Governance & Board

Mike previously spent eight years on the board of St. Michael’s Homes, a residential addiction treatment centre in Toronto, serving as the co-chair for the last three years. Professionally, Mike works with an e-commerce software integrator supporting client business requirements as they migrate to new technology.

Over Mike’s 20-plus years in business, he has developed expertise in marketing, strategy, and business development with some of Canada’s largest corporations as well as start-ups in Canada, the UK and Europe. Mike joined Homes First’s Board of Directors in January 2020 and also serves on the Communications Committee.

Patricia has worked in the social housing sector for more than twenty years. All of her career choices have had the connecting theme of the support of individual and group empowerment.

Patricia has been the senior leader at Homes First for more than fifteen years. Homes First Society develops and provides affordable, stable housing and support services to break the cycle of homelessness for people with the fewest housing options throughout the City of Toronto. Homes First is financially viable, well managed, and greatly respected by the City of Toronto and other funders. It is poised for growth and positioned well for the future.

Megan Mitchell is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Director, Technology and Capital Controller with Rogers Communications Inc. She obtained her CPA designation at Deloitte, where she provided her services to many not‐for‐profit organizations. Since moving to Toronto 15 years ago, she has seen how increased housing costs have made homelessness and access to housing one of the most pressing issues in our city. Megan believes having a home is crucial to providing a sense of safety and stability and helping our residents thrive.

Jordan brings a background in corporate restructuring, financial advisory, interim management and business strategy. He has worked with clients across a broad range of industries including financial institutions, real estate and technology, among others.

Jordan also advises on financial matters in complex litigation and settlement efforts. Jordan is a Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional (CIRP), Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA). Jordan is an avid tennis fan and enjoys traveling to tennis tournaments around the world.

Jamie has over 10 years of experience in private practice law as well as in-house counsel, and is Senior Counsel with Deloitte Canada. Prior to working at Deloitte, Jamie was in-house counsel to a provincial Crown agency and spent several years in private practice on Bay Street.

In his spare time, Jamie can often be found running the trails of west Toronto and lamenting the state of the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a lifelong resident of the city, he has joined Homes First with the goal of prioritizing sustainable community development among public and private stakeholders.

Christie has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare and the not-for-profit sector with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As an occupational therapist and Executive Director of the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists, Christie has worked both frontline as well as advocacy and policy development roles targeted to meet Ontarians’ needs for physical health, rehabilitation, and mental health services across the lifespan. She has also volunteered with the Out of the Cold program, which provides shelter and meals to the homeless during the winter months.

As a longstanding and proud Torontonian, Christie recognizes the need to address the increasing numbers of people experiencing or at risk of being homeless in our city. She strongly believes that persons living with different abilities should not be disadvantaged by a lack of accessibility to their community, to needed services and supports, and to having a place they can call home.

Sarah is an international public health nutritionist. She did her training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and has spent over 18 years working for UN agencies (UNICEF), NGOs (World Vision International, Plan International Canada, MQSUN+), as well as international governments on operations for the treatment and prevention of all forms of undernutrition, in low- and middle-income countries. Her experience includes working with stakeholders, developing key strategy and policy documents, and working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

As an avid community volunteer, Sarah is passionate about what is going on both in her community as well as the city of Toronto. She wants to transfer her global knowledge and experience to her hometown by assisting with meeting the complex needs of many people in need in this great city.

Dror is the Chief Operator Officer of Almadev, a Toronto-based real estate development firm for both commercial and residential properties. He has more than a decade of experience in a variety of areas including asset management, property operations, and new development. Prior to moving to Canada, he was a lawyer in Israel and member of the Israel Bar Association.

Dror has joined Homes First to increase his involvement with community work, and to improve awareness of the issues of homelessness in the city of Toronto.

Faisel is an actuary and executive with 13 years of experience in financial reporting, product development, risk management and strategy. Faisel has an undergraduate degree from Western University in Actuarial Science, and has volunteered for the Society of Actuaries, Canadian Institute of Actuaries and was a trustee of the Toronto Awesome Foundation.

Faisel joined the Homes First Board in 2021 and serves on the Finance Committee. Faisel strongly believes in the potential of others, when they have the right help.

Greg has over 20 years of experience working for a major Canadian Bank in investment banking and capital markets. He has an expertise in finance and raising capital for capital intensive businesses such as real estate and infrastructure. Currently, Greg works for a TSX listed renewable power company as the Senior Director of Capital Markets and Project Finance.

Greg is passionate about cities, urban design, and the built environment. In his spare time, he is an avid cyclist. He has an MSc in Real Estate Development from the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University and a Hons. BA in Urban Development from the University of Western Ontario.

Shane Saltzman was the Co-Founder and CEO of Trafalgar Addiction Treatment Centres, where for 9-plus years, he developed programming and operated residential facilities supporting those struggling with addiction and mental health. Upon successfully pivoting the organization to develop a national virtual intensive outpatient program during the COVID-19 pandemic, the co-founders sold the organization to Canadian Addiction Treatment Centers in 2022 where Shane remains as a Strategic Advisor.

Shane is a Chartered Professional Accountant, holds a Master of Management & Professional Accounting from The Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. Shane has more than 20 years of professional, operations, and management experience where he held positions with Deloitte, in the Assurance & Advisory group, and Pitney Bowes Canada, leading the financial operations teams. Shane is a father of three, an avid skier, cyclist, and guitar enthusiast.

Shanker Sivanathan is a Detective Constable with nine years of experience working with the marginalized community experiencing mental health ailments and substance addictions. Having worked in 14 Division of the Toronto Police Service, Shanker has worked with numerous Home First shelters and staff on the ground level.

Shanker has an honours degree in Criminology from York University and has previously volunteered with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT). Shanker is joining Homes First to identify additional opportunities to serve the community, contribute to policy/procedure creation, and provide the necessary support to reduce homelessness.

Rhema is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) and Design & Construction Manager with Canadian National Railway. He has over 10 years of experience in managing and directing both small and large-scale infrastructure projects for municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government.

Throughout the years, he has volunteered for numerous non-profit organizations in the city with a heavy focus on low income, marginalized, and homeless communities. Rhema, alongside his family, also started an annual homeless outreach distributing warm meals, winter clothing, and hygiene products to the homeless in the City’s downtown core.

Rhema has always felt called to give back to the city he calls home. He has joined Homes First to contribute to Homes First’s mission of breaking the cycle of homelessness in Toronto.