Board of Directors

Liz Snelgrove, General Manager, Interface Surgical Centres

Liz Snelgrove has over twenty-five years of experience in the both the private and public healthcare sectors. She is a graduate of Western University and has an MBA from the Ivey business school. Liz began her career as a program manager at the Sport Medicine Council of Canada. Through a chance meeting, she and Mark Tewksbury started a foundation and were able to raise one million dollars from corporate sponsors and subsequently awarded bursaries to over 100 young competitive swimmers over five years. Liz then left Ottawa to join Active Health Management where she rose to the position of Senior Director of Business Development. In 2015, Liz met an entrepreneur who was building a state-of-the-art medical facility and seniors’ retirement home in London. Liz joined the company as the Executive Director of Advanced Medical Group and Senior Care. Liz left her position there to pursue a run at politics. She represented the Conservative Party of London in the riding of London west in the 2019 federal election. Unfortunately, she was not successful and she returned to the healthcare sector joining Bayshore Home Health Solutions as an area director. Liz has been active with the Alzheimer’s Society in London, London Community Foundation, and London Chamber of Commerce. She is the proud mother of a daughter, Alexis, and a son, Jack.

Michael Lake, Senior Manager, Systems Design, Bayshore Specialty Rx

For over 20 years Michael has worked as an Information Technology professional for diversified national healthcare companies in Canada. Michael began his career in the healthcare sector in 1998 in a customer service and administrative capacity for ACTIVE Health Management, introducing him to the physiotherapy and rehabilitation spaces. Michael soon took on the responsibility of managing the organization’s information technology systems, and participated in the successful development and launch of web-based data collection systems for a customer base that was hesitant to adopt these new tools and skeptical of their promised benefits. When Centric Health purchased ACTIVE Health Management in 2009 to complement its Medical Assessments division, Michael remained a senior member of the new organization’s integrated IT team until his departure in 2019. Centric Health pursued an ambitious growth by acquisition strategy, adding Surgical, Specialty Pharmacy and Rehabilitation divisions to its healthcare portfolio. This afforded Michael the opportunity to work in a range of healthcare sectors and to learn many different technology platforms, applications and infrastructure systems. Despite his interest in and commitment to working in Information Technology, Michael describes the true highlight of his experience as being the years working alongside dedicated, passionate healthcare professionals, under the direction of visionary leaders. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph, and continues to work in technology related roles in the healthcare sector.

Tina Bishai, President, Dextra Healthcare Consulting Inc.

Tina is a results-oriented leader with over 15 years’ experience in senior executive positions in Healthcare Management. In her most recent corporate role, she led a $50 million dollar healthcare division with 1,100 clinicians in her role as Chief Operating Officer for Centric Health. Since that time, Tina has provided consulting for healthcare companies and non-profits through her consulting firm, Dextra Healthcare Consulting Inc. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy, and a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from the University of Toronto.

Tess Finlay, Business Development Coordinator, Research and Innovation, Niagara College

Tess is a communications specialist with a passion for global action and social change. After graduating from Humber College with an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations, Tess worked alongside three of Canada’s largest and most impactful charitable organizations – World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF), Free The Children and Environmental Defense Canada. Tess has assisted in the execution of various national marketing campaigns and PR events, developed integrated communications plans for major national campaigns and has implemented a number of highly successful partnership programs. Tess has played a key role in successfully growing Cyber-Seniors community engagement and expansion across North America, since its inception.

Christine Calderon Caruso, Director of Development, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels

Christine is a relationship builder, fundraiser, grant writer, storyteller, and community advocate. Her approach to fundraising and marketing is a mixture of tradition with a twist of out-of-the-box ideas that captures the attention of donors, sponsors, corporations, and foundations. Even at an early age, Christine was exposed to the rough inner-city streets of Los Angeles where her father was a senior pastor of Filipino Christian Church. She grew up knowing there are homeless, marginalized, and vulnerable people. She grew up knowing that love and compassion coupled with action is the key to transforming lives and communities.

Christine earned her bachelor’s degree at Union Theological Seminary and a Master of Divinity from Claremont University. Christine has worked for several churches as a youth pastor and a worship leader, but then moved to the non-profit world.

With more than 20 years of experience, Christine has worked for small and larger non-profits in Los Angeles. She worked in the frontlines, providing services as a lead Counselor that eventually led her to become the Health and Human Services Director overseeing the Counseling Program and After School programs for at-risk youth and low-income families. After 10 years of being at the forefront of serving at-risk population, she transferred to fund development.

Laura DeBruce, Attorney, DeBruce Blackman

Laura DeBruce is a lawyer and entrepreneur who currently runs a business in Florida and is a member of the Florida Bar. After graduating from the University of Florida (B.S., Communications) and Boston University Law School (J.D., cum laude), she traveled to then-Czechoslovakia to teach university courses in U.S. Constitutional Law. Laura was an associate at Baker & McKenzie in Prague and then Director of Legal Affairs for CME Media Enterprises, where she played a key role in launching several television stations throughout Eastern Europe. Subsequently she co-founded GrandView Castle Entertainment with her husband, Jeff Blackman, distributing motion pictures throughout Eastern Europe and Russia for clients that included DreamWorks, Paramount, and LucasFilm. As a partner in DeBruce Blackman, PLLC, Laura provides legal and consulting advice. She has also produced several documentary films. Laura is on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for Community Housing and Resources, and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation. She is also a member of the City of Sanibel’s Planning Commission.

Dr. Skye Leedahl, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island

Dr. Skye Leedahl is a tenure-track faculty member at the University of Rhode Island.  She has worked in nursing homes, for a U.S. Senator, at a community agency action agency, and as a research project coordinator for various stated-funded program evaluation and research projects.  Dr. Leedahl was the recipient of the prestigious John A. Hartford Doctoral Fellowship in Geriatric Social Work, and she has received awards from the Gerontological Society of America, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Kansas for her research.  Dr. Leedahl currently teaches a mix of undergraduate and graduate classes about research methods, physical and social environments for older adults, policy issues in health & aging, and public program evaluation.