About the Board

Meet the Makers of this Great Vision

What makes the Coalition tick? Thanks to our dedicated volunteer Board of Directors we’re able to help facilitate change. The Coalition is comprised of:

A Board of Directors who volunteer their time and effort to provides organizational leadership and direction
A Membership who elect the Board of Directors

We have two mandatory committees—the Executive and the Nominating Committee, but we often divide up our core functions of the OWHC into standing committees such as: Communications, Governance, Education & Networking, Membership, and Sustainability.

With the assistance of members and healthy workplace stakeholders, the Coalition has prepared a Healthy Workplace Handbook intended for use in all Ontario workplaces. It was developed to assist Ontario organizations in initiating and sustaining their own healthy workplace programs. As well, the Coalition has developed a Proposal for an Ontario Comprehensive Workplace Health Strategy. The Proposal supports the development of a strategy for comprehensive workplace health (CWH) at the provincial level and aims to establish a common guideline by which Ontario organizations can integrate CWH into their core business plans.

Who else is a part of our Coalition?

Stakeholders and partners involved include: Public Sector; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO); Private Sector; Large Business Employers (100 employees+); Small Business Employers (less than 100 employees); Union/Organized Labour; Workplace Health Service Providers; Ontario Occupational Health and Safety System Partners; Public Health; and Workplace Health Academia/Research, etc.

Terms of Reference

What makes us tick? Other than great coffee, a fabulous book and a passion for workplace wellness? Our Terms of Reference of course! The Terms of Reference provides insight to our structure and outlines the elected positions on the Board of Directors. It took a lot of sweat and coffee refills to craft this masterpiece so please take a read to really understand our framework.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Minutes & Reports

We talk a lot! Our minutes and reports keep us on track and ensure everyone stays in the loop. So feel free to cruise the latest to gain a fly on the wall perspective of our top secret, not so secret, meetings.

Every November we conduct our AGM. Open to everyone this is an excellent meeting to hear what we’ve been working on and what our sights are set on for the coming year. In addition, those who are members are authorized to vote and help influence the actions we take and put priority on.

AGM Minutes

Annual Reports

History – How We Evolved

What came first the chicken or the egg? Well one thing we do know is the OWHC has been in development since the beginning of 2005. What started with a spark become a flame thanks to the incredible workplace wellness visionaries the Coalition was ignited by.

We give special thanks to visionaries like Joan Burton, one of the founding members of the Coalition, a lead author of the World Health Organization’s Healthy Workplace Framework and recipient of the prestigious Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award in 2003 for her thought leadership in propelling this vision for Ontario workplaces. Tragically, cancer took Joan’s life too early passing away in 2014, 69 years young. To honour true change agents like Joan, we host an annual Joan Burton Day of Learning event each May to bring together like-minded professionals to share what’s trending in organizational health and how we can continue to influence stakeholders and government in making measurable changes towards our goal.

A copy of one of Joan’s insightful presentations “What in the World is a Healthy Workplace?” can be viewed here.

If you’re not familiar with us, many milestones have happened since 2005 and the OWHC continues to progress and grow as a provincial Coalition. To explore our evolution further feel free to peruse our timeline.

Meet Our Board of Directors
	Allan Smofsky Owner Smofsky Strategic Planning (SSP) Allan Smofsky is Managing Director of SSP, a workplace health strategic planning consultancy. Allan has extensive experience in many facets of workplace health and consults on issues across the spectrum of organizational health. A fluently bilingual native of Montreal, Allan founded SSP in 2004 following several years in senior-level leadership and consulting positions. Allan is active in several workplace health organizations. He also teaches at Centennial College’s (Toronto) Community and Health Studies Workplace Wellness & Health Promotion post-graduate program. Allan has demonstrated leadership in advocating for a comprehensive and integrated approach to organizational health. He is a past winner of the Benefits Canada Workplace Benefits Award and is a frequently invited speaker and writer.
	Monica A. Szabo President Szabo Safety & Operations Services With 30 years of experience in environment, health and safety, Monica has experience in the field and as a senior leader. She built a reputation for developing progressive, integrated and results-oriented health and safety solutions. In her previous role as Executive Director, Government, Municipal and Public Safety, Monica was responsible for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of product and service delivery with a focus on broad strategic goals and objectives. She is currently working as a health & safety consultant for approved providers of the WSIB Health and Safety Excellence Program. She is also serving on the Executive Team of the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals.
	Tahliya Shariff Medical Lab Technician – Point of Care Trillium Health Partners With frontline experience in patient care roles, Tahliya is a strong advocate for a comprehensive and holistic approach to health. Tahliya’s passion for helping others become healthier is present in her volunteer work and her educational background. She holds a BSc in Biology and Post Graduate in Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion. Tahliya believes that through the alignment of wellness strategies, psychosocial support and compassion, we can create a healthy workplace.
	Tiffany Rickard Human Resources (Workplace Health) Bell Canada Tiffany is a workplace wellness professional specializing in workplace mental health. Tiffany started her career as a Human Resources Generalist in the oil and gas services and construction industries in Alberta. She is passionate about creating truly healthy workplaces that meet the needs of all employees. She is eternally curious about everything and her favourite pastime is birdwatching.
	Nivith Balasupramaniam Sales Consultant Homewood Health
	Gerry Culina Manager, General Health & Safety Services Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) Gerry Culina is Manager, General Health and Safety Services, at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). In his capacity, Gerry leads a unit that provides a comprehensive service of information and supports work-related health and safety initiatives on all areas of workplace health and safety to improve the total health of the individual – mental, physical and psychosocial. Gerry has been a Health and Safety professional for over 34 years in both the private and public sectors.
	Alex Petrisano Health and Safety Representative (Workplace Mental Health) Workplace Safety and Prevention Services After obtaining her Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Health and Safety, Alexandra worked in the health and safety field in sectors including utilities, tunneling and residential construction for a number of years. Following this, Alexandra obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion, and has since also become trained in Mental Health First Aid and Workplace Inclusivity. With a newfound focus and passion of mental health, Alexandra currently works alongside the Consultants at Workplace Safety and Prevention Services to expand the Healthy Workplace portfolio and help workers both within Ontario and beyond protect the mental wellbeing of their employees every day.
	Nathan Kolar Health and Safety Consultant, Emerging Markets Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA) Nathan has the complex and important privilege of being a Health and Safety Consultant, Emerging Markets, with Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA). He also holds a Part-Time Faculty position at Centennial College, whereby is a Placement Preceptor for students in the Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion post-graduate program. In terms of further industry involvement to give back and help others, Nathan is also a Technical Committee Member for the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (CSA Z1003). Nathan’s education background is in kinesiology, project management, and disability management. His designations include CEBS and CSEP-CPT.
	Monica Czorny BioWellness Recharge Centres
	Melissa Fallis Manager, My Wellness and Health Solutions Projects People Corporation
	Wayne Clancy CEO MindSuite Analytics Wayne Clancy has developed alternative and collaborative way of handling and managing the perceptions and experiences of all stakeholders. He has developed interactive real time technologies to facilitate stakeholder co-creation and collaboration. Most recently his work with NY Times Best Selling Author John King (Tribal Leadership) has produced easy to use ‘predictive culture analytics’, with ‘The Culture Gap Index’.