Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is pleased to announce the appointment of Poonam Puri as the new chair of the board of directors. Poonam, former vice-chair, joined the board in June 2016.

She is a Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, and an affiliated scholar at Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg LLP. An expert in corporate governance, corporate law and securities law, Poonam has advised governments and regulators around the world, and she serves on the boards of directors of many significant organizations, including Colliers, CAPREIT and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Twice recognized as one of Canada’s top 25 most influential lawyers, Poonam is a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 40™ award for young business leaders and Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award by the Women's Executive Network (WXN). Most recently, she was awarded the Mundell Medal for legal writing by Ontario’s Attorney General, the Law Society Medal from the Law Society of Ontario for her leadership in the legal profession, and the Royal Society of Canada’s Yvan Allaire Medal in recognition of her contributions to the governance of public and private organizations.

Reflecting on her appointment as chair, Poonam is humbled and determined: “The work that Holland Bloorview does is more important than ever. As a trustee since 2016, I have seen firsthand how this extraordinary team works to create a world of possibility for children with disabilities. Every day, staff and leadership approach our crucial mission with passion, kindness and expertise. It is this dedicated team that inspires me to serve as director, and to be named chair is a particular honour. As chair, I will work to make our hospital even stronger, building on our strengths, including the calibre of our team, and addressing challenges head-on,” says Poonam.

The board has also appointed Catherine Roche as the new vice-chair. She has been a member of the board since 2019.

Catherine is the Chief Marketing Officer for BMO Financial Group where she is responsible for the bank’s centres of expertise in digital marketing, marketing insights and loyalty measurement, and for embedding purpose and sustainability into the organization’s marketing strategies.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, Catherine was formerly Partner and Managing Director for Boston Consulting Group, a global strategy consulting firm. In 2018, the Women's Executive Network included Catherine as part of Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award winners. She was also recognized with a 2021 Marketer of the Year award by Strategy Magazine, Canada's top marketing industry publication.

Catherine also sits on the boards of Futurpreneur Canada, Toronto Global and has been actively involved in supporting the local health care community through her recent role as co-chair of the Angel Ball fundraiser for St. Michael’s Hospital and her support of CAMH’s Techminds initiative.

Regarding her new appointment as the board vice-chair, Catherine says, “I am honoured to take on the position of vice-chair and continue working in partnership with Poonam Puri and the entire board of directors. I am grateful for the opportunity to actively contribute to an institution that engages in ground-breaking childhood disability research and delivers top-tier services to children and families.”

In addition, the board has appointed a new member, Dr. Rhonda McEwen. Dr. McEwen is currently the vice-principal, academic and dean at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and a professor of Emerging Technology at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology. Dr. McEwen is also president and vice-chancellor elect of Victoria University in the University of Toronto, taking up her term on July 1, 2022. Dr. McEwen has led and championed inclusion initiatives including serving as UTM’s first special adviser on anti-racism and equity, and on the steering committee of University of Toronto’s Black Research Network (BRN). Her daughter has been a Holland Bloorview client for over a decade. Holland Bloorview is honoured to welcome Dr. McEwen to the board.

The appointments were announced at the annual general meeting held on June 15, 2022.

Meanwhile, Holland Bloorview would like to express profound gratitude to the outgoing board chair, Marg Rappolt, for her extraordinary work and leadership on the board and the board chair who guided Holland Bloorview through the pandemic, the most challenging time in its more than 120 year history Her extensive experience as a strategic leader and her dedication over the years has helped us advance our status as a leader in care, teaching, learning and research in support of children with disabilities. Please read an interview with Marg here.

At the same time, Carol Cowan-Levine is stepping off the board  at the end of her term after her dedicated service to the board since June 2016. Holland Bloorview is truly grateful for her commitment and contributions throughout her time on the board and especially her leadership of the quality committee at a pivotal time as we advanced our journey to high reliability with our Caring Safely initiative.

Read more about Holland Bloorview’s governance and leadership and check out our 2021-2022 Impact Report.