Board of Directors

Feria Bacchus

Feria is the Vice President, Business Development & Marketing, Healthcare Division, Sodexo Canada. She has over 15 years experience in executive positions within the broader healthcare system in Canada and the USA. Feria’s experience includes working with a multi-national private sector company in the USA; Cancer Care Ontario; Alberta Regional Health Authority; private health care consulting; and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Feria has a Master of Health Science, major Health Administration, from the University of Toronto (1998), as well as an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Guelph (1995).

Susan Blue

Susan is a Health Families Manager with Toronto Public Health. She received her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and has worked in the public health field for over 30 years. In the past she has volunteered with the Girl Guides of Canada and the Emily Stowe Shelter for Women.

Julie Callaghan

Julie works at the New Heights Community Health Centres, as Program Director, Capacity Building. Julie has worked in the non-profit sector for 20 years, specializing in design and delivery of community-based programs and services. She has an M.Ed. from the Adult Education Department, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education/University of Toronto.

Doug Hennessy, Chair, Human Resource Committee

Doug has over 26 years of business experience in corporate human resources and human resources consulting. On the corporate side, he has held various senior leadership positions in the compensation, benefits and pension areas. In addition, he has worked as a Senior Consultant and Relationship Manager in global consulting organizations, as well as founding his own Human Resources consulting firm.

Doug is currently the Director, Total Rewards at TMX Group Inc. He holds a Bachelors of Commerce degree from the University of Windsor and the designation of Certified Compensation Professional (C.C.P).

Doug has been a NYHFB Board member since 2000.

Chris Hilborn, Chair, Finance Committee

Chris is currently a Director of Base Management at Bell Canada. Prior to working at Bell, Chris worked as a consultant at A.T. Kearney and an engineer at Hatch Associates. Chris holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Business (U of T), and undergraduate degree in engineering from Queen's. When not at work, Chris enjoys spending time with his family, especially camping and canoeing in the summer, and snowshoeing in the winter.

Chris was first introduced to the North York Harvest Food Bank in 2003 and is currently the Treasurer. Chris has worked with the board to improve the Food Bank's corporate governance by recommending how to make the board more effective and how to transition to a high performance board.

Morley Katz, Board Chair

Morley is Managing Director of Management Matters, a consulting practice focusing on organizational design and behaviour. Prior to becoming an external consultant, he was a corporate executive as well as a power systems engineer. Morley holds an M.A.Sc in Management Sciences from the University of Waterloo, and undergraduate degrees in engineering from Queen’s and mathematics and philosophy from
U of T.

Boris Kogut

Boris is Vice President of Capital Markets and Treasurer of myNext Mortgage Company. Boris received a Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1989. Boris has over 20 years experience in the financial services sector including 9 years as an executive at two major Canadian banks. He earned his MBA and BBA degrees from York University, majoring in finance and accounting. He is married with two kids and lives in North York.

Boris is a member and past chair of the North York Harvest Corporate Advisory Board.

Brent Lawson, Chair, New Direction Committee

Brent has been the Food Service Manager at Youth Without Shelter, a 50 bed emergency and second stage youth housing agency, for 14 years. He has been on the board for many years as a client agency representative.

Francois Poirier, Chair, Corporate Advisory Board

Francois has spent the last 20 year working in the management consulting and investment banking industries. Most recently in banking, he spent considerable time working with CEO’s and boards of directors in the energy industry on strategic matters. As a management consultant, he facilitated strategic planning and technology planning within the government and hospital sectors.

Francois is on the board, audit committee and independent directors committee of EPCOR Power LP, Canada’s largest power income trust, and is also on the board of Arts for Children of Toronto, which provides unique, hands-on arts programming for children and youth from underserved communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Alessandro Sapienza

Alessandro is the co-founder of Personal Brand Strategies, an international consulting agency focused on personal marketing for professionals and business people. He has 15 years marketing and management experience in product/service branding and development. He is an author, consultant and speaker on the subject of Personal Brand for Professionals. Alessandro has a culturally-diverse background, is experienced in dealing with international markets and speaks fluent English, Italian and Spanish.

Volunteer engagements include being involved in client services at North York Harvest Food Bank’s Community Action Resource Centre and in public relations for the Doctor’s Hospital with the Italian community.

Faye Thorek

Faye is the founder of Thorek/Scott and partners. She is a graduate of the City University of New York and has taken extensive courses over the years in all aspects of human resources management. She has been involved in public speaking events and is active in providing regular feedback on various human resources issues to the many clients her company serves. Faye is an active volunteer in many community services throughout the Toronto area.

Peter Zissis

Peter is the Chief Financial Officer of Birch Hill Equity Partners, an investment management firm. He has over 20 years of private equity and finance experience. Prior to joining Birch Hill, Peter was the Chief Financial Officer of Perennial Investment Group Inc., a venture capital investment firm and Perennial Inc., a retail design consulting practice. Previously, Peter held a number of financial positions with Harrowston Inc., a private equity investment firm. Prior to that, he was with Coopers & Lybrand in its audit and assurance practice. Peter is a Chartered Accountant and received his M.B.A. and B.B.A. from York University.