Martin Bryan:
Martin`s interests are advocacy for marginalized people and communities. He works as a Community Health Worker at East End CHC. Martin has volunteered with the RTCC Membership and Outreach committee at RTCC helping with membership, and producing copyright material, media and video.
Hongmei Cai
Hongmei is a long-time resident of Riverdale. She has worked in community organizations for over 10 years helping newcomers and their families. Currently she is a caseworker with the Ontario Disability Support Program. She has great understanding of the needs of people and families who face multiple barriers and the roles of community organizations in serving the communities.
Hongmei has been involved in the community with strong connections with the Chinese community. She has been involved with RTCC for the past 15 years, not only as a board member but also in general as a community member.
Hongmei has a master’s degree in social work. Outside her regular employment, she teaches Mandarin and does counselling and psychotherapies. She enjoys gardening, reading, and walking in the neighbourhood. Hongmei lives with her husband and daughters in Rivertowne.
Kelly Davies
Kelly is a mother of a 7-year-old daughter. Kelly started her first company at the age of 23 which eventually led to an offer of an administrative position at a well-established Toronto hedge fund. She took over responsibility in areas of HR, Marketing, Investor Relations, and Accounting. Over the next few years, Kelly worked tirelessly, learning everything she could about the industry. At the age of 40, Kelly was offered a position as the CEO. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in her career.
Kelly has previously led a campaign to raise funds for the patient amenities fund at Sick Kids and has volunteered her time among many charities including Ve’ahavta, The Scott Mission, and The Yonge Street Mission. Kelly volunteers at her daughter’s school when she can, and has been involved in a mentoring program through her work in finance.
In her spare time Kelly can be found enjoying concerts and festivals, biking, yoga, baking, gardening, and renovation projects. Kelly is an avid Golfer with the “Iron Ladies” and Curler with “the Royals” on Broadview.
Ex Officio Board Member Councillor Paula Fletcher
Paula Fletcher has a long record of service to Toronto-Danforth residents. She first became involved as a leader in the East End Parent Network and was then elected as the TDSB Trustee in 2000. Paula was elected as City Councillor for the former Ward 30 in 2003 and has served as Councillor since. She was re-elected in 2018 to represent the new Ward 14, Toronto-Danforth, with the expanded boundaries from the Don Valley Parkway to Coxwell Ave and from Lake Ontario to just north of O’Connor Drive. She currently represents over 106,000 residents.
Paula is focused on creating affordable housing, improving community and road safety for all users, fighting the climate crisis, parks and public realm improvements and improving public transit. She works with residents, business owners and community agencies to build vibrant, healthy neighbourhoods and she is a strong progressive voice at City Hall.
Paula is Vice-Chair of Toronto and East York Community Council and Vice-Chair of the City’s Planning and Housing Committee. She is also the Chair of the Film, Television and Digital Media Advisory Board and Chair of the Subcommittee on the Protection of Affordable Rental Housing. She serves on the Boards of the Toronto Senior Housing Corporation, Canadian Stage Company, CreateTO, Heritage Toronto, Toronto Region Conservation Authority, and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation.
Locally, she is also on the Boards of the Applegrove Community Complex, Eastview Neighbourhood Community Centre, the Ralph Thornton Community Centre, and all seven Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in Ward 14.
Ruby Kaliray
Ruby is an accomplished lawyer with extensive experience in securities, mergers and acquisitions, and technology law, and has advised regulatory bodies on developing legislation. Ruby leverages her expertise on corporate boards to drive impactful decision-making and promote ethical practice. Ruby also volunteers as a mentor to foster care youth transitioning out of the system, guiding them through challenges.
She leads a community-focused group that examines how local developments and housing initiatives shape the Riverside community, with a particular focus on the diversity impact on its residents. Additionally, Ruby serves on Ralph Thornton Community Center as a board member contributing to its mission and initiatives in the community.
Hailee Morrison
Hailee brings an extensive career in the non-profit sector, fortified with a lifelong passion and commitment to a variety of social issues. She has a proven track record of creating inclusive environments that respond to the needs of the community and where staff and clients feel respected.
She brings 20 years of expertise in both leading and managing teams with a demonstrated ability to translate abstract ideas into tools that create new levels of success, and is dedicated to ensuring that strategies, plans, and goals are actionable and implemented.
Hailee began her career as a front-line support worker, where she was innovative and contributed positively to the lives of marginalized individuals. Her career has been diverse, exciting, and anchored in working with vulnerable populations and cause related issues.
Hailee is an avid cyclist, intrepid traveller (often on two wheels!) and committed dog owner.
McKell Neilson
McKell joined his first board at age 17, representing his dance group – the Kingston Ukrainian Maky Dance Ensemble, as part of the local Folk Arts Council.
McKell had the opportunity to see much of the US and Western Europe as a member of the international performing group Up with People, working with the organization until the end of 2000, visiting 20 countries and almost every US state and Canadian province. Countless hours of community service and involvement were part of the Up with People program ranging from working in inner-city schools in the US to visiting nursing homes, clearing litter and working with animals. In the years since then, he moved to Toronto and started working at an event planning company but left after SARS decimated the industry in Toronto in 2003. Since then, he has been working at Exela Technologies, currently as an operations manager.
During the pandemic, McKell led a volunteer group in his apartment complex to assist house-bound residents with groceries and prescription pick up, support phone calls and a food library to support those with food insecurity. McKell also serves on the International Alumni Association Board as Director of Internal Development. He has two cats and shares his life with them.
Lisa Pottie:
After her PhD in English literature and a number of years teaching at various universities in Ontario, Lisa was bitten by the nonprofit bug. For 25 years she worked as a fundraiser for a wide variety of arts, health, and community organizations. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, responsible for facilities and operations, government relations, HR, and finance. She was previously the Director, Development and Donor Relations at the McMichael. She also served as Executive Director for Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s Atlantic region for five years before returning to Toronto. Lisa is a life-long volunteer and passionate about helping to make a practical impact in her community. She and her partner Laurie and their three cats have lived in the RTCC catchment area since 2015, and she joined the RTCC Board in 2020.
Maggi Redmonds:
Maggi has lived in the catchment area for over 40 years and in that time has served on boards and committees of community-based agencies, including Ralph Thornton Community Centre, South Riverdale Community Health Centre and Boulton Child Care. She has also been active in other community initiatives, most recently with the “Save Jimmie Simpson” Campaign. With experience in governance, community organizing & outreach, Maggi strongly supports principles of collaboration, inclusion, equity and social justice. She was re-elected to the RTCC Board in 2020.
Heather Simpson
Heather Simpson is a consultant who works exclusively with nonprofit and social purpose organizations. Her work is focused on supporting the development of earned income strategies (through social enterprise feasibility and business planning), strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, evaluation and grant writing.
Heather has over 20 years of experience working in and for non-profit organizations. She has previously served in the roles of Board President and Treasurer at Elizabeth Fry Toronto, as a Board member of the Canada Africa Partnership, a Councilor for the Toronto council of the Canadian Red Cross, as a member of the Grant Review team at Ontario Trillium Foundation, as an Agency Reviewer for United Way Toronto, and as a Peer Reviewer for Imagine Canada’s standards program
Heather has an MBA from Schulich/York University, a certificate in Fundraising Management from X University, and a certificate in Non-for-Profit & Charity Finance Leadership from CPA Ontario. As an RTCC Board member elected in 2021, she hopes to put her skills and expertise to use in order to give back to an organization that is an important part of the community in which she resides.
James Topham
James Topham returned to Toronto, Canada, after spending two decades dedicated to assisting children in war zones. In the early ’90s, he worked in the music industry, where he once accidentally hung up the phone on Bono.
Joining the RTCC Board in 2021, James has two decades of non-profit experience both as a fundraising and communications director. He was a member of the Crisis Management, Gender and Diversity, and Safeguarding Committees at War Child Canada. He was also part of War Child Canada’s senior team that oversaw the organization’s growth from $5M/year to over $20M over just five years. James is looking forward to using his expertise and experience to help and give back to a community that is closer to his home, and seeing the impact with his own eyes.
Ejay Tupe:
Ejay has been a member of the RTCC Board Management since 2018. He has been serving marginalized and vulnerable people for over 16 years, working for the Yonge Street Mission as a Case Manager, serving as the Community Chaplain at Cornerstone Dinner in Regent Park and was employed as a Youth Minister for Church in the City in the St. Lawrence area, piloted a youth Outreach program with Our Place Peel and regularly works to advance Urban Ministry initiatives. Ejay started his own not for profit work serving and advocating for marginalized people in cyclical poverty. His extensive experience in public speaking, fundraising, and teaching has served him well in his past experience and current role at RTCC.
Lindsay Williams
Lindsay has lived in the community for over 10 years and her affinity for it grows each day. She is looking forward to being part of RTCC and contributing to the great work that it does.
Lindsay holds a leadership position at a full-service public relations agency and brings more than 20 years of experience across a broad range of clients in varying sectors. Her professional experience has taught her to quickly integrate and ingrain herself into new roles. As a strategic problem-solver she knows there’s always a solution – the art is finding the right one for every situation.