ILI Alumni
Across two cohorts, ILI has brought together people already leading, creating, caring, building and contributing in so many parts of their lives. They come with a depth of experience and wisdom of their own, and also with questions that don't necessarily have an obvious place to be explored.
Greer Kirshenbaum, PhDNeuroscientist, Author, and Educator Transforming How the World Understands Early Development
Jen EliaAward-Winning Wellness & Benefits Leader | Background in Health & Psychology | Certified in Workplace Wellness & HR
Danielle LewisFounder of Danielle Lewis Designs | Graphic Designer, Creative Director, Connector & Design Catalyst
Amanda HacheySystems Change and Social Innovation
Jessica FlynnAward-Winning Educator, Best-Selling Author, TV Host, and Entrepreneur
Claire BuréBringing more humanity to systems change as facilitator, innovation advisor and community builder.
Peggy HornellDirector, Operations & Finance, The WoodGreen Foundation
Sue WattsExecutive Director of the Employment & Education Centre
Maryann KerrChief Executive Officer | Certified Leadership Coach | PhD Candidate, Fielding University, Organizational Development & Change | Interim Leadership
Hilary BestLead Research Analyst, OMCCSS
Michelle ReidManager, Indigenous Reconciliation, BDC
Sophia FariaStrategic Advisor for Leaders & Teams

Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD
Neuroscientist, Author, and Educator Transforming How the World Understands Early Development
Greer is trained at the University of Toronto, Columbia University, NYU, and Yale. She bridges cutting-edge neuroscience with her experience as a doula and mother.
Greer leads The Nurture Revolution, a global movement helping families and professionals understand how nurturing the mother-baby relationship shapes both infant and maternal brain development, supporting lifelong mental wellness. Her work shows how simple, intuitive experiences in pregnancy, birth, and infancy build emotional resilience and reduce the risks of depression, anxiety, and addiction.
She is the author of The Nurture Revolution: Grow Your Baby's Brain and Transform Their Mental Health Through the Art of Nurtured Parenting, and she offers resources, workshops, and trainings through The Nurture Revolution.

Jen Elia
Award-Winning Wellness & Benefits Leader | Background in Health & Psychology | Certified in Workplace Wellness & HR
Jen is an award-winning wellness and benefits leader dedicated to building healthier, more intentional workplaces. With a background in Health and Psychology from Queen's University and certifications in Workplace Wellness and HR, she has led disability management, benefits innovation, and wellbeing strategies for many of Canada's most recognizable public and private sector organizations.
In 2021, she founded JewellWorks to provide customized wellness strategies for employers and health innovators. Jen now serves as Head of Partnerships and Growth in a fractional role at Excellence Canada, focusing on Mental Health at Work®, Healthy Workplace® strategy and coaching, and the Canada Awards for Excellence.

Danielle Lewis
Founder of Danielle Lewis Designs | Graphic Designer, Creative Director, Connector & Design Catalyst
Danielle is magic behind Danielle Lewis Designs, a heartled design agency that services entrepreneurs and consultants alike. Her creative practice inspires those who work with her to step into their full expression of self as she holds the container and weaves design magic into their brands.
She has been running her business for almost 2 decades and her work spans over all industries, though community impact and local businesses are what sets her soul on fire. She is also the mom to two amazing boys who are the very reason why Danielle has built the business and community she has today.

Amanda Hachey
Systems Change and Social Innovation
Amanda lives, plays and learns in Sikniktuk (aka Moncton, NB) along the Petitcodiac River in the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. She has roots as an Acadian settler growing up in the forest in a tight knit community. She is a friend, a sister, partner, daughter, and mother of a bright and curious 6 year old boy.
For the past 15 years she has worked in systems change and social innovation creating spaces for those working in government, community, and the private sector to listen to each other, deepen relationships and come up with ideas for improving education, municipal infrastructure, the immigration experience, health care to name a few.
Over the past year she has stepped away from that work to listen to her body and reset. She is currently exploring how connection with nature can play a role in healing and creating new ways of working together. She is curious about how to begin working differently to not just improve the current systems but to help create new ways of being together on this magical planet.

Jessica Flynn
Award-Winning Educator, Best-Selling Author, TV Host, and Entrepreneur
Jessica Flynn is an educator, social entrepreneur, and strategic advisor whose work spans youth empowerment, education innovation, community systems change, and leadership development. She found her voice as a writer, speaker, and television host, and everything she creates is connected by a single belief: that people and communities already hold most of what they need to flourish. Her role is to help them access it.
Jessica founded The YOU Power Project™ from a simple, unshakeable conviction: entrepreneurial thinking, introduced early and delivered with heart, doesn't just teach young people skills, it changes who they believe they can become.
With an unyielding commitment to empowerment, quality education, and community, Jessica is a multifaceted force driving positive change. Her journey is a dynamic tapestry of diverse experiences and accomplishments, reflecting the belief that as humans, we are many things at once.

Claire Buré
Bringing more humanity to systems change as facilitator, innovation advisor and community builder.
Claire Buré is a systemic designer, facilitator and innovation advisor who helps people navigate complexity and collaborate across disciplines and perspectives. She creates the conditions for meaningful dialogue and lasting systems change, drawing on both systemic design approaches and a deep trust in our inner knowing, relationships, and shared humanity.
Over the past 20 years, Claire has worked across the public, private and non-profit sectors, supporting systems change initiatives in global health, housing, climate and energy transition, natural resource management, and regulatory innovation. She is known for designing and facilitating collaborative processes that enable diverse groups to build trust, navigate complexity and move forward together.
A natural connector and community builder, Claire has designed and stewarded communities of practice and networks at local, national and global scales. Her work spans strategic facilitation, systemic design, innovation and leadership development, helping people transform insights into shared action.
Claire is a founding member of MaRS Solutions Lab and a Positive Deviants Fellow with the Wolf Willow Institute. She holds an MSc in Science & Technology Studies from the University of Edinburgh and has lived and worked internationally. She is trilingual in English, Spanish and Dutch.

Peggy Hornell
Director, Operations & Finance, The WoodGreen Foundation
Peggy has more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions in the not-for-profit sector and is currently Director, Operations & Finance at The WoodGreen Foundation. Previously, she served as Director, Finance & Operations at Up With Women/Exponenti'elles, a national charity supporting women and gender-diverse individuals experiencing low income to build sustainable pathways toward long-term economic stability.
Her past roles also include Chief Operating Officer at Children's Aid Foundation of Canada; Senior Director, Community Investment and Executive Director of the President's Choice Children's Charity at Loblaw Companies Limited; and Director at the Toronto Zoo Foundation.

Sue Watts
Executive Director of the Employment & Education Centre
Sue Watts is the Executive Director of the Employment + Education Centre (EEC), a charitable, not-for-profit, multi-service organization. Sue has over 30 years' experience in the not-for-profit sector and prides herself on building and growing community collaborations for the purpose of meeting the needs of and positively impacting her communities.
Sue is the recipient of Provincial and National awards for her work in this sector. Sue is an innovator and has created a social enterprise, utilized new technologies to improve employment service practices, and developed a youth skills training program for the trades that also provided solutions to community housing issues.
Under the leadership of Sue, EEC hosted two international delegations (guests were from South Korea, Germany and Japan) which resulted in sharing of best practices regarding employment services for various populations.

Maryann Kerr
Chief Executive Officer | Certified Leadership Coach | PhD Candidate, Fielding University, Organizational Development & Change | Interim Leadership
Maryann Kerr is a leadership and culture strategist with deep roots in Canada's social impact sector. As Founder & Principal of the Medalist Group, she brings extensive experience in nonprofit governance, organizational development, and fundraising, having supported mission-driven organizations to raise over $110 million. She is also the author of Tarnished, a book that calls for more equitable, accountable, and human-centred leadership in the sector.
Known for her systems thinking and values-based approach, Maryann partners with organizations to create cultures that are joyful, inclusive, and sustainable. She holds a Master's in organizational leadership, and her work is driven by a belief in courageous leadership and a commitment to transformative change.

Hilary Best
Lead Research Analyst, OMCCSS
Hilary is the Lead Research Analyst with the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. In her role, she provides decision-makers with timely and accurate information to support decision making that improves outcomes for Ontarians.
She primarily works in child welfare but has also worked on initiatives related to poverty reduction, services for adults with developmental disabilities, and the COVID-19 response. Prior to her current role, she led various research and evaluation initiatives for government, non-profits, and impact investors.

Michelle Reid
Manager, Indigenous Reconciliation, BDC
Michelle Reid is the Manager of Indigenous Reconciliation at BDC, where she leads the organization's reconciliation strategy and works to embed Indigenous values, perspectives, and ways of knowing across the business. An Ojibwe woman from Serpent River First Nation, Michelle is passionate about building relationships, creating spaces of belonging, and advancing economic reconciliation.
Before joining BDC, she helped grow the B Corp movement in Canada, supporting purpose-driven businesses focused on sustainability and social impact. Guided by the teachings of her grandmother Sarah, Michelle leads with honesty, humility, and respect, and is committed to creating a stronger future for the next generation, including her daughter, Valkyrie.