Board Members

David Kennedy is a retired Municipal CAO with over 40 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors. He was employed for over 30 years in the Municipal Government sector, 25 years with the City of Guelph in various senior management positions and the last five as acting CAO for the Municipality of Meaford. Subsequently, he was employed by Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health as Director of Corporate Services.

David has spent over 20 years serving on various boards, including President of the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada. He joined the Guelph General Hospital Board in 2013 and is presently the Chair of the Administration and Facilities Committee and the Audit Committee.

In June 2017, Terry Campbell retired as the President of the Canadian Bankers Association representing the banking industry in Canada. As CBA President, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the International Banking Federation, a forum addressing global banking issues. During his tenure at the CBA, Mr. Campbell was involved in mentoring programs for recent immigrants to Canada, and served as Chair of the Banks Division for United Way Toronto.

Prior to joining the CBA, Mr. Campbell had a 16-year career in the Ontario public service, and also served on the Guelph Museums Board of Management and the Board of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario. In August 2018, he became a member of the Board of Guelph General Hospital. He graduated with a Masters degree in History from Queen’s University and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Toronto.

Marianne Walker is changing the future of health care in Ontario. In leadership roles spanning more than 30 years, including her current role as president and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, Marianne has worked to refocus health care on the patient. She has led several region- and province-wide initiatives that have dramatically improved patient outcomes after stroke, and her elder care strategy is recognized as one of the best practice model province-wide. As a surveyor with Accreditation Canada, Marianne is also helping to improve health care quality and patient safety across the country and internationally in countries including Brazil.

Marianne holds a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McMaster University and Nursing Diploma from Conestoga College. Marianne is the recipient of the 2015 Premier’s Award for Outstanding Ontario College Graduates in Health Sciences and of the 2016 Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award for Health, Wellness and Recreation. She is a Board member of the Change Foundation and past Ontario Hospital Association Board member.

Omar Aboelela is the Assistant Vice President, Partnerships with CBI Health. He began his career as a Physiotherapist and has been working in the healthcare industry for over 15 years. Omar joined CBI Health in 2013 as a Regional Director, and took on the Assistant Vice President role in 2020. He is also a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee at CBI Health.

In addition to working at CBI Health, Omar is an Assistant Professor (Part Time) at the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at McMaster University. He co-instructs the HM708 course, Leadership in Healthcare Organizations, in the Master of Health Management program.

Omar is highly engaged in the development and implementation of Ontario Health Teams and broader health system transformation, working with funders and local groups to develop innovative healthcare programs and solutions.

Omar holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences (University of Guelph), a Master of Science degree in Physiotherapy (McMaster University) and a Master of Health Management degree (McMaster University).

Jennifer Caspers is a physician who continues to actively practice with a Family Medicine practice in Guelph – serving patients in both the community and at the Guelph General Hospital and Homewood Health Center. She has filled many positions within the Guelph hospital sector including Chief of Family Practice for GGH and St. Joseph’s Hospitals, Secretary, Vice-President and President of the Joint Medical Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and, for the past nine years, Chief of Staff.Jennifer has sat on the GGH Board in her administrative capacities for 12 years. 

At GGH, Jennifer is Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee and the Credentials Committee and, regionally, sits at the Chief of Staff table and the Mental Health tables. Board experience was gained in the GGH forum and on the Boards of Guelph Big Sisters, the Edward Johnson Music Foundation and the Programming Committee of the River Run Center. Jennifer has been the Lead Physician for the Phoenix Family Health Organization, a sub-group of the Guelph Family Health Team, for 14 years.

Jennifer has always lived in a medical milieu with a Physician father, a Midwife mother, a Veterinary husband and daughter.

Fraser is a seasoned healthcare technology executive who works with public and private sector healthcare stakeholders, guiding them in adopting new and innovative care delivery models. With 20+ years of experience in the Mobility & Digital Health, he is passionate about the important impact that Mobile, Social, Artificial Intelligence and Information Communication Technologies can have on transforming healthcare for all Canadians.

Fraser currently serves as SVP, Partnerships and Business Development for the St. Joseph’s Health System. Previously he has held Marketing and Business Development leadership roles at Research In Motion (BlackBerry), TELUS Health, Hewlett Packard and various start-up / growth stage Healthcare technology providers.

He joined the Guelph General Hospital Board in 2016 and serves on the Administration and Facilities and IT Advisory Committee.

Dave is a finance executive at The Co-operators Group Limited where he is responsible for setting the strategic direction and ensuring operational success of the Co-operators shared service financial functions.

He has 8+ years of insurance experience with a focus on financial reporting, operational accounting and financial systems. Prior to this he worked in the auditing of manufacturing and not-for-profit sectors for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Dave is active in the community through involvement as the president of a local nursery school co-operative as well as a Guelph Minor Soccer coach.

Dave joined the Guelph General Hospital Audit Committee in 2013 as a community member and then the Board of Directors and the Admin and Facilities Committee in 2017.

Cam Guthrie was elected Mayor of Guelph in 2014, after serving as a Councillor for Ward 4 from 2010 to 2014.

He currently serves as the Chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM), a group of 29 Mayors of cities with 100,000 people or more, who collectively represent 70 per cent of Ontario’s population.

In March 2022, he was appointed to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) Board of Mayors, representing North America.

Cam was a licensed insurance broker and local entrepreneur for 16 years before becoming Mayor. An avid community volunteer, Cam has served on the Boards of several local not-for-profit organizations and mentored startups and small business owners through the Business Centre of Guelph-Wellington. He holds a business diploma from Sir Sandford Fleming College.

An accomplished drummer, Cam has been a member of local bands, played on several studio recordings, and produced or co-produced several albums.

Cam’s roots in Guelph stretch back to 1919, when his great-grandfather founded Guthrie’s Bakery on Quebec Street in downtown Guelph. Cam and his wife Rachel are proud parents of two children, Anakin and Adelaide.

Rena recently retired from a 34-year career with the Ontario government and brings experience as a proven public sector leader who was able to effect change, manage risk and get things done.

She spent over 25 years in the area of food safety policy and food inspection systems that included responsibilities with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as the Director of the Food Inspection Branch. She was accountable for the delivery of provincial food inspection programs for meat, dairy, and foods of plant origin.

Also in her role as the Chief Administrative Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister of Research and Corporate Services Division she was accountable for $1.1 billion annual Ministry budget and 175 division staff and provided strategic leadership, planning and delivery of core businesses in: financial management and business planning, Human Resource and labour relations, emergency management and business continuity and agriculture, food and rural research through funding and transfer payments with various partners.

Rena joined the Guelph General Hospital Board in March 2017 and is a member of the Quality Committee.

Janet Kaufman is a retired academic librarian with expertise in information services and library management, and was president of the Ontario Library Association in 2006. Ms. Kaufman has more than 20 years of board experience, serving on the Boards of Trellis Mental Health and Development Services, Community Torchlight, Onward Willow, Family and Children's Services of Guelph-Wellington, and the Guelph-Wellington-Dufferin District Health Council. From 1993-95, Ms. Kaufman was a member of the Guelph Hospitals Redevelopment Steering Committee, which resulted in the redevelopment of GGH and a new St. Joseph's Health Centre. Most recently, she was Chair of the Guelph Community Health Centre Board as well as the Board of the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington.

Ms. Kaufman has been recognized with a number of awards, including the Dr. William Winegard Exemplary Volunteer Involvement Award (2009) and the YMCA-YWCA of Guelph Women of Distinction Award (Education and Training, 2006).

Liz Sandals was elected as Guelph’s Liberal MPP from 2003 to 2018. Liz served as Parliamentary Assistant in several Ministries including Education, Transportation and Health. While at the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Liz worked on files such as Rural and Northern Health Care and Prescription Opioid Abuse.
Liz also served as Chair of the government’s Safe Schools Action Team whose work led to Anti-Bullying Legislation and the modernization of the Sex Education section of the Physical and Health Education curriculum. Liz was also a member of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Mental Health and Addiction.
In 2013 Premier Wynne appointed Liz as Minister of Education with responsibility for elementary and secondary education and child care. Her mandate included introduction of the modernized Sex Ed curriculum, the creation of new centralized collective bargaining legislation for the school board sector and the first major rewrite of child care legislation in 25 years. In 2016 Liz was appointed President of Treasury Board.
Prior to serving as MPP, Liz represented Guelph on the Upper Grand District School Board from 1988 to 2003. During her career as a Trustee, Liz also served for many years on the executive of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA). Liz was president of OPSBA from 1998 to 2002.
Liz is a graduate of the University of Guelph with a BSc in Mathematics, and of the University of Waterloo with an Masters in Computer Science.

Biography coming soon

Sara Sayyed is the current Principal of Meezan School. Sara also volunteers as a Community Services Director at the Muslim Society of Guelph where she conducts outreach sessions and seminars for the centre on a regular basis and consults with various community partners on how equity and accommodation measures can be adopted within organizations and workplaces. Previous to this, Sara was a Director of the Guelph Refugee Consortium and currently also sits on the Guelph Community Foundation Grants Committee.  Sara holds a Bachelors of Environmental Science from University of Guelph. She joined the Guelph General Board of Directors in 2017 and also sits on Quality Committee.

Shakiba and her family immigrated to Canada from Iran and settled in Guelph. She became an engaged community citizen early through her involvement in community events and local volunteer opportunities.  Shakiba later acquired a keen interest in global politics.  

She graduated from the University of Guelph in 2010 with an Honours BA in Criminal Justice and Public Policy followed by a post-graduate certificate in International Development from Humber College in Toronto. During her studies Shakiba worked with international development agencies and spent time delivering federal social service programs at Service Canada.

Inspired by her international and national opportunities, Shakiba spent time matching Northern Canadian high school students with mentors who work in their aspired "dream careers" with a Canadian non-profit called Dream Catcher Mentoring. She then returned home to Guelph to work at United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin as Director of Community Investment. For 7 years Shakiba successfully monitored and met pressing needs to build community capacity.  

In September of 2019 Shakiba was named President & CEO of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce where she advocates, connects and convenes on behalf of the business community. As a true champion of the Chamber’s members, Shakiba works diligently with many local stakeholders to contribute to inclusive economic prosperity. Informed by our diverse business and community voices, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce creates value for members by advocating, connecting and convening with the aim to grow Guelph-Wellington's economic prosperity. Activities include networking events, educational sessions, policy roundtables, provide cost-saving opportunities and more.

Melissa Skinner, RN, MN, MHSC, is a Registered Nurse who completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario. Her nursing career includes roles within Long-Term Care and Acute Care. Melissa spent 12 years as a Nurse at SickKids hospital where she assumed a number of front-line and leadership roles. Melissa joined Guelph General Hospital in 2009 and spent almost 10 years in the role of Director of Quality and Professional Practice. In 2019, Melissa became Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Executive.

Melissa is passionate about building a culture of patient and family engagement and supporting staff to provided the safest and highest quality of care.

Leslie Fleming is a successful financial services executive with almost thirty years in the insurance industry. She held various roles in Operations, Reinsurance, Risk Management, Sales and Underwriting and has been responsible for operations in the USA, UK and Canada. While in the insurance industry she was actively involved serving as Chair of the Canadian Institute of Underwriters, President of the Life Underwriting Board for North America, as a member of the Risk Advisory Board for MIB, Chair of the Canadian UW Meetings and a committee member for the Association of Life Underwriters.

In 2019, Leslie took her risk management and operations expertise to start her own consulting company. Along with consulting she is also VP, Client Experience for Home Group Realty Inc, a "Fiercely Local" Guelph Real Estate Brokerage.

Leslie has her Bachelor of Arts Honours from Queen's University and her Master of Business Administration from Dalhousie University. She joined our Board of Directors in 2019 and is a member of the Quality Committee.

Lise Betteridge has lived in Guelph since 1994 and raised her two children here. A social worker by profession, Lise has experience with various health, social service, arts and other community organizations. Lise is proud to have the opportunity to serve her community and the hospital through her involvement on the Quality Committee of the Guelph General Hospital, as both she and her family have benefited from the hospital’s care and services over the last 19+ years. Lise brings an additional perspective to the Quality Committee as she is currently the Registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers – the regulatory body for social workers and social service workers in Ontario.

photo and bio coming soon

Dr Joan Chan is a family physician who has been practicing in the Guelph community since she graduated from McMaster University at the Kitchener Waterloo campus in 2013. She is a member of the Guelph Family Health Team Board and has a special interest in the intersections between technology, medicine and physician well being. 

Bio coming soon!

Bio and photo coming soon!

Bio and photo coming soon!