Board of Directors

The Alzheimer Society Board of Directors for 2024/25 are:

 

Catherine Jones, Chair

Catherine has worked in a variety of leadership, educational and clinical roles in health care. The lived experience of her father’s vascular dementia sparked a passion for supporting our elders. Catherine and a physician colleague played instrumental roles in developing a geriatric clinic in Simcoe County where she worked as a Nurse Practitioner diagnosing and managing dementia.  

After retiring in the spring of 2020, Catherine relocated to the Waterloo area. She is currently the care partner for a close family friend living with dementia. Catherine has been an active volunteer supporting environmental initiatives. She has also served on the executive of community boards. She brings a deep understanding of the needs of care partners and governance experience to the Waterloo Wellington Alzheimer Society.

 

Ian Kaufman, Vice-Chair

Having recently moved to Waterloo region, Ian was eager to give back to his new community and joined the board of ASWW in the summer of 2021. Through his partner's employment in the healthcare sector, and having had a grandmother face the challenges of living with dementia; Ian appreciates the great work and meaningful improvements that organizations such as ASWW provide to those members of the community that are impacted by this disease. Ian is a senior advisor with the Ontario Public Service and has received a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Analysis along with a Master of Political Management, both from Carleton University. 

 

Uzzam Riaz, Treasurer

Uzzam is an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Whales (ICAEW), Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK. He also volunteered as a member of the CPD Committee of ICAB for 4 years. Uzzam loves hiking, playing with his daughter and reading.

Uzzam has been working with Deloitte for over 12 years in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Barbados and most recently in Canada. During this time, he has had various opportunities to spend time for the firm’s volunteer activities like Impact Day, one day specified to do volunteer work with any local organizations on an annual basis, and Lifelong learning labs (labs carried out to give some start-up ideas to students or new graduates).

Most recently, Uzzam joined the board of Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington, where he aims to play a part in making the Society most effective in serving people living with Alzheimer's. In addition to serving the board, he is also the Treasurer overseeing the finance functions of the Society.

 

Cheryl Sarnavka, Secretary

A CPA CGA, serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of senior-level management experience in various industries including Pharmaceutical, Financial Services, Real Estate, Manufacturing, Advertising, Communication and Retail. Her unique management style, classic “customer service is an important key to business continuity”, and a respect for every level within an organization has created a devout team of followers who consider Cheryl a great mentor, trusted friend, colleague and advisor.

She is an individual who believes in trust, loyalty, integrity and transparency. She is both a highly-skilled, analytical thinker and a creative, sales-oriented leader. Creating policies, controls and leading organizations through successful execution of their strategic plans is second nature to her.

Cheryl climbed the corporate ladder starting as a General Accountant and quickly working her way up to Controller, Vice President and then Chief Financial Officer. Cheryl has a passion for achieving results and helping others obtain their goals. She is a highly focused, driven team leader who is an effective relationship builder. She uses her spare time and unique ability to rally teams to support local community-building efforts.

 

Janis Randall Simpson, Director 

Janis Randall Simpson is a Registered Dietitian. She is Professor Emerita in the Applied Human Nutrition program at the University of Guelph where she is still active in teaching and research.  Janis has just finished a four-year term as volunteer, part-time Executive Director of the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, the research foundation associated with Dietitians of Canada.  

Recent experience as a caregiver to her late husband, who was afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, led Janis to the terrific programming through the Alzheimer’s Society of Waterloo Wellington (ASWW).  

She is excited to be able to contribute to the ASWW Board to fulfill its mandate to provide programs and services for those with various forms of dementia.

Victoria Shi, Director

Growing up in Toronto, Victoria’s grandparents played a large role in her life, living with her family in an intergenerational household over the course of her childhood. When her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the Alzheimer Society’s online resources were an important and critical source of support for her as a new caregiver for someone who once cared for her. She is now incredibly grateful to be able to give back to an organization that has meant so much to her and her family, and serve a population with the same support that impacted her so deeply.

Victoria is currently a medical student at McMaster University, at the Waterloo Regional Campus in downtown Kitchener. She is devoted to bringing healthcare and empathy together for better patient understanding and care. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her partner and their cat, Dumpling, and hand building functional ceramics.

 

Frank Newman, Director

Frank Newman, C.H.R.L., is the founder and CEO of Newman Human Resources Consultants based in Breslau.   For over 40 years, Frank has worked in Human Resources to create great working environments where the best people want to come to work every day.   His pioneering work in compassionate leaves influenced led to the creation of the Employment Insurance compassionate care leave which has benefited thousands of Canadians as they care for family members during critical illnesses. He is one of ten consultants in Canada who work to enable organizations to be certified as  Great Places to Work.    

He is keen to share his insights with the Board to enable the Alzheimer society to be able to maximize the experience of its staff and volunteers, helping  them in turn to make an even greater contribution to our community.

 

Victoria Young, Director

Victoria Young is an associate in the corporate/commercial department of Cohen Highley in their Kitchener office. Her real estate practice includes representation in agricultural, residential and commercial transactions, rezoning applications, severances and land use planning. Her networking circle includes municipal planners, developers, surveyors, financial advisors, and accountants.

Growing from her real estate practice, Victoria has developed an estates practice with a focus on planning through family trusts, dual wills, cohabitation agreements and marriage contracts. With our aging population, Victoria’s daily practice involves advising on the exercise of Power of Attorney and competency concerns.

In response to changes in reporting requirements in estate administration, Victoria’s hands on approach continues to be sought out by estate trustees throughout the south-western regions of the province.

Victoria received her bachelor of arts in Political Science, French and Spanish from Carleton University in 1988. She drew on her fluency in French to obtain her law degree from l’Université de Moncton in 1991.

Called to the Ontario Bar in 1993, Victoria has been active in community board and volunteer commitments over the years ranging from the arts and community social support organizations to health care organizations and lending institutions.

 

Gary Abbott

Gary is a dedicated and resourceful person who enjoys learning and helping others grow. He maintains a high level of care in all he does, prioritizing values of justice and doing the right thing. His strong communication skills are applied in his current professional role as a Solutions Engineer for Shopify, where he serves as an advisor and guide for the world’s largest brands to best use its software platform.

Gary’s maternal grandmother, Lily, passed away from Alzheimer’s when he was a teenager. Gary felt frustrated at the time, in part because his sadness for her loss was muted. Instead, his sadness was more for his mother, who served as an initial care giver for a period where Lily lived in their home prior to requiring a dedicated facility and full-time staff support. Gary felt ashamed that he didn’t help his mother more during this time and is encouraged at the available resources for others in the community and wants to help now.

Gary brings an attention to detail and high level of care to advocacy and representation of the community and the Alzheimer Society Waterloo-Wellington. Gary’s previous experience on the board for Big Brothers Big Sisters and current responsibilities reviewing grant applications for Waterloo Region Community Foundation provide relevant experience and expertise to apply his communication skills and earnest commitment to completing all duties required of a board member to best support ASWW’s mission.

We have a duty to give to our community and leave the world in a better place, and board membership is one small way of doing so. The services and resources provided by ASWW to our community alleviates suffering and helps many people, and Gary joined the ASWW board to remove any barriers to these services and resources while he assists to promote and improve them in any way that he is called to do so. Gary is here to help as many people live their best day.

Ted Bleaney

Ted and his spouse moved to Waterloo Region in 1987 after they both graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1983. They decided that the time they were spending commuting to work in Toronto could better be spent raising a family and volunteering within their community. After raising 3 children, he and his spouse have recently retired and are now balancing travel with volunteer work!

When Ted's father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2012, Ted and his brother became his primary caregivers. They advocated for him and looked after him for 5 years until his passing in 2017. When Ted was considering new volunteer opportunities for retirement, the ASWW (Alzheimer's Society of Waterloo Wellington) seemed like a natural fit.

Utilizing skills he acquired over many years as a Project Management Professional with both IT and Actuarial experience, Ted worked with many firms, both small and large, in Waterloo Region.  Ted retired in 2024 from the University of Waterloo. Additionally, Ted gained extensive Governance and Risk Management experience during his frequent Board of Director volunteer roles with a number of large local non-profit corporations: Grand River Hospital, Kitchener Housing Inc, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro, Center in the Square, etc.

Ted looks forward to helping the ASWW build upon their past successes supporting Alzheimer patients and their caregivers locally while leveraging their connections and partnerships within the larger Alzheimer's Societies of Ontario.

Chloe Hamilton

Chloe is an entrepreneur and local business owner who founded Warm Embrace Elder Care in 2007. Warm Embrace Elder Care is a local, family-run homecare service that allows seniors to remain living at home for a long as possible. Services range from companionship visits through to advanced 24/7 care and are tailored to match clients’ changing needs. The passion for starting Warm Embrace came from family experience with dementia. Chloe founded Warm Embrace out of a desire to ensure that other families received the care that her family wished had been available for her grandmother. Throughout the years at Warm Embrace, Chloe has assisted hundreds of clients who are living with dementia, and she deeply understands the need for family support.

Chloe believes strongly in volunteering and is a passionate community member. She has served on numerous committees and councils. Most notably, she chaired the Elder Abuse Prevention Council of Waterloo Region from 2015 to 2022, during a time of transition with strategic planning and rebranding, as well as navigating the challenges of volunteer engagement during the pandemic. She actively mentors small business owners and startups and was elected to the board of the Chamber of Commerce.

Kent Sander

Kent Sander is a manager in the Assurance service line of Doane Grant Thornton LLP in their Waterloo office. He primarily focuses on completing audits and providing advisory services to a range of not-for-profit and charitable organizations. Kent also regularly leads internal training at the firm on new assurance or accounting pronouncements, and also with external members through the firms bi-annual in-person sessions for the Charity and Not-for-Profit Sector Group.

Kent received his Bachelor of Accounting from Brock University in 2019 and later obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant designation in 2021.

Kent is looking forward to being able to share his industry knowledge and insights with the Alzheimer Society.