International Women's Day

Special Guest

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell

29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell is the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. As the representative of His Majesty The King, Ms. Dowdeswell carries out constitutional and ceremonial duties and facilitates healthy citizen and community engagement.

Ms. Dowdeswell has served the public interest at all orders of government and in the private sector. She contributed globally as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. In Canada, her diverse portfolios ranged from education and culture to environment and the management of complex public enquiries. She was the founding president and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and later the president and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies. She has served on the boards of Canadian and international corporate and non-profit organizations.

Since taking office in late 2014, Ms. Dowdeswell has challenged Ontarians to think deeply about their role not just as residents of a province, but as global citizens. Building resilience and sustainability through inclusive economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion, as well as safeguarding democracy, has been the focus of her mandate.

Ms. Dowdeswell has a Bachelor of Science in home economics, a teaching certificate from the University of Saskatchewan, and a master of science in behavioural sciences from Utah State University. She is an officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario, and the recipient of numerous distinctions and fellowships. She holds 11 honorary doctorates.

Moderator

Nam Kiwanuka

Co-host,
TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin

Nam Kiwanuka is co-host of TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Ontario’s leading daily primetime current affairs show, the host of The Thread, TVO’s multi-platform show on current affairs issues, and host of The Agenda in the Summer.

Prior to this, she was a MuchMusic VJ and Videographer; worked with the NBA, Sportsnet; and was a columnist for the BBC’s Focus on Africa magazine. Nam has interviewed many high-profile personalities, including Salman Rushdie, Roberta Bondar, Masai Ujiri, Britney Spears and Magic Johnson. Connect with Nam and her upcoming projects on Twitter.

Panelist

Priscilla Manful

CEO,
Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto

Priscilla Manful was appointed Chief Executive Officer at the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CCAS) in 2022. She is the first Black CEO of CCAS and brings a wealth of knowledge to the role from her 20 years of experience in the social services sector. Throughout her career, Priscilla has cultivated a leadership style that is based on collaboration and inclusiveness. She is committed to bringing culturally responsive supports and services to children, youth and families in the Catholic community of Toronto. Priscilla prides herself in asking tough questions and challenging the status quo.

“As the first Black African CEO at CCAS, I am conscious of the substantial role that the organization, in concert with other systems, play in the lives of children, youth and their families in influencing their well-being,” says Ms. Manful. “I also understand the social locations, social identities, disadvantages and the lived experiences of the marginalized groups and individuals that we serve.”

Priscilla joined CCAS as a student in 2007. Since then, she’s held various positions in child welfare service delivery, with a focus on developing stronger community partnerships to better meet the needs of children, youth and families in Toronto’s Catholic community. She is interested in how the legal profession, law enforcement, the education system and child welfare can work better together to empower families. She is passionate about equal and equitable educational opportunities for children and young people in care so they can achieve their hopes, dreams and goals.

Under her leadership, CCAS implemented the Africentric Wraparound model. This approach to service delivery examines the service system’s collective response to supporting Black families to disrupt Anti-Black racism and provide identity-affirming services to children, youth and families of African-descent. This model has reduced the number of Black children and youth coming into CCAS care.

Panelist

Seher Shafiq

Program Manager,
Mozilla

Seher is a national civic leader with over 10 years of experience working on some of Canada’s most pressing civic challenges. Seher is also an experienced writer, speaker, and consultant whose commentary has been featured in radio, print, and TV with CBC, TVO, Global News, CTV CP24, Toronto Star, Al Jazeera, and more.

Currently, Seher works for the Mozilla Foundation where she runs a global program on ethical and trustworthy AI.

Prior to this, Seher led the Active Citizenship Project at North York Community House, where she co-designed new civic engagement programming for settlement agencies across Canada.

In 2019, Seher led the country’s very first national non-partisan voter engagement campaign out of TMU’s Democratic Engagement Exchange. As part of this campaign, Seher travelled coast-to-coast to deliver voter engagement trainings to community-based organizations across the country and convened the Canadian Vote Coalition, the first campaign of its kind.

From 2017-2019, Seher was a Program Manager for the flagship DiverseCity Fellows program at CivicAction. Seher also has experience working in the refugee and resettlement sector at Lifeline Syria, as well as at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Panelist

Margaret Eaton

National CEO,
Canadian Mental Health Association

Since January 2020, Margaret has served as National CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Associations—at 104 years old, CMHA is the most extensive and established community mental health organization in the country.

Prior to joining CMHA, Margaret served for seven years as Executive Director of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), a multi-stakeholder council that brings leaders together to create and champion solutions to better integrate immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) labour market.

Previously, she served as President of ABC Life Literacy and held leadership roles with the Association of Canadian Publishers and Magazines Canada. She has also worked in marketing and fundraising roles for arts organizations including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Stratford Festival. She has volunteered as a mentor for the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends and as a board member and advisor for many not-for-profit organizations in immigration, literacy and the arts.

In 2012, she was awarded a Diamond Jubilee medal for contributions to literacy and culture. In 2021, Margaret was named one of the Hill Times’ Top 100 Lobbyists and CMHA ranked sixth on the Forbes’ list of Canada’s Best Employers.

Panelist

Gillian O'Connell

Vice President, Travel & Group Benefits Strategy, Johnson Insurance

Gillian is an experienced insurance leader with a focus on finance, travel and group benefits. She began her career as a CA with PWC before being appointed Controller of Johnson Insurance. She has held various finance and P&L roles during her nearly 20 year career with Johnson.

Gillian holds a BComm from Memorial University of Newfoundland and has studied internationally. Gillian is an avid volunteer with minor hockey and when not working can generally be found in a rink, gym or on a soccer field watching her two active boys in their various sporting events.