Jean-Marc Mangin

President & CEO

Jean-Marc has been President & CEO of Philanthropic Foundations Canada since 2019. He currently sits on the Government of Canada’s Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, the Advisory Council for Carleton University’s Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program, and the management committee of PhiLab, the Canadian Philanthropy Partnership Research Network.

Prior to PFC, Jean-Marc led a renewal process of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest national organization of Canadian researchers and scholars as its Executive Director.

He also has had a long career serving in international development with the UN, NGOs, and the Canadian Government in responding to global humanitarian disasters and development challenges. As CUSO Executive Director, he led a merger with VSO-Canada, and he was the first Executive Director of Global Call for Climate Action, a cross-sector civil society initiative supporting transformational change to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Born in Manitoba, raised in Quebec, and educated in BC and Ontario, he holds an MA in Political Sciences and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Sara Krynitzki

Associate Chief Executive Officer

Sara has spent over 20 years leading non-profit initiatives across Canada. She began her career in fundraising, has worked on Parliament Hill, and for over eight years managed community initiatives and granting for one of Canada’s largest community foundations, allocating millions of dollars annually, and connecting philanthropy to the greatest needs to tackle inequity. 

As Associate Chief Executive Officer, Sara works closely with the President & CEO overseeing thought-leadership, organizational management, and operations, while guiding PFC’s public policy and advocacy agenda, research, and public relations activities to foster good public policies for the sector and to advance impactful, forward-thinking philanthropy. 

She has a BA in Political Studies from Trent University and a Master’s in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University. She sits on the board of directors of Sustainability Network, and in 2024 she was appointed to the CRA and Finance Canada’s Technical Issues Working Group, advising on charity regulation. 

Having lived across Canada and internationally, Sara is now based in Toronto with her husband and three children. 

The land that Sara and her family live, learn and work on has been home to many Indigenous communities throughout time, including the Wendat, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Haudenosaunee. The area is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and it is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.  

Abra Rissi

Director, Member Engagement & Communications

Abra is the Director of Member Engagement and Communications where she has the pleasure of working alongside an active and enthusiastic team. In this role, she leads the network’s engagement and communications strategies and activities in support of PFC’s convening, collaboration, and learning goals.

Abra joins PFC’s community of advocates and leaders with 15 years of experience in public affairs, operations, and public engagement. She has worked with not-for-profit leaders, elected and government officials, and within civil society – with a focus on partnerships, collaboration, and community-building in service of the public good.

A cyclist and crossword enthusiast, Abra has lived in Geneva, Paris, Vancouver and currently Toronto. A purpose-driven professional, she believes in the value of strong and inclusive civic engagement in advancing a more prosperous, equitable, and just society for all.

André Pawan Vashist

Director, Learning & Collaboration

A multi award winning social innovator, André has 20 years of experience in community wellbeing and transformations and is a facilitator of multi-stakeholder collaborations that are working towards social and ecological justice.

At his core, he is a dedicated family member with two children, a lover of the land with joy for being outdoors, a poet who expresses openly about life’s journey, and a collaborationist who currently sits on the Board of Libro Credit Union and is Advisor to Carolinian Canada’s conservation finance project.

Co-designing solutions to shared challenges is where André likes to infuse his magic by weaving identities with a healing centered approach - connecting the inner and outer work as we attempt transformations to solve societal challenges. Watch this TEDx Talk to learn more about André.

Aviv Milgram

Director, Member Engagement & Communications (on leave)

Aviv joined our team in January 2023 to lead PFC’s integrated member engagement and communications strategies and activities, in support of its advocacy, collaboration, and learning goals.

Coming from a background in both the philanthropic and non-profit sectors, Aviv’s experiences range from grants management and operations to directing strategic initiatives and stakeholder engagement. Her involvement has spanned from national philanthropy addressing community resilience, Indigenous reconciliation, and climate change, to local Montreal-based arts, culture, and heritage work in the museum sphere.

Aviv holds a BA from McGill University and an MA in Religion in Global Politics from SOAS, University of London.

Andre Williams

Programs Coordinator

Andre has six years of experience in social innovation. His expertise lies in qualitative data analysis, strategic storytelling, and driving social justice initiatives.

Andre Williams took on a program support role during his time at inPath, a training hub dedicated to empowering Indigenous youth through the arts. He spearheaded publications, engagement strategies, and research projects for nonprofits, showcasing his ability to lead and deliver results.

With a background in urbanism, his passion for creating inclusive public spaces was evident in his contributions to design, research, public engagement, and creative direction in collaboration with project managers and local communities.

Additionally, his work as a steering committee member with Concordia University’s Shift Centre for Social Transformation has been instrumental in supporting philanthropic initiatives. He has an eye for reviewing grant applications, budget allocations, and overall governance.
Land acknowledgement:

Andre Williams has called Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) home for the last 10 years. Tiohtià:ke has long been a meeting place for various Indigenous nations, including the Kanien’kehà:ka (Mohawk) Nation, who are part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) is also home to a diverse urban Indigenous population, including members of the Anishinaabeg, Huron-Wendat, and Inuit communities, among others.

Andre remains committed to systemic change and holds himself accountable to continue learning from and serving Indigenous communities.

Benoît Charlebois

Senior Coordinator, Communications & Member Engagement

As a professional communicator trained in North and South America, Benoît has built an exceptionally diversified and international career spanning 35 years in private, public, governmental and non-governmental organizations—in over seven countries—in the fields of education and public engagement, telecommunications, humanitarian and international development.

Between 2012-2022, he held several positions at the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific of which he is an alumnus and a former Board Director. Before that, he held senior management and strategic corporate communications positions with TELUS Québec and Bell Canada, as well as the Canadian International Development Agency, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Previously, he was in charge of program management, customer operations and marketing in several telecom start-ups with Telesystem International Wireless, helping to launch successful cellular phone companies in Romania, Brazil, and France.

Earlier in his career, he worked in communications with United World Colleges International in the UK and Italy, as well as in Development Support Communications with Club 2/3-Oxfam Quebec in Montreal and as a volunteer cooperant with Canadian University Services Overseas in Colombia.

He has served on the Board of the Space for Life Foundation and Initiatives of Change Canada. He is married with a Colombian woman with whom he has two children. Benoît is fluent in French, Spanish and English.

Bruce Lawson

Senior Advisor to President & CEO

Bruce is the Senior Advisor to the President & CEO at PFC, as well as a Special Advisor at The Counselling Foundation of Canada, working part-time on a project-basis, as well as undertaking contracts for other organizations. He previously served as the Foundation’s President & CEO from 2008 to 2023, as well as the Executive Officer of CERIC and an ex-officio member of the CERIC Board of Directors.

Bruce is a co-founder of Foundation House, a collaborative workspace housing three foundations and several charitable & non-profit network organizations in Toronto. He was a part of the steering committee that co-authored the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action presented at the Closing Event of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. In 2019, he was appointed for a two-year term to the federal government’s Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector. In Spring 2020, he helped create the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, which was designed to support Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations with immediate needs in the face of the pandemic.

An active volunteer, Bruce is serving on the Board of Trustees of the Arctic Inspiration Prize. He is a past Board Chair of both Philanthropic Foundations Canada and Casey House.

Bruce has a BA (Economics) from McGill and an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Erin Matheson

Executive Coordinator

Erin has spent her career working in philanthropy and government. Passionate about working with community-based organizations, she managed an Irish cultural non-profit for many years, which allowed her to support the community in which she was raised. More recently, she worked with healthcare and education non-profit groups.

As Executive Coordinator, Erin supports the team in achieving the goals identified in its strategic framework by developing and implementing crucial structures for collaboration within the organization.

She is a proud mother of three daughters, dedicated friend and family member, and enjoys sharing her love of baking with those around her.

Michele Fugiel Gartner, PhD, CAP®

Lead Researcher

Michele is a philanthropic researcher, educator, and advisor. She holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews, School of Management, where she studied the experiences of CEOs in UK family foundations and conceptualised the foundation professional role. She instructs nonprofit management and social innovation at Mount Royal University (Calgary, AB). Michele’s philanthropic experience includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Social Venture Partners Calgary, Trico Charitable Foundation, and the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy & Public Good. She obtained her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® designation in 2016 and is a member of the Global Philanthropy Advisory Group with the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners (STEP). Michele has an MA from the University of London, SOAS, in international studies and diplomacy and a BA from Arizona State University in intercultural and organizational communication.

Simon Mallett

Chair

Rozsa Foundation

Adwoa K. Buahene

Director

Strategic consultant, Toronto

Amanda Bernard

Director

Amanda Bernard, an Honours Bachelor of Business graduate from the University of Guelph Humber, is a member of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, the Director of Indigenous Programs at the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Founder of Shawish Market. In her role at the Foundation, Amanda supports Indigenous youth by providing them with opportunities to connect with their land, language, culture, and peers through various projects. 
Before joining the Laidlaw Foundation, Amanda served as the Account Manager responsible for launching the NIHB portal, an online platform that enables Indigenous people to submit their health benefit claims digitally. In her spare time, Amanda started Shawish, a new virtual marketplace exclusively for Indigenous artists to create their own shops and upload their products for free. Amanda currently resides in Toronto, ON.

Amanda Mayer

Treasurer

Program Director & COO, Lawson Foundation - Cantley, QC

Cameron Miller

Secretary

Senior Director, Citizenship Governance & Operations for Corporate Citizenship

Justin Wiebe

Director

Justin is a proud Métis citizen from the prairies who currently splits his time between rural Saskatchewan and Toronto. He is passionate about rethinking philanthropy, youth leadership, and building movements of solidarity across different communities. He currently works at Mastercard Foundation in the EleV program focusing on improving Indigenous youth education and employment outcomes. He formerly worked at the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Justin is also on the board of The Circle on Philanthropy, a WEF Global Shaper, and a co-founder of The Mamawi Project. He holds a Master’s Degree in Planning from the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at UBC, and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Saskatchewan.

Lara O’Donnell

Director

Dr. Lara O’Donnell is the Executive Director of the Weston Family Foundation, a role she has held since 2020. As Executive Director, Lara is responsible for executing all aspects of the Foundation's operations and strategy, reporting to the Board of Directors. The Weston Family Foundation designs various granting programs to deliver its mandate of supporting the wellbeing of Canadians, and presently donates roughly $60M per year.  

Prior to joining the Foundation, Lara was the Director of Research Partnerships at the Canadian technology scale-up Element AI, where she was responsible for the design and execution of the research partnership strategy.  

Lara has also held various leadership roles within the Canadian research and innovation ecosystem. She was a Senior Director of Research at CIFAR, an organization dedicated to creating transformative knowledge by convening interdisciplinary teams of scholars, and Director of the Accelerate and Elevate programs at Mitacs, and organization aimed at building bridges between academia and industry.  

Lara studied the mechanisms involved in sensing and repairing DNA during her postdoctoral research at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital. She also investigated the processes of cell division during her Ph.D. which she completed at McGill University. She earned her BSc. in Biology from McMaster University. 

Lisa Cirillo

Director

Lisa Cirillo has served as the CEO of The Law Foundation of Ontario since September 2020. Prior to joining the Foundation, Lisa was the Executive Director of Downtown Legal Services, a community-based legal clinic at the University of Toronto Faculty of law for 10 years. Lisa has practiced human rights, education, housing, and family law in a wide variety of social justice organizations including Downtown Legal Services, ARCH Disability Rights Centre, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She has served on numerous boards and committees over the years including the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education, the National Association of Women and the Law, Legal Aid Ontario’s Clinic Law Advisory Committee, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Community Advisory Group.  

Michelle LeDonne

Director

Michelle LeDonne (she/her) has been the Executive Director of the Pathy Family Foundation (PFF) since July 2023, where she previously served as Program Officer and was responsible for Montreal-based partner organizations and funder collaboratives.  
 
Before joining PFF in 2019, Michelle worked for more than a decade in fundraising, strategy, and program development for a national non-profit and several community-based organizations working in the areas of homelessness relief and prevention, health equity, and youth and 2SLGBTQIA+ empowerment. Originally from Chicago, she holds a Master of Arts from McGill University and currently resides in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal with her son.  

MJ Sinha

Director

Board Member

Sylvie Trottier

Director

Sylvie Trottier is a philanthropist, family principal, and advocate, with a primary focus on climate and inequality. She is a board member of Trottier Family Foundation and the Eclipx Family Office.  
 
The Trottier Family Foundation has a primary focus on climate, health, education, and science, seeking to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create cross sector collaborations, and take risks that others cannot.  
 
The Eclipx Family Office has a three-fold objective wherein (i) investment, (ii) environmental and social, and (iii) family objectives, values, and mission align toward a common purpose.  
 
Sylvie also engages in the philanthropic ecosystem, sitting on the coordination committee for Le Collectif des fondations québécoises contre les inégalités and as a member of Forward Global, as well as within the family office ecosystem as co-chair of the Cambridge Forum on Family Office Development and as a member of CREO Syndicate.  
 
Sylvie worked in the environmental sector for nearly fifteen years, holds a BSc in Environmental Studies from McGill University and an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics.  

Teresa Marques

Director

Teresa is an established senior executive and educator in the non-profit sector. She leads the Rideau Hall Foundation, an independent charity established by the Right Honourable David Johnston. The RHF’s vision is a better Canada, and it works to address key challenges facing the country in the areas of learning equity, creating a culture of innovation, leadership development, and the promotion of giving and volunteerism. Teresa has significant experience in people management, stakeholder engagement, and program implementation. She is a sought-after public speaker and frequent media commentator on Canadian philanthropy, giving patterns, and non-profit sector management issues.

She is an instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s G. Raymond Chang School for Continuing Education and holds degrees in Canadian history from the University of Ottawa and York University, and a post-graduate certificate from Dalhousie University’s School of Continuing Education, with a focus on non-profit governance. In 2022, she was named one of the inaugural winners of DMZ’s Women of the Year award and in 2023 a “Changemaker” by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

Teresa’s volunteer service has focused on community development and education issues and she has served on numerous local and national boards of directors. Her current and previous directorships include the National Theatre School, AFP Ottawa, Family Services Toronto, and Working Women Community Centre. She is interested in how giving patterns and attitudes towards philanthropy in Canada are evolving and seeks to drive social change through collective action.