Expert Panel
Each year, the Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation will strategically select broad themes and look to have impact on a number of complex and related issues. For 2011 / 2012, we will focus on the issues of aging, mental health and newcomers to Canada. The program’s expert panel are a group of recognized, leading experts on these theme areas.
These outstanding individuals will frame issues, offer insights and pose challenges to program participants. Broadly speaking, the panel will be critically important resources for the participants, supporting them in grasping a deeper understanding of current systems and in designing innovative strategies that disrupt the status.
Note: We will soon announce the expert panel for 2012-13.
Ratna Omidvar
President, Maytree Foundation
“The world around us is being shaped by global forces which will have a significant impact on our society. Immigration is one of these forces. Over the next decade, Canada stands to benefit enormously from the talent, ideas and resources that people bring with them. We need fresh approaches, new ways of thinking, new alliances and new ways of solving emerging and old problems so that we can fulfil our promise to newcomers and to Canada.”
Biography:
Ratna Omidvar is President of Maytree, a private foundation that promotes equity and prosperity through its policy insights, grants and programs. The foundation is known for its commitment to developing, testing, and implementing programs and policy solutions related to immigration, integration and diversity in the workplace, in the boardroom and in public office. Ratna also serves as a director of theGreater Toronto CivicAction Alliance and is the chair of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC). In 2006, Ratna was appointed to the Order of Ontario. In 2010, the Globe and Mail profiled Ratna as its Nation Builder of the Decade for Citizenship.
David Goldbloom
Senior Medical Advisor, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
“The status quo is unacceptable. For decades, when it comes to mental health and mental illness, we have been tinkering at the margins – or worse, trimming at the margins or doing nothing at all. A broad view of the determinants of health and illness is as relevant to mental health as it is to physical health. We need to seize upon the concepts and tools of social innovation to improve the quality of life of all Canadians affected by mental illness. It’s an issue that is medical, humanitarian, social, and judicial; it’s about creating a more civil society. I am excited to be a small part of an initiative that has the potential for big impact.”
Biography:
Dr. Goldbloom was born in Montreal and raised in Quebec and Nova Scotia. He completed an honours degree, majoring in Government, at Harvard University and then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where he obtained an M.A. in Physiological Sciences. He trained in medicine and psychiatry at McGill University and is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goldbloom’s activities have been recognized and awarded by his peers and students. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters and has provided talks and lectures to student, professional and public audiences. He is Vice-Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Goldbloom is Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada.
Jane Barratt
Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing
“Population ageing is not a problem per se but rather an element of the demographic triage including globalization and urbanization that is driving unprecedented change in every sector and discipline that touches the life span of citizens of all ages, the community and society as a whole. The new norm goes beyond the well worn conversation about the ‘burden of care’ into unchartered waters of mature older workers, volunteers and their economic contribution; the social contract across generations; as well as the impact of the environment on the lives of older people. This era of change is not for the faint hearted but moreover requires champions with conviction and commitment.”
Biography:
Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing comprising government and non government members in 62 countries and representing some 50 million older people. She brings to this position over 35 years experience in both public and private sectors in the fields of public health, community and aged care, and ageing and disability. Dr Barratt has strived to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector in order to help shape and influence policy to improve the quality of life of older people. She is a strong contributor to the international dialogue on the intersection of social, cultural and physical environments that impact on the lives of older people.
Dr Barratt is a Churchill Fellow, representative of the IFA at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and directly responsible for the formal relations with the Ageing and Life Course Department, World Health Organization. She holds adjunct academic positions, executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors internationally and has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in policies, programs and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.
Bill Young
President, Social Capital Partners
“In this era of increasing government deficits and with the limited resources of traditional grant funding we have to find new models, new financing instruments and new approaches to solving our structural social challenges. This in many ways is what social innovation is really about.”
Biography:
Bill is the founder of Social Capital Partners, a non-profit social finance company he started in 2001. Prior to founding SCP, Bill spent twenty years in the private sector leading high growth, entrepreneurial organizations. He was CEO of Hamilton Computers, a publicly traded computer company, which grew from $15 million in revenue to $250 million under his leadership and was sold to GE Capital. Bill was also the CEO and subsequently the Chairman of Optel Communications Corp (later Axxent) which was a leading CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) in the Canadian telecommunications market when he left in 2000.
Bill began his career as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He currently sits on the Boards of Inner City Renovations Limited, Ecotrust Canada Capital, Vartana Inc, Renaissance Quebec, and the Advisory Board of the Coady Institute.
Tim Brodhead
Senior Fellow at Social Innovation Generation, Adjunct Associate Professor University of Waterloo
Tim Brodhead is the past President and Chief Executive Officer of The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation, a private foundation based in Montreal. Prior to joining the Foundation he was Executive Director of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), a national organization representing over 120 non-profit Canadian international development agencies.
Biography:
Mr. Brodhead attended McGill University and subsequently spent five years in Africa with the Canadian organization, CUSO. He went on to do international development work in Africa and South Asia and co-founded Inter Pares, an Ottawa-based non-government organization. In a voluntary capacity he has served on a number of Boards, including currently Vartana, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the ETC Group (formerly Rural Advancement Foundation International) and the Calmeadow Foundation. He is past Chair of Philanthropic Foundations Canada, the national association of Canadian independent foundations. In 2001 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and in June, 2002 received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree was from Carleton University in Ottawa.
Alex Himelfarb
Director, Centre for Global Challenges, Glendon College
Born in 1947, Alex Himelfarb is a graduate of the University of Toronto where he obtained a Ph.D. in Sociology.
Biography:
Mr. Himelfarb joined the Public Service in 1981 with the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada. He has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility since that time, including Director General, Planning and Systems Group, Planning and Management Branch with the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada; Executive Director of the National Parole Board; Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Social Policy Development with the Privy Council Office; and Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board. While serving as Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board, he also headed the federal Task Force on the Social Union. In June 1999, Mr. Himelfarb became Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage.
He then served as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet from May 2002 until March 2006 when he was nominated as Ambassador of Canada to the Italian Republic with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Albania and the Republic of San Marino, and as High Commissioner for Canada to the Republic of Malta. In 2009, he came back to Canada to take the position of Director of the Glendon School of Public & International Affairs (GSPIA). He is also Director of the Centre for Global Challenges (CGC), a public policy forum associated with the GSPIA, which he launched in March 2010.??Before joining the Public Service, Mr. Himelfarb was a Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick from 1972 to 1981. During this period, he undertook an Executive Interchange with the Department of Justice as Head of the Unified Family Court Project from 1979 to 1981.
