Board members
Adele Imrie
Chair
Adele Imrie brings extensive experience in public/private partnership (P3) infrastructure, commercial real estate and renewable energy investments as a senior finance executive with an entrepreneurial real estate company. Adele also has significant board experience, having served as chair and audit committee chair for several large not-for-profit organizations in the education and health care sectors. Adele is a CPA CA.
John Campbell
Director
John F. Campbell was reappointed to the Toronto Community Housing Board as a Director on May 16, 2021 for a two -year term. John served as Toronto City Councillor from 2014 to 2018. During his term of office, he served on the Budget Committee, the Planning and Growth Management Committee and the Board of the TTC. Previously, he was elected as a Toronto District School Board Trustee (2003) and Chair (2008-09) during two terms. As school board chair, he led 22 trustees in setting priorities and policy, and in managing a $2.3 billion budget. For 30 years, John worked in the consumer packaged goods industry, most recently as managing director of his own sales agency. John earned his MBA from the Schulich School of business in 1999.
Marcel Charlebois
Tenant Director
Marcel Charlebois belongs to the Ojibway First Nations and has lived and worked in Toronto for approximately 25 years. He has been involved in many roles within social services, such as developing a community watch program with a focus on domestic violence. He has worked in the addictions field and has experience in working with homeless individuals. He has volunteered with sentencing circles within the Native community and worked with Bereaved Families Ontario with the focus of suicide loss. Marcel is currently volunteering as a Tenant Rep within TCHC.
Debbie Douglas
Director
Debbie is an Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. Through her work in the NGO sector and particularly at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Ms. Douglas has highlighted issues of equity and inclusion including race, gender and sexual orientation within the immigration system and promoted the creation of safe, welcoming spaces within the settlement and integration sector. She was also a member of the provinces' Expert Panel on Immigration and Income Security Reform Working Group.
Ubah Farah
Tenant Director
Ubah was re-appointed for a two-year term as a Tenant Director on March 10, 2021. Ubah has more than two decades of experience in organizational development, project management and creative leadership. Her experience encompasses community advocacy, policy analysis, operations management, financial management, facilitation and public speaking. She has a diploma in Community Work from George Brown College and a degree in Social Work from York University. Ubah is a passionate housing worker and a leader in intervention and high-level civic engagement, and she has built strong relationships with Somali-Canadian and Muslim diaspora leaders in order to help members of these communities to better their lives.
Ziva Ferreira
Tenant Director
Ziva Ferreira is passionate about making the vibrant communities of TCHC a better place for our tenants. She is an effective leader with experience working with diverse community stakeholders, managing multiple projects and leading diverse teams. In combination with her professional experience, Ziva’s knowledge of cultural and politically-relevant resources to support marginalized groups in social housing by using an anti-oppressive framework makes her a great addition to the Board.
Vinita Jajware-Beatty
Director
With over two decades in risk management and governance, Vinita Jajware-Beatty brings strategic foresight and operational excellence to board discussions. Her extensive experience in forensic engineering and risk management has given her a deep understanding of complex challenges across various industries. As COO of a power and energy company and President & Board Chair of the Toronto Insurance Women’s Association, Vinita has led strategic planning and operational initiatives, resulting in successful acquisitions and organizational growth.
Recognized nationally as a top Risk Manager in Canada, she has demonstrated expertise in risk management, strategy, operations, and insurance. Vinita's leadership extends to fostering inclusive environments, promoting diversity, and driving sustainable success within organizations. Additionally, her specialization in construction law and risk management further underscores her ability to navigate and mitigate complex legal and regulatory landscapes in the construction sector.
Vinita’s multifaceted experience and commitment to inclusive leadership make her a valuable asset to any board.
Parthi Kandavel
Director
Parthi Kandavel was elected on November 30, 2023 to Toronto City Council as the Councillor for Scarborough Southwest. During his campaign, Parthi championed the need for better transit, more childcare services, affordable housing, responsible development, and more transparent local government decision making. He is committed to continuing to provide voice to the residents of Scarborough Southwest in their efforts to build healthy and flourishing communities for themselves and their families.
Between 2014 and 2022, Parthi was the TDSB Trustee for Ward 20. He served as Chair of the TDSB Finance and Budget Committee and was a passionate advocate for children's education and wellbeing and for the importance of strong local school communities. Having spent 12 years as an elementary school teacher, and as the child and grandchild of teachers, Parthi fully understands the needs of both students and parents.
Parthi is a graduate of the University of Waterloo where he received a BA in Mathematics and Political Science. He is married to Dr. Anu Sriskandarajah, a professor of Childhood and Youth Studies at York University. They are the proud parents of two-year-old Adhiya Sai.
Parthi currently serves as the chair of the City-School Boards Advisory Committee which is focused on helping to create a platform for the City of Toronto and the four school boards to work together more productively in ensuring that schools and local communities are safe and nurturing places. He also serves as a member of the Planning and Housing Committee, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Toronto Heritage Board, and as a director of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation.
Nick Macrae
Director
Nick is the Senior Vice President, Head of Investments at Woodbourne Capital Management where he is responsible for the firm's investment activities and is a member of the senior leadership team. Prior to Woodbourne, Nick was the Co-Head of Global Real Estate (Acting) and Senior Portfolio Manager, Real Estate at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), a major Canadian pension plan with +$100 billion in net assets and a +$16 billion global real estate portfolio. Prior to HOOPP, Nick worked at Brookfield Financial within Brookfield Asset Management and Avison Young. Nick has earned degrees from the University of Toronto and Queen's University, and sits on several non-profit boards of directors and committees.
Naram Mansour
Director
Naram Mansour was appointed to the Board on March 10, 2021 for a two-year term. He is the Founder and President of Carlyle Communities, an active city builder with developments representing a gross build out value of $1.3 billion comprised of more than 2,000 residential units and 150,000 square feet of commercial space. Naram is also a sessional lecturer at the Schulich School of Business, where he lectures on the topic of real estate development. He earned Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees from the Schulich School of Business, York University.
Brian F.C. Smith
Director
Brian F. C. Smith was the President and Chief Executive Officer of WoodGreen Community Services from 1978 to 2014. He served as a member of the Mayor's Task Force on Toronto Community Housing Corporation, on the Ontario Expert Advisory Panel on Homelessness and on the Consumer Council of Canada's Residential Intensification Panel Report. Brian has a Bachelor of Arts from Bishop's University, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Trinity College, a Master of Business Administration from Western University and a Non-profit Certificate from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He has also received Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association's Sybil Frenette Outstanding Leadership Award, the Canadian Urban Institute City Leadership Award and is a Past President of Home Ownership Alternatives and International Federation of Settlements.
Gord Perks
Director
In his work as Toronto City Councillor, Gord is an advocate for affordable housing, childcare, public transit, vibrant public spaces, responsible development, and safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
Gord has been a member of the City’s Budget, Parks and Environment, Planning and Growth Management, Public Works and Infrastructure, Planning and Housing, Affordable Housing and Tenants Issues Committees and has chaired the Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption and Toronto & East York Community Council.
He has also sat on the Special Committee on Governance, Tribunal Nominating Panel, Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Board of Health, Toronto Drug Strategy, Board of Governors for Exhibition Place, Toronto Public Library Board, Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance, and the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee.
Gord Perks was first elected to represent Parkdale-High Park in 2006. Prior to becoming a Councillor, Gord worked in the environmental movement from 1987 to 2005 with Pollution Probe, Greenpeace Canada, the Better Transportation Coalition, and the Toronto Environmental Alliance. His work was fundamental to Toronto’s blue and grey box program, smog plan, and pesticide by-law. He led the campaign for better transit that helped usher in the Ridership Growth Strategy and Transit City. Gord has also been a childcare worker, a janitor, a newspaper delivery kid, a Zamboni driver, and (briefly) a coal miner.
Gord is the principal author of the Canadian Green Consumer Guide, one of Canada’s bestselling non-fiction books. He has previously worked as an environment columnist for Eye Weekly and was an Adjunct Professor with the University of Toronto’s Environmental Studies Department.
Anthony Perruzza
Director
Anthony Perruzza immigrated to Canada at age nine. His mother did factory shift work, and his father was a carpenter. Humber River-Black Creek is his lifelong home and where he’s raising his family.
An experienced representative, Councillor Perruzza was a Trustee in the Metro Toronto Separate School Board (1985-88), a North York Councillor (1988-90), and a Member of Provincial Parliament (1990-95). He served as the Toronto City Councillor of Ward 8 from 2006 until 2018, when he was elected to serve the new mega-Ward 7.
Re-elected as City Councillor for Ward 7 in 2022, Anthony Perruzza has dedicated his life to serving Humber River-Black Creek. His extensive involvement in the community includes being a member of Toronto’s Etobicoke & York Community Council, the Infrastructure & Environment Committee, the Exhibition Place Board of Governors, and an Executive Member of the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority.
After decades of leadership, Anthony Perruzza brings invaluable experience and grassroots knowledge to the Councillor’s office. He is a strong and reliable voice for affordability, accessible services, equity, and the environment.
Anthony has worked hard to enhance playgrounds and rebuild roads and sewers. He supported the subway extension to Vaughan to connect people across the city and get them where they needed to go. Through his work as the Poverty Reduction Advocate, Anthony always advocated for more local jobs and opportunities for youth. He has also fought for more seniors to receive property tax and utility bill rebates. Anthony has helped repair and upgrade rental housing for years and organized park cleanups, tree plantings, and toy drives for families. Through Anthony’s dedication, the Yorkwoods Library and Theatre are being renovated, a new community centre is well on its way for Weston and Sheppard, and he’s advancing the Jane-Finch Community Hub and Centre for the Arts.
