going on hikes, camping, kayaking, doing yoga, playing sports, hanging out with the resident cats, and woodworking and restoring furniture.
He has lived experience with brain injury, having sustained a severe concussion from a serious car accident in January of 2016, and through other concussions in his adult years, and childhood. Colt is both honoured and excited to be part of the Brain Injury Canada family.
Job Titles:
- Professor, Executive Director, Community Leader
Dan Andreae is an award winning professor, executive director, community leader and advocate, volunteer and citizen. He has been recognized in Canada and Marquis Whos Who has named him as Whos Who in the World.
Dan has a compelling interest in the brain and as the first Executive Director of the Alzheimer Society and later Chair of it's Patrons Council he has played a key role in building up the society's profile and by instituting innovative programs. For his many contributions he was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the Alzheimer Society and recognized with a special award by the International Alzheimer Society presented by Chair Princess Yasmin Khan.
He has had the honour of having a neuroscience laboratory named in his honour at the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of the world's top research and educational institutions. Dr. Andreae represents Canada on the Weizmann International Board and in 2018 was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Award by Weizmann Canada. He is proud to be Honourary Patron of Brain Injury Canada and one 2016 was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Brain Injury Canada.
For Dan life long learning is a passion and he had taught forty five subjects at university and college. He has been the recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Waterloo, made a Fellow of Renison University College at the university and has been Faculty of the Year twice at the University of Guelph Humber as well as being chosen for the Faculty Mentoring Award. In 2018 he was selected as Professor of the Decade by the International Association of Top Professionals and in 2020 was named Intellectual of the Year by the Top 100 Registry in New York City. Dan was awarded with an Honourary Doctorate of Laws for contributions to health care in 2008 from Assumption University in Windsor and in 2020 from Laurentian University in Sudbury.
Dr. Andreae has received the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award and the Ontario Medal of Citizenship by the Lieutenant Governor. His other community involvements include serving on the Board of Governors of the Michener Institute, University Health Network, Health Advisor to the Psychology Foundation of Canada and Advisor to the Weizmann Institute as well as the National Eating Disorder Information Centre at Toronto General Hospital where he is Past Chair of their Advisory Committee as well as Past Chairs of the Canadian Abilities Foundation and Neuch tel Junior College Advisory Committee, a Canadian school in Switzerland.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Daniel is a non-profit professional with over a decade of management, project, policy, and partnership-building experience.
As Manager, Strategic Initiatives, he is responsible for working with Canadian brain injury associations to strengthen the sector and collaboration between associations through the new Brain Injury National Network Initiative. He will also be developing programs, including a national volunteer program, and helping to implement program review and results-based management at Brain Injury Canada.
Most recently, he was Project & Policy Manager at New Brunswick's largest animal shelter. His experience includes working as an adviser to senior government officials in complex policy environments (Veterans Affairs Canada, National Defence Canada, and New Brunswick's Regional Development Corporation), as a non-profit management consultant, and as a volunteer program manager.
Dr. Hafeeza Bassirullah is an accomplished leader with proven experience in executing programs, transforming organizations, leading change, building dynamic teams, and defining and shaping strategies. She has extensive executive-level experience curating and implementing initiatives, policies, and programs to successfully enhance organizational effectiveness and business efficiencies, create long-term partnerships, and deliver on the mission of organizations.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair
- Co - Chair of the Board of Directors
Although he says it is almost impossible to tell now, he has actually only been in Canada since 1999 when he immigrated from the UK. He has been lucky enough to travel the world with work in the hospitality industry before settling with his wife, Anita and 2 girls, Charlie and Mia, in Winnipeg.
His interest in Brain Injury within Canada is based on his own struggles with concussion through years of playing rugby as well as other pursuits. Navigating the healthcare system, getting advice and support was almost as difficult as the symptoms themselves. He wants to use the skills he has learned and utilized in his own businesses and professional career to assist those struggling with their Healthcare concerns as well as educate and advocate for those at risk. Through his company, he already coaches and mentors youth in sports, as well discuss with medical practitioners, parents, teachers and other coaches some of the areas under BIC scope of expertise and is excited to be closer to the source of information and resources.
He looks forward to contributing to a valuable team to help and assist all that need it.
Kai is a lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP where he advises clients on a wide range of regulatory and administrative law issues, particularly anti-bribery and corruption, public sector conflicts of interest, campaign and election finance, lobbying law compliance, and procurement integrity. Kai holds a BCL and LL.B from McGill University's Faculty of Law. Prior to practicing law, Kai worked at an industry association, a government relations firm and was an aide to a Canadian Senator.
Kai is eager to use his skills to advance the important work that Brain Injury Canada does for those who have suffered brain injuries, their families and caregivers.
In his spare time, Kai enjoys watching documentaries on almost any subject, trekking across the city with a good coffee in hand and keeping up with world affairs / business. He is also a die-hard U.S. college football fan.
As a writer, Matías supports Brain Injury Canada's project team through the creation of content for resources such as e-courses, the resource website, and our newsletters. Drawing upon over a decade of writing experience, he specializes in addressing audiences from various walks of life and provides vital information about brain injuries to people who don't necessarily have a background in science. Matías graduated with honours from Western University, where he completed master's and bachelor's degrees in Political Science. He also spent time running a music publication and has amassed a vinyl record collection that is getting too big for the space available in his living room.
Michelle is an accomplished non-profit professional with over two decades of experience working in the sector in both Toronto and Ottawa. She brings a wealth of knowledge to any role she undertakes and has a proven record of growth in both revenue and reach for small organizations. As Chief Executive Officer of Brain Injury Canada, she has led the organization in a new strategic direction, securing a federal grant to enable BIC to better meet the needs of individuals, families and health care/service providers across the country looking for information and education related to acquired brain injury. In addition to managing day-to-day operations, she also oversees the development of all Brain Injury Canada's education and awareness programs, as well as advocacy initiatives. Her demonstrated focus on collaboration and partnerships gives her the ability to look at the big picture, but also all the moving parts and how they fit together effectively and efficiently. She currently sits on the Executive Committee for the Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium, the Accessibility Advisory Committee for the Canadian Transportation Safety Agency, the Integrated Knowledge Translation Committee for the Canadian Concussion Network and is Chair of the Governing Council for Neurological Health Charities Canada. Past roles include Executive Director at the Brain Injury Society of Toronto and in Health Promotion at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Past committee involvement includes Toronto ABI Network Planning Advisory Committee, Toronto ABI Network Concussion Task Force and Ontario Advisory Council (OAC) for the Ontario Acquired Brain Injury Community Associations.
Paul Rogers brings a combination of different strengths from his original career starting as a successful commercial lawyer in the UK, transitioning to a kite surfing instructor, to working as a teacher on a Cree First Nations Reserve in Northern Quebec.
Paul also brings unique first hand knowledge and experience of living with a severe TBI and PTSD. His family was involved in a devastating motor accident with a train on the 19th March 2018. Paul's wife also sustained a severe TBI, but their 2 year old was miraculously uninjured. Their husky is the only member of the family who didn't make it.
Since the accident, Paul has dedicated himself to raising awareness and advocating for TBI and invisible injuries through his upbeat and amusing English humour by doing public speaking and podcasts, as a best selling amazon author, columnist for Aware Now and Ambassador for Awareness Ties for TBI and PTSD. Paul believes that you can change the world one story at a time.
Job Titles:
- in 2019 As the Content Writer
- Manager, Education & Engagement
Rachel joined Brain Injury Canada in 2019 as the content writer for our knowledge base resource website, and now manages the organization's educational and engagement initiatives. This includes the planning and execution of programs such as the Foundations of Brain Injury e-course, website expansion, and Brain Injury Awareness Month campaigns. Rachel holds an honours degree from Bishop's University in culture/media studies and journalism, and has several years of experience writing a variety of long and short-form content, as well as managing projects at all stages, using creative problem-solving to deliver informative, quality programs.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation and Chief Information Officer at Niagara Health
Sonali Kohli is the Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation and Chief Information Officer at Niagara Health. She has extensive experience in enhancing patient care by using technology as an enabler - both regionally and within hospitals.
Her professional career has been focused on making a meaningful difference in patient's lives as they move through their healthcare journey. The initiatives that made this possible were transformational in nature and have shown visible quality improvements by enabling system integration.
Sonali is a caregiver to her husband who has suffered two significant concussions with poor prognosis. She has seen him struggle to get access to funding for care, his daily activities, and sometimes judgements from society. She is passionate about creating more awareness on challenges posed by a significant brain injury even though it may not be visible and advocate for funding for much needed care. She also wants to create awareness and increase support for caregivers of individuals suffering with a brain injury.
Tamiko (Tami) Hynes brings strong business acumen and extensive experience in strategic planning, organizational effectiveness and governance to the organizations she works with. In her role as the Optometry Examining Board of Canada's (OEBC) chief executive officer, Tami, transformed the national certification body. For almost nine years, she implemented the corporation's strategic growth plan, resulting in an evolution to world-class standardized assessments with profession-entry exams using innovative simulation models.
Resourceful, courageous and empowering are words used to describe Tami's leadership style throughout her 25-year career in health profession regulation, education and banking. She is known for her ability to build consultative relationships, navigate ambiguity and problem solve.
During her career, she delivered progressive change and results through effective program and project management and research. Tami holds a BCommand a MBA from Memorial University where she is a fellow of the School of Graduate Studies. She is the co-author of strategic management case studies used in higher education such as Western University's Ivey School of Business.
An accomplished and dedicated senior marketing professional, Tanya brings almost 20 years experience of leadership, strategic planning and execution of multi-faceted projects and marketing campaigns. She motivates and empowers team members while maintaining focus on the overall strategy and objective.
In February 2022, Tanya suffered a serious concussion (mild TBI), and since then has been navigating a long and difficult road to recovery. While it has been challenging, she's grateful that serving on the board of Brain Injury Canada will allow her to marry this lived experience with her marketing and communications knowledge, and ultimately improve the lives of others living with an acquired brain injury in Canada.
Tanya is a strong relationship-builder and respected leader. As a member of the senior leadership team at NATIONAL Public Relations in Halifax, Tanya maintains key client relationships, providing the highest level of strategic counsel and demonstrating deep commitment to building their businesses. She works with clients to develop their brand narrative and creative strategy, and then bring that story to life through integrated, national campaigns. But more than anything, Tanya believes in bringing the right people together, and empowering them to deliver outstanding results, every time.
Victoria joined the team in 2023 as a content writer for our e-courses.
She has worked as a freelance writer and social media specialist in the pet, tech, and food industries, and has experience working at non-profit organizations VOICE and the Canadian Gap Year Association as a content creator and podcast editor.
She graduated from Carleton University's journalism program, where she discovered her passion for creating content that makes a meaningful impact.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair
- Co - Chair of the Board of Directors
Xavier brings 15 years work experience in business development in the life sciences industry. Scientist by training, thanks to his graduation from the Toulouse National Institute of Applied Sciences (France) with a Master of Science in Biochemistry Engineering, Xavier then completed his training with a Specialized Master's degree in Biotechnology Management from the Toulouse Business School. Xavier then held leadership positions in the biotech industry, first in France, and since 2012, in Canada, before joining in 2019 McGill University, and more specifically the Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives initiative as an Associate Director, Business Development. Since then, Xavier got the opportunity to support projects in the field of brain injury and get familiar with its related issues. As a member of the Board of Directors, Xavier is glad to help Brain Injury Canada develop its network of partners in Canada.