Staff Biographies

Cathy Fooks, President & CEO
The Change Foundation

Cathy Fooks joined The Change Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2007, bringing with her proven leadership skills at a national level and more than 20 years experience in health policy research.

Ms. Fooks took on the task of working with the Board of Directors to implement its ambitious strategic plan and transform the Foundation from a granting agency into a respected health policy think tank focused on health integration and patient outcomes.

Prior to her position at the Foundation, Cathy was the first Executive Director of the Health Council of Canada where she was responsible for implementing the Council's mandate of reporting to Canadians about health-care renewal.

Ms. Fooks has also served as the Director of the Health Network with the Canadian Policy Research Networks, and in senior roles with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), the Premier's Council of Health, Well-Being and Social Justice, and the Premier's Council on Economic Renewal. She was a senior policy advisor to two Ministers of Health and has served on a number of government health-care committees.

The author of numerous articles and reports on the Canadian health system, Ms. Fooks holds a Masters degree in political science from Queen's University and an undergraduate degree in political science and economics from Trent University. She has also completed an Executive Program in Change Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and the Executive Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at the Harvard Business School.

You can reach Cathy at: cfooks@changefoundation.com or 416.205.1353

Steven Lewis
Research Advisor
Steven Lewis joined The Change Foundation as Research Advisor in the summer of 2007. As a well-respected Canadian health policy consultant with Access Consulting, Steven's knowledge and analysis of health integration issues across Canada make him a valuable resource for the Foundation and the province. Based in Saskatoon, Steven is an Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at the University of Calgary, and was recently Visiting Scholar at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University, where he is also works as an adjunct professor. He has headed a health research granting agency and spent seven years as CEO of the Health Services Utilization and Research Commission in Saskatchewan. He has served on various boards and committees, including the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, the Health Council of Canada, and the editorial boards of several journals, including the newly launched Open Medicine. His published work covers topics such as reforming and strengthening medicare, improving health-care quality, primary health care, regionalization and integration, and the management of wait times.

You can reach Steven at: Steven.Lewis@shaw.ca

Lori Hale
Senior Research Consultant
As The Change Foundation's Senior Research Consultant since October 2007, Lori Hale is focusing her policy expertise on health integration in collaboration with partners in Ontario's health-care community.

Lori brings over 20 years experience in the public service and not-for-profit sector. Before joining the team, Lori worked as a consultant to Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and the Ministry of Research and Innovation, advising on the development of a provincial health research strategy. She also served as an Associate Director of Planning and Operations for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) as it renewed its strategic plan.

Other professional highlights include over eleven years of health policy work with the MOHLTC in health promotion, telehealth, health economic development, and quality standards. She has also worked for the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Premier's Council on Health,Well-Being and Social Justice.

Lori has a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto, and a BA
(Honours) from Queen's University.

You can reach Lori at: lhale@changefoundation.com or 416.205.1315

G. Obarski Genevieve Obarski
Executive Lead, Program Implementation

Genevieve joined The Change Foundation in April 2011 to coordinate and implement the quality improvement activities flowing from the Foundation’s 2010-13 strategic plan. In addition to providing quality improvement expertise, she supports the Foundation’s evaluation framework and is active in stakeholder relations.

Genevieve has more than 30 years experience in the health-care field. Prior to joining The Change Foundation, she worked as a Senior Quality Improvement Consultant at the Centre for Healthcare Quality Improvement at the Change Foundation directing operations and managing the Leadership for Performance Excellence program. Prior to coming to Ontario, she held a variety of management positions with the Veterans Affairs Health-care System (VHA) in Richmond, Virginia. Working within this highly acclaimed health-care system, she gained excellent experience in quality improvement, external accreditation, medical records management, strategic planning, patient advocacy and corporate scorecard management. Genevieve obtained a bachelor of science degree in medical technology from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. She has also completed specialist certification in blood banking from the University of Texas. She subsequently worked as a medical technologist and laboratory supervisor in a variety of academic medical centers, specializing in immunohaematology and transfusion science. She holds a Master of Science degree in health-care administration from Central Michigan University.

Sine MacKinnon
Director of Communications and Community Engagement

Sine MacKinnon joined The Change Foundation as its first Director of Communications in March of 2007. She is responsible for all aspects of strategic communications planning, production and implementation and oversees the organization's outreach and knowledge exchange endeavours.

Sine brings over 25 years experience in strategic communications, media relations and journalism as well as a strong background in public policy issues. Her knowledge of the health sector comes from her most recent stint as Director of Communications at the Health Council of Canada; prior to that she served five years as Director of Communications at The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. Ms MacKinnon also spent a decade working in government and academe, providing communications and media relations advice and assistance to a premier, cabinet minister, and university president. Before moving to Ontario in 1990, she wrote for a daily newspaper and The Canadian Press/Broadcast News in her native Nova Scotia.

She has an honours degree in journalism. She is a member of the national board of Big Brother Big Sisters Canada.

You can reach Sine at: smackinnon@changefoundation.com or 416.205.1334

Anila Sunnak
Communications Specialist
Anila Sunnak joined The Change Foundation in September 2007. Her outreach efforts are targeted at raising awareness of The Foundation's unique mandate and achievements among members of the health-care community, media, and the public.

Anila brings more than twenty years of diverse communications experience to her role. She has held senior roles in writing, media relations, and strategic communications for various Ontario government ministries including Environment and Housing. She spent many years as a senior publicist for TVOntario's respected current affairs TV program – Studio 2 (Steve Paikin and Paula Todd) and It's Your Health, (Maureen Taylor). She is also a past feature writer for the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's (RNAO) monthly magazine, RN Journal. Most recently, she created an outreach and communications strategy for the Health Council of Canada.

She holds a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from York University and an undergraduate honours degree in Journalism from Carleton University.

You can reach Anila at: asunnak@changefoundation.com or 416.205.1325

Carol Bullock
Manager of Corporate Support

Carol Bullock joined the Foundation in September 2007 as Manager of Corporate Support. In this coordinating role, she provides executive and administrative support to the Chair and Members of the Board, sub-committees of the Board and the President and CEO.

Before joining The Change Foundation, Carol worked for over ten years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) as Manager of the Registrar's (Executive) Office and prior to that, as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Registrar. Before this, Carol was at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation as Executive Assistant to the President and CEO and Support Secretary to the Chair of the Board of Trustees and prior to that as Secretary to the Director, Corporate Planning and Special Projects. Carol also brings over 17 years of secretarial experience working in the government sector at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Government Services.

You can reach Carol at: cbullock@changefoundation.com or 416.205.1443

CJ Joseph
Executive Assistant to President & CEO Cathy Fooks

CJ Joseph joined the team as Executive Assistant to President & CEO Cathy Fooks in August 2007. In this central role, she manages executive scheduling, budgeting, and internal/external liaison with key stakeholders and other administrative duties.

CJ comes to the Foundation after eight years with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario where she provided support to the Policy & Communications Department. She has worked as a trained legal secretary in a law firm, for former MP John Nunziata, and in customer service.

You can reach CJ at: cjoseph@changefoundation.com, 416.205.1353

Andrew MacLeod
Project Lead, Strategic Engagement and Information Technology

Andrew MacLeod joined The Change Foundation team in April 2010 as Project Lead, Strategic Engagement and Information Technology. In this role, he provides strategic advice and ongoing support to the organization’s online and face-to-face engagement efforts directed to the health-care community and other targeted audiences. In addition, Andrew supports the design, development and deployment of the think tank's digital media strategy to increase the Foundation's ability to collaborate and connect with our audience, and make strategic use of emerging new media. Andrew also provides project management support for many diverse projects and data management activities.

Before joining The Change Foundation, Andrew worked for six years at a successful start-up technology company in the financial services industry (founding and later managing the organization's customer relations group), and then for several years as a strategic consultant in the areas of technology adoption and engagement. Andrew has also worked as a training officer for Elections Canada and Elections Ontario.

Andrew is an active and passionate volunteer, serving nine years as the Technical Director for the Canopy Theatre Company and seven years as a director of the MusicBox Children’s Charity.

You can reach Andrew at: amacleod@changefoundation.com, 416-205-1579.