Lisa Levin is the CEO of AdvantAge Ontario – an association of Ontario’s non-profit organizations serving seniors. Before joining AdvantAge, Lisa was the Director of Nursing and Health Policy with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). From 2011 to 2016, Lisa was the Chair of the Ontario Caregiver Coalition (OCC) that advocates for family caregivers across the province. In 2012, Lisa received a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for her work leading the OCC. From 2005 to 2015, Lisa was a senior executive with Circle of Care – a home and community care agency. Before that, Lisa was a policy advisor for 16 years in different ministries of the Ontario government including: Housing; Community and Social Services; Health; and Children’s Services. Lisa has her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Systems/Geography from McGill University, and her Master of Science in Urban Planning from the University of Toronto.

AdvantAge Ontario has been the trusted voice for senior care for 100 years. We represent community-based, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to supporting the best possible aging experience. We are the only provincial association representing the full spectrum of the seniors’ care continuum. Our nearly 400 members are located across the province and include not-for-profit, charitable, and municipal long-term care (LTC) homes, seniors’ housing, supportive housing and community service agencies.

Ron is an experienced family caregiver to his late father who lived well with Alzheimer’s for over 10+ years while partnering with his senior mother during their journey to help them age at their home and community.  He is an advocate in the dementia and aging communities with expertise in technology, aging in place, caregiving, and patient engagement. Ron is the co-chair for AGE-WELL’s Older Adults and Caregiver Advisory Committee, which is Canada’s aging and technology network where he received their honorary fellows award for 2020.  He is an advisor and presenter for groups such as the Alzheimer and Dementia Societies across Canada, a coach with Healthcare Excellence Canada, a patient and family advisory member with the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance, a board member with numerous organizations, including the Ontario Strategy in Patient-Oriented Research Unit.

Ron is a guest lecturer and a mentor to post-secondary students in programs such as nursing, social work, occupational therapy, engineering, and aging. He is also a mentor in residence with the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine’s Translational Research Program.

Further in his past, Ron was the founder and executive director of a youth career and employment centre that served over 30,000 young people, immigrants and career changers in Toronto. Ron has a passion for vegetable gardening and any opportunity to sit down to break some bread and enjoy meals with everyone.

Nicole Dauz is a self-care coach, speaker and author who chooses happiness despite her circumstances. Her mission is to change the story around caregiving and celebrate the journey. Experience is her teacher as the mother of a neurotypical son and a daughter with a rare genetic disease and autism. She approaches self-care in a liberating fashion that gives us all permission to take time for ourselves.

Janet Fast is a family and consumer economist and Professor in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta and is Co-Director of the Research on Aging, Policies and Practice program. Dr. Fast works to create and transfer knowledge, to engage with public, government and other user groups, and to work at the interfaces among them. Her research focuses the economics of aging, the paid and unpaid care work of family members and the capacity of assistive technologies to address the consequences family care. Her research addresses family, labour, health and continuing care policy issues, and she is often called upon to consult with or advise government policy-makers and NGOs on policy related to caregiving and workplace supports.

Dr. Nathan Stall received his medical degree from Western University and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is currently a research fellow at Women‘s College Research Institute at Women’s College Hospital and is completing a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto.

His doctoral research uses large administrative databases to study the population health impact of caregiving for dementia. His other research interests include drug safety for older adults, sex and gender-based determinants of ageing, and health care utilization among persons with dementia. His research is supported by the University of Toronto Department of Medicine’s Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.

He has been a Staff Geriatrician at Sinai Health System since 2017. His clinical work focuses on acute care geriatrics. Dr. Stall attends on the inpatient Geriatric Medicine Consultation Service and on the Internal Medicine Clinical Teaching Units at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Sarah Kaplan is a social worker, caregiver and passionate advocate for caregivers and equity in the health and social care systems. After obtaining her master’s degree in social work from McGill University in 1991, Sarah went on to work in a community clinic in Montreal, Quebec, providing services to newcomer and refugee populations, women’s shelters. Sarah later moved to Cornwall, Ontario, where she worked in various positions from 1998 to 2022 at Cornwall Community Hospital.

Throughout her tenure at Cornwall Community Hospital, Sarah oversaw the development and implementation of many important programs and initiatives to improve patient experiences and outcomes, including developing the Assault and Sexual Abuse Program, developing best practice guidelines with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario for universal screening of intimate partner violence, leading a multi-tiered transformational project in the hospital’s Inpatient Mental Health Unit, lead the implementation of the Ontario Breast Cancer Screening at the hospital and took part in a three-year project led by the Change Foundation focusing on caregiver inclusion in healthcare settings. In addition to her clinical work, Sarah also co-produced and co-hosted the “Women’s Health Show” for a local station and had a regular newspaper column called “Abuse Insight.”

Sarah retired in January 2022 but remains active as a consultant on issues of healthcare transformation as well as being a published writer focusing on the caregiver experience. She is currently working on her first book regarding the health impact of caregiving with special focus on post-traumatic stress disorder. In February 2023, she participated in a panel interview on the CBC The National to discuss the current state of the healthcare system.

Sarah is the mother of twin girls and the full-time caregiver of her husband. Sarah is often quoted as saying that “we can heal the world through chocolate.”

Donna Thomson is a caregiver, author and activist. Her caregiving experience was shaped by caring for her son, who has severe disabilities, and for her mother, who lived with dementia until she passed away in the summer of 2018 at the age of 96.

Donna is the co-author of The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation of Loved One to Caregiver and author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I’ve Learned From a Life of Caregiving. Donna is a co-designer and co-instructor of the family engagement in research course and the facilitator of the caregiving essentials course at McMaster University.

Naomi Azrieli is Chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation. In this capacity since 2002, she has been the strategic driver behind numerous initiatives, programs and partnerships across the Foundation’s priority areas, including in the fields of education, research and healthcare. She holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, a masters from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, she received an honourary LLD from McGill University. She serves on the boards of several national and international scientific, academic and cultural institutions. Naomi and her sisters, Sharon and Danna, are all family caregivers.

Magalie has been active in social development and policy development for over 15 years. Since 2007, she has devoted her practice to seniors and caregivers. With l’Appui pour les proches aidants since 2011, she has been focused on maintaining and improving the quality of life of caregivers.

Magalie has a strong interest in the development of remote psychosocial projects, knowledge sharing and transfer, and transformation of health and community systems.

Liv Mendelsohn, MA, MEd, is the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence where she leads innovation, research, policy and program initiatives to support Canada’s caregivers and care providers.

A visionary leader with more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Liv has a been a lifelong caregiver and has lived experience of disability. Her experiences as a member of the ‘sandwich generation’ fuel her passion to build a caregiver movement in Canada to change the way that caregiving is seen, valued, and supported.

Over the course of her career, Liv has founded and helmed several organizations in the disability and caregiving space, including the Wagner Green Centre for Accessibility and Inclusion and the ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival.

Liv serves as the chair of the City of Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee. She has received the City of Toronto Equity Award, and has been recognized by University College, University of Toronto, Empowered Kids Ontario, and the Jewish Community Centres of North America for her leadership.

Liv is a senior fellow at Massey College and a graduate of the Mandel Institute for Non-Profit Leadership and the Civic Action Leadership Foundation Diversity Fellowship program.