The Stella’s Team is growing as we develop programs and engage young adults as facilitators and Peer Ambassadors. We are committed to hiring staff with a diversity of experiences, and assertively hire young adults with lived experience of mental health issues.
We have an energetic, compassionate team. Each team member is committed to values-based practice, working collaboratively, with flexibility. We strive to create bold and responsive approaches to change the landscape of young adult mental health.
Executive Leadership Team
Nzinga Walker
Executive Director
Elisabetta Russomanno
Executive Assistant
Jason Warga
Director, Educational And Community Partnerships
Maureen Lewis
Chief Development Officer
Management Team
Angie Barbieri
Senior Manager, Annual Campaigns and Operations
Cecilia Amoakohene
Peer Initiatives Manager
Walter Bak
Accounting Manager
Development Team
Hilary
Director, Major Gifts and Partnerships
Access Team
Ash
Peer Ambassador
Asma
Senior Peer Ambassador
Cavell
Kitchen Coordinator
Gabe
Peer Ambassador
Janize
Access Coordinator
Laura
Access Counselor Navigator (Fall 2024)
Clinical Team
Claire
Clinician Team Lead, RSW
Erica
Mental Health Clinician, RSW
Gail
Program Care Specialist
Kadesha
MSW Student
Kiyani
Mental Health Clinician, RSW
Nakeesa
Mental Health Clinician, RSW
Rachel
Mental Health Clinician, RSW
Peer Initiatives Team
Andy
Digital Media Coordinator
Chukuka
Peer Initiatives Coordinator
Elena
Digital Media Coordinator (Student)
Gulpreet
Peer Initiatives Coordinator
Research & Evaluation Team
Ketan
Research Associate Analyst
Megumi
Research Coordinator
Our Board Members
Colin MacDonald
Chair, Stella’s Place
Principal, Navigator Ltd.
Colin MacDonald is a Principal at Navigator Ltd., where he specializes in public policy, reputation management and campaign execution. Prior to this role, Colin served as a senior policy advisor to several Ontario cabinet ministers. Colin graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a master’s degree in political science.
Donna Green
Founder, Stella’s Place
Trustee, Greenrock Investments, Inc. & Green Sanderson Family Foundation
Donna Green has over 40 years’ experience in real estate, arts and culture, and community development. Donna is a tireless community activist and philanthropist. She is the founder of Stella’s Place and former Chair of the board.
Naveen Hassan
Secretary
Associate General Counsel, SickKids
Naveen is Associate General Counsel at SickKids. In this role, she provides legal and risk management advice to administrative and clinical leaders across the hospital, and works closely with clinical teams to address diverse legal issues that arise in the delivery of care. Naveen has expertise in a range of health care matters, including mental health law, with a focus on children’s mental health. Prior to joining SickKids, she was a lawyer at a national Canadian law firm.
Steve Wilson
Treasurer
Managing Director, Growth Matters
Steve Wilson is the Managing Director of Growth Matters, an advisory practice working with Canadian high-growth technology companies. Steve graduated from The University of Michigan in 1987 and received his Chartered Accountant qualification in 1990.
Dr. Brendan Andrade, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Director
Dr. Brendan Andrade is a Clinical Psychologist and Clinician-Scientist with the Child, Youth and Emerging Adult Program (CYEAP) and Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He is Associate Professor and Research Director for the Division of Child and Youth Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Clinically, Dr. Andrade works with children, youth and their families challenged by complex mental health challenges, including disruptive behaviour disorders, ADHD, mood and anxiety disorders. His program of research investigates the social-emotional, cognitive and neuro-cognitive correlates of aggressive and disruptive behaviour in childhood and the effectiveness and predictors of short- and long-term treatment outcome of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and their parents participating in cognitive-behavioural group treatment. This second line of research is highlighted by the CIHR funded Personalizing Psychosocial Intervention for children with disruptive behaviour study that will lead to improved health outcomes by addressing the important question, “Which psychosocial treatments work for whom?”
Dr. Anthony Levitt
Director
Staff Psychiatrist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Levitt is a Staff Psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Full Professor of Psychiatry and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He is also the Medical Director of the Family Navigation Project (FNP). This community-based, free-of-charge service helps families with a youth who is suffering from a mental illness and/or addiction find the most appropriate care options.
Cynthia Sung, CPA
Director
Senior Tax Manager, Wealthsimple
Cynthia has been on the Board of Directors since June 2022.
Marsha John-Greenwood
Director
Vice-President of People & Culture, TIFF Lightbox
Marsha has been on the Board of Directors since November 2020.
Melanie Lovering, CFRE
Director
Melanie is a senior fundraising professional with two decades of direct fundraising experience as a Consultant with KCI, as a Director of Development for several organizations, and as the Founding Executive Director of the Leacock Foundation.
Claudine Dupont
Director
VP Marketing, TD Canada
Claudine has been on the Board of Directors since June 2024.
Elisa Gores
Director
MSW, RSW
Elisa Gores is a social worker and psychotherapist working in Toronto. Elisa’s work has included supporting young adults and 2SLGTBQ+ populations through life changes, relationships, and family-building, and has a background in neurobiology research at the University of Chicago. She currently works in private practice and at a fertility clinic.
-Alex Gosselin,
Manager, Clinical and Recovery Services
