The program’s adjudication panel represents a wide range of experience and expertise from all over the country. Our volunteer adjudicators include people with lived experience, retired executives, care partners, mental health professionals, academics and volunteers.
Darrell Keane
David Gardner
Joan Glode
Steve Lurie
Sean Kidd
Christina Rozema
Kathryn Bennett
Maureen Shaw
Nona Moscovitz
Francine Lemire
Joyce Smith
François Legault
Hy Bloom
Aileen McGinty
Janina Komaroff
John Higgenbottam
Imogen Edeson
Darrell Keane, Workplace
Highly regarded for his financial acumen, Darrell Keane is General Manager at the Strategic Marketing Council, a problem-solving virtual marketing agency based in Thornhill, ON.
He is an active member of Toronto’s People with Lived Experience Caucus and a volunteer with the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi project, a research initiative looking at ways to help the growing number of homeless people in Canada living with a mental illness. Darrell is also a member of an advisory committee of Mainstay Housing, a non-profit agency which provides housing for mental health consumer/survivors.Darrell has more than 20 years experience in the education field and is known for starting the first internet café in Quebec.
David Gardner, CHAIR-Research
David Gardner is a professor with the Department of Psychiatry and has a joint appointment with the College of Pharmacy at Dalhousie University. David’s interests include pharmacoepidemiology, knowledge translation (moving knowledge to action), the pharmacotherapy of mood disorders and schizophrenia, and collaborative practice. He developed the Critical Appraisal Series, a three-year, five-term course, for Dalhousie’s undergraduate pharmacy students. David also coordinates a psychopharmacology and research series as well as a journal club for the Department of Psychiatry.
David is an active researcher and educator with more than 50 peer reviewed publications, multiple research projects and author of the book Antipsychotics and Their Side Effects. He received several awards, both locally and nationally, related to teaching excellence. David received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the University of Toronto (1988), his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of British Columbia (1997), and his Master of Science in Community Health & Epidemiology from Dalhousie University (2003). He is a member of the Science Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Clinically, David is a member of the Early Psychosis Program of Nova Scotia in Halifax
Joan Glode, CHAIR-Social Innovation
Joan Glode has been Executive Director of the Mi'kmaw Family & Children's Services of Nova Scotia and served on the National Board of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society. She also served on one of the adjudication panels for the Aboriginal Achievement Awards.
She has a Master of Social Work from Dalhousie University and has published several papers and articles, presenting her work nationally and internationally. Joan was installed into the Order of Canada for her social service work in 2009. She has also served as a member of the First Nation, Inuit and Métis Advisory Committee.
Steve Lurie, Partnership
Steve Lurie is the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto Branch, a post he has held since 1979. Steve has written and lectured extensively on mental health policy issues.
In 2005, Steve provided technical assistance to the Senate Committee Report Out of the Shadows At Last: Transforming Mental Health and Addiction Services in Canada.In August 2007 he was appointed to chair the Service Systems Advisory Committee for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
He was recently awarded the Canadian Mental Health Association’s CM Hincks award for national leadership in mental health. Steve has a Masters in Management (MM) from the McGill McConnell Voluntary Sector Leadership program (2002,) and has a BA (1971) and MSW (1973) from the University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work where he is now an adjunct assistant professor.
Sean Kidd, Social Innovation
Sean Kidd, MD, a clinical psychologist, is an internationally recognized authority in the area of youth homelessness research. In this work he has focused on service models, qualitative methods, and the impacts of marginality and stigma on this population. He has also conducted the largest examination to date of service provision models within Assertive Community Treatment teams. Sean has undertaken several studies examining stigma and marginality among persons with severe mental illness with his latest focus being upon lesbian, gay, and transgender persons with severe mental illness.
Several projects have focused on service development for marginalized populations, with more than 30 publications and a history of support from Canadian federal (CHSRF, CIHR, SSHRC) and provincial (OMHF, PHIRN) agencies.Sean is the coordinator of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Social Entrepreneurship in Mental Health working group. He is an assistant professor with the University of Toronto, McMaster, and Yale Departments of Psychiatry and is head of Psychological Services for the Toronto Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Schizophrenia Program.
Christina Rozema, Social Innovation
Christina Rozema has a Bachelor Degree in English Literature from the University of Victoria (1996) and a Masters Degree in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies from the University of Calgary (2005).She is currently a Practice Support Coordinator working with general practice physicians to improve primary health care services to people with chronic diseases including mental illness. Rozema is the former executive director of two branches of the Canadian Mental Health Association on Vancouver Island (Duncan/Cowichan and Nanaimo/Mid Island).
She is interested in why some family members engage in the recovery process while others do not, how grief and loss are viewed in the mental health field, and how hard it can be to teach children the difference between typical parent/child stressors and ones caused by mental health and addictions issues. Christina lives in Duncan, British Columbia and has first-hand experience as part of a family member’s support network.
Kathryn Bennett,
CHAIR-Community Capacity
Kathryn Bennett, PhD, is a Professor with the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University, an Associate Member, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences and a Core Member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies in Hamilton, Ontario.
She is a journal referee for a number of peer-reviewed publications and has received numerous awards, including the 2004 – 2007 Intermediate Research Fellow, Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the 2009 President’s Award for Educational Leadership, McMaster University. She has a BA (McMaster), MSc.(McMaster), and PhD (Waterloo).
Maureen Shaw, Workplace
Maureen Shaw is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of IAPA (Industrial Accident Prevention Association). She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada and a member of the editorial board of Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Magazine. Maureen has been chair of the Council of Governors, acting chief executive officer of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety and a president of the Canadian Occupational Health Association, an affiliate of the International Commission on Occupational Health, and an Executive in Residence at the Banff Centre of Management.
She is a recipient of the Calgary YWCA Woman of Distinction in Business, Labour, and the Professions Award and the Canada Safety Council National Achievement Award, as well as the first recipient of the Canadian Medal of Merit Award from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. In 1992, Maureen was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation. She is a member of the Mental Health Commission of Canada Advisory Committee on Workforce Mental Health.
Nona Moscovitz, CHAIR-Partnerships
Nona Moscovitz , a graduate from McGill University with a Masters in Social Work (1997), has nearly three decades of experience working with a diverse clientele. She is Program Manager for Mental Health and Addictions at the Centre de santé et de services sociaux Cavendish in Montreal and is also responsible for the Mental Health and Aging cutting-edge program which includes direct services, research, training and the transfer of knowledge. She has an extensive background and expertise in program development and management, and an ongoing commitment to the field of education as a sessional lecturer at McGill University, School of Social Work.
Nona is a member of the Seniors Advisory Committee with the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Francine Lemire,
Research
Francine Lemire, MD, is the Associate Executive Director of Professional Affairs at the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). Francine brings more than 30 years of clinical experience as a family physician, first in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and then in the Toronto Western Family Health Team at Toronto Western Hospital.
She holds an academic appointment in family medicine, both at the University of Toronto and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Francine is a Certified Association Executive from the Canadian Society of Association Executives and is pursuing a Masters of Clinical Sciences (Family Medicine) from the University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Service Systems Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Joyce Smith, Community Capacity
Joyce Smith is a registered psychologist in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Joyce’s professional life has spanned both the healthcare and education fields for more than 20 years. She is an initial member of the "Tri for Health" fundraising triathlon initiative for mental health which recently raised $30,000 for her community. She was a member of the Family Caregivers Advisory Committee (FCAC) with the Mental Health Commission of Canada from its inception through to 2011.
François Legault, CHAIR-Workplace
Francois is the National Director of Employee Assistance Services with Health Canada. He has worked at several levels within EAP organizations and community mental health and addictions agencies and was executive director and clinical director of a comprehensive community addiction services agency in eastern Ontario. He volunteers as President of the Employee Assistance Society of North America, as a standing member of the Mental Health Commission of Canada Workforce Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee to the Canadian Standards Association and Bureau de Normalisation du Quebec on the development of a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
Hy Bloom, Workplace
Hy Bloom, MD, is a founding member of The Psilex Group, which consults the legal community, medical community, correctional facilities, and others groups in behavioural sciences and the law. Bloom is the CEO of workplace.calm, inc., which consults in the areas of workplace conflict, problem behaviour and violence prevention and management.
He is an alternate chairperson, legal member and psychiatric member of the Ontario and Nunavut Review Boards, and a member of the Mental Health and the Law Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1978, obtained his MD from McMaster University in 1984, his Fellowship in Psychiatry from the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1989, and his Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry from the University of Toronto in 1990.
Aileen McGinty, Community Capacity
Aileen McGinty is a board member of the Canadian Mental Health Association (Nova Scotia), past board member of Healthy Minds Co-operative in Halifax and past committee member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (London, UK) Service Users Recovery Forum, Jurisdictions Policy Committee and Central Policy-Co-ordination Committee.
Before moving to Nova Scotia in 2010 from Scotland, she completed her Diploma in Legal Practice and M.A. (Psychology) at the University of Glasgow. In 2003 she graduated in Music Therapy from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Aileen is a member of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Mental Health and Law Advisory Committee with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. She also works for Nova Scotia Legal Aid (Youth Justice).
Janina Komaroff, Research
Janina Komaroff is a research assistant at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montréal, Quebec, focusing her interests on peer support and recovery. Janina is also involved in a research project with the McGill University Health Centre and the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy focusing on patient-clinician dialogue.
Janina holds a Master’s degree in political science and has previously worked for the Government of Ontario as a policy and communications assistant.
Janina is involved with the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi research project. She is a member of the peer committee for the Montréal site, and is a member of the National Consumer Panel and Peer Qualitative Research Group for At Home / Chez Soi.
John Higgenbottam, Partnership
John Higgenbottam, MD, is a clinical psychologist who has held senior clinical management positions in British Columbia including vice president, Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre and vice president, Riverview Hospital. John is a health care consultant as well teaching as a faculty member, Department of Psychology, at Douglas College in New Westminster, BC and Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC.
His major clinical and research interests are in developing, implementing and evaluating effective, recovery-orientated mental health systems and services.John is a Director with Psychosocial Rehabilitation Canada/Réadaptation Psychosociale Canada and co-chair, Canadian Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH), Canada’s major alliance of mental health professionals and stakeholder organizations. He is also a member of the Service Systems Advisory Committee with the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Imogen Edeson, Community Capacity
Imogen Edeson is a senior project advisor with the Mental Health, Drugs and Regions Division of the Department of Health in the state of Victoria, Australia. Imogen has an academic background in cultural studies, gender studies and international policy, and experience working across a range of health, social policy and community development positions in Australia and internationally.
Imogen has managed a range of projects in relation to mental health and wellbeing for the Victorian Department of Health, including the Framework for Recovery-Oriented Practice and the Gender Sensitivity and Safety project.
She is also a fellow of the Victorian Travelling Fellowship Program administered by
the Victorian Quality Council, which recently enabled her to travel to the United
Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand to explore innovations and good practice
recovery-oriented mental health services.