Board of Directors

Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka (Chair) was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 1, 2004 and has been the Board Chair since 2007. His current term on the TGLN board will expire on November 30, 2012.

Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Rabbinical Seminary in New York in 1965 and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Ottawa in 1971, concentrating on the Logotherapy of Viktor Frankl. He has been the Rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa since 1967.

Rabbi Bulka was the host of the TV series, In Good Faith, from 1970 to 2006. He is a regular columnist with the Ottawa Citizen for the “Ask the Religion Experts” feature since 1995 and has authored and/or edited more than 35 books. His prolific literary career highlights also include founding the “Journal of Psychology and Judaism” in 1976. He has also been the host of the weekly Radio call-in program “Sunday Night with Rabbi Bulka” on CFRA since 1994.

Rabbi Bulka is actively involved in his community. He is immediate past co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Honorary Chaplain of the Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, and a member of the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy. He is also deeply involved with many organizations including the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, United Way/Centraide of Ottawa-Carleton and founder of Ottawa Kindness Week, as well as being a blood donor over 315 times.

Karen Belaire was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on January 4, 2011. She is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on January 4, 2014.

Karen has held such roles as the Chief Operating Officer for London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London,  the Vice President Administration for McMaster University and the Vice President of Finance and Administration for St Joseph’s Health care in Hamilton and Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. 

Karen holds a CGA designation and an MBA.

Karen values governance and the role of the Board. Having completed the Conference Board of Canada /DeGroote School of Business Directors College, she is a Chartered Director and her board experience includes Horizon Utilities, Theatre Aquarius, St. Peters Hospital, McMaster Innovation Park, Gore District Land Trust, McMaster Museum of Art, and CAA Southwestern Ontario.

Christine Clark was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 3, 2008.  She is the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on September 2, 2012.  

A graduate of Carleton University, Christine Clark has 30 years experience in the field of public affairs, stakeholder engagement and corporate communications with 20 years as a leading communications professional in the health care sector. In June, 2011, Christine was appointed Chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation – Niagara Grant Review Team. For the past decade Christine served as Chief Communications Officer for the Niagara Health System, Ontario’s largest multi-site hospital amalgamation with more than 4,300 employees, 600 medical staff members, 1,100 volunteers serving the 430,000 residents of Niagara, leading a diverse and very demanding communications portfolio.

In 2008, Christine received two national awards for communications excellence from the Health Care Public Relations Association.  In May 2004, she received a coveted Woman of Distinction Award from the YWCA for her exemplary leadership in the field of Public Affairs and Communications.  In 1999, she served as the Chief Communications Director for the 1999 World Rowing Championships. She is a past board member of Goodwill Industries Niagara. She currently serves on the Ontario Trillium Foundation Niagara Grants Committee.

A life-long resident of Niagara, Christine and her husband Ted Lafleur reside with their two young sons in Fort Erie.

Diane Craig was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 8, 2004. She is  a member of the Governance Committee of the board. Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on December 7, 2013.

Diane is a graduate of the Protocol School of Washington, and holds a Certificate in Intercultural Studies from the University of British Columbia. She also provides expert training and consultation in national and international business etiquette. 

Diane is an alumna of L’Académie des Hauts Couturiers Canadiens, and was an instructor at the Richard Robinson School of Fashion Design in Ottawa.  Her extensive training in style and fashion, combined with several years of experience working with professionals and politicians, has earned her a top spot as an image consultant.

Over the past 10 years, Diane has been recognized for her volunteer work on organ and tissue donation. Her passion is to save the lives of thousands of Canadians who die needlessly waiting for a transplant. Diane’s daughter Sandrine was tragically killed at the age of 11 in a school bus accident on May 26, 1999.  Diane launched a national organ donor awareness campaign at Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place in January 2000. Don Cherry, honorary co-chair of Sandrine’s Gift of Life, joined Diane for a nationally televised ceremony. Diane was a member of the Kidney Foundation of Eastern Ontario Organ and Tissue Donation committee from 1999 to 2004.

Dr. Diane Hebert was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 1, 2004.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on November 30, 2012.

Dr. Hebert is a Member, Division of Nephrology at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Fazilah Hussain was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on May 4, 2011.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on May 4, 2014.

Fazilah received her B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Waterloo in 2004, and her Juris Doctrate (JD) from Queen's University in 2008. During the summer of 2006, Fazilah completed the Public International Law program at the Queen's International Study Centre outside of London, England. Fazilah was called to the Bar in 2009 by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
 
Fazilah is currently an associate lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault LLP in the Labour and Employment group. Fazilah represents management in a variety of labour and employment issues including employment standards, wrongful dismissal, labour arbitrations, occupational health and safety, human rights and labour and employment issues arising in corporate transactions.
 
Fazilah has completed a number of internship programs including in the summer of 2005 at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan where she conducted studies on patient wait times and clinic efficiencies. In the summer of 2007, Fazilah interned at the United Nations Secretariat, in its Department of Political Affairs, in New York City. Specifically, Fazilah worked with the Focal Point for Democracy and Rule of Law to draft the 2007 report for the Secretary-General on the department's Democracy initiatives.

 
May Ye Lee was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 8, 2004. She is a member of the Governance Committee of the board.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on December 7, 2012.

Born in Hong Kong, May came to Canada in 1967. She earned her Bachelor of Laws from University of Windsor in 1977 and Master of Laws from York University, Osgood Hall Law School in 1998.  She began her Scarborough firm in 1980 and practices law in the areas of real estate, commercial, China trade, Chinese trade-marks and patents. 

A dedicated believer in giving back to the community, May founded the Scarborough Chinese Outreach Committee (COC) in 1996. The COC has been instrumental in getting the Chinese community to volunteer its time and money to benefit The Scarborough Hospital. Through the COC, May has spearheaded efforts to foster The Scarborough Hospital’s relationship with its large Asian community including the improvement of Asian language signs and directories in the hospital. In addition, the COC has established funds earmarked for annual bursaries for nurses, research grants for doctors, and annual grants to student volunteers.  The COC has raised over $1.8 Million to date to benefit the two community hospitals in east Toronto.  Under her leadership, the COC hosts yearly the Scarborough Health Fair day which has over 1000 visitors, a Spring Continuing Medical Education Symposium for Family Physicians, and a fundraising gala - the Mid-Autumn Ball.

May is a very active volunteer in the GTA area.  She has been involved in various roles with the Scarborough (General) Hospital including:  a member of the Foundation (1991 to 1999), a Governor (1996 to 1999) and board member (1999 to 2006).

May remains a strong advocate for organ and tissue donation and dedicates her efforts in reaching out to the large Chinese-speaking population.

Bernadette MacDonald (Vice Chair) was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 8, 2004 and has been the vice-chair of the board since 2008.  She chairs the Governance Committee of the board.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on June 7, 2012.

Bernadette received a Bachelor of Nursing from Dalhousie University and Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of British Columbia.  She completed the Johnson & Johnson/Wharton Fellowship in Management for Nurse Executives in 2009.

Bernadette is the Vice President, Programs and Services at Accreditation Canada.  In her career Bernadette has held senior leadership roles as the Vice President Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive at Brockville General Hospital (2008-2010), Vice President, Surgery Services at London Health Sciences Centre and St Joseph’s Health Care, London Ontario (2003-2007).  Director of Preoperative Services at the Ottawa Hospital (2001-2003) and Director Emergency and Renal Care Kingston General Hospital (1998-2001).

Bernadette is a past board member of the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario.

 
Dr. Kenneth Pritzker was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on March 3, 2010.  He is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the board.  His current term on the TGLN board will expire on March 2, 2013.

Ken is currently Managing Director, York Medtech Partners Inc, and, President and CEO, Rna Diagnostics Inc.  Ken is a pathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital Toronto and a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and Department of Surgery, University of Toronto.

Ken served as Chief, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto from 1986 to 2008 and subsequently as founder of Mount Sinai Services, a laboratory service outreach vehicle for the biomedical research and innovation sector. With over 240 scientific publications, Ken is a recognized leader internationally in the fields of arthritis, biomaterials, genomics and nanotechnology.
 
Throughout his career, Ken has served in leadership and advisory positions to national and international professional societies, research institutes and healthcare organizations. Ken brings over thirty years experience as consultant in the areas of strategic and operational advice for leading universities, health care institutions, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and biotechnology corporations. Ken is widely recognized as an innovator in clinical laboratory organization and management directed towards advancing patient centered clinical laboratory practice.

Ken is a graduate in Medicine from the University of Toronto from which he also has a Bachelor of Science (Medicine) degree in Pharmacology and received post graduate education in pathology at McGill University.  He is a fellow of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Anatomical Pathology.

Dr. Miriam Rossi was appointed to Trillium Gift of Life Network’s (TGLN) board on December 1, 2004. She is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the board.  Her current term on the TGLN board will expire on November 30, 2012.

Miriam is a physician specializing in Adolescent Medicine at Toronto’s Sick Kids Hospital and a professor teaching in the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto (UofT). She has completed thirteen academic years in the policy, management and counseling roles of Associate Dean, Student Affairs and Admissions, and Registrar, for the Faculty of Medicine in 2001.

Prior to entering her own medical studies and with Bachelor and Masters degrees in Administration and Nutritional Sciences, Dr. Rossi was a nutrition researcher in the U.S., a clinical dietitian and instructor in Boston, and a public health nutritionist in New York City. Currently, in addition to working with clinically ill teenagers, and with a national study looking at the plight of Street Youth in Toronto, she also is active, along with health professional colleagues, in organizing chronic disease prevention and health promotion programs for different age groups in the Black community.

In 1994 she was sponsor and organizing co-founder of the Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) at UofT. In recognition of her work with children, youth, and family health care, social supports and education, Miriam has received several awards. Among them are the Ontario Psychological Foundation Community Service Award—1991, the Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence—1997, a Vision Award from the YMCA—1999, an African Canadian Achievement Award in Science—2002, the Keepers of the Knowledge-Flame Award—2005, the Black Methodist Episcopal Church—Toronto Police Service Community Award in 2009.