Board of Directors

Bella is a 27-year-old first-generation Eritrean woman. Her family has lived in the Northeast part of the Centre’s neighbourhood for over 10 years.

She is currently working as a Registered Nurse at Toronto Western Hospital in the critical care unit. She completed a bachelor of science in both Kinesiology and Nursing at York University. Bella is currently completing a research study that discusses Migration and Critical Health.

Bella grew up serving the Eritrean Tewahdo Church as a youth leader for over 7 years where she helped mentor Eritrean youth.

Her interests lie in social justice, equity, and anti-black racism. As a first-generation immigrant and Black woman, she feels her voice is necessary in advocacy spaces. She is passionate about serving her community and amplifying the voices of the people who feel left behind. Her goal has always been to care for people in their most vulnerable moments. She is excited to begin her role with the SRCHC board of directors.

Matthew’s pronouns are he/him. His family immigrated from Hong Kong, he is a second-generation immigrant and have lived in East Toronto for over 16 years.

Matthew holds a BSc (Hon.) in Kinesiology & Health Science from York University where he focused his studies on the social determinants of health. While completing his JD at University of Windsor, he was selected to participate in the school’s first Mental Health Justice Clinic. He collaborated with the Empowerment Council, and led a PBSC project on family planning for adults with disabilities and was a worker at the trans ID clinic.

Matthew also interned at the HIV Legal Network developing legal resources focused on harm reduction and human rights for pregnant people and parents who use drugs. He developed his team building and community engagement skills while critically analyzing the utility of law to achieve health equity, with particular attention to the intersection of race, sexuality, and disability.

Arman’s parents moved to Canada as Iranian refugees, which has been vital in shaping his equity lens in life. He became invested in how that journey affected their health, and generally examining the social determinants of health. He has held research and program manager roles pertaining to health equity, having worked on affordable housing projects at SE Health and as a policy researcher for the Wellesley Institute.

He acknowledges the value of being part of a governance structure that sets the strategic directions of a community organization that is focused on health equity, and contributes to the shared idea that there exists a broader concept of health. That perspective and experience is something he has gained through his current role as a health policy and strategy consultant at Santis Health, and as the board chair for 3 years at Access Alliance.

Arman also has a deep passion for public policy having worked as a policy advisor in different Minister’s offices for the Ontario government, as well as having completed his Master’s of Public Policy, Administration, and Law at York University.

Emily Hill (she/her) joined the Board in 2020. She has lived with her girlfriend in South Riverdale for the last eleven years. She is the Senior Staff Lawyer at Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS), but is currently on a leave from ALS working with the Mass Casualty Commission which is a public inquiry examining the tragic events in Nova Scotia in April 2020.

She has represented clients at administrative tribunals, inquests, and the Ontario Court of Justice and acted on behalf of ALS as an intervener at the Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

She loves reading and is a volunteer with Toronto Public Library Leading to Reading program. Emily joined the Board to support South Riverdale Community Health Centre with its vital work to improve everyone’s physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being in the community.

Rebecca (she/her) has been living in South Riverdale with her family for over 15 years and is proud to be a member of this community, serving as a Director of the South Riverdale CHC Board. She is a Funding and Performance Consultant at the Ontario Hospital Association. Rebecca holds a Masters of Applied Science from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Health Administration from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Rebecca’s childhood experiences made her a witness to the impact of poverty, mental-health, and addictions on a person’s access to healthcare. Rebecca believes firmly that no person should be disadvantaged from thriving due to their social position or other socially determined circumstance and has worked toward making improvements in healthcare and in social services throughout her career.

Rebecca served on the Board of a community arts organization where inclusivity and equity were key values. She also served on the Board at Jessie’s Centre: the June Callwood Centre for Young Women. While at Jessie’s, Rebecca was Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee, the Anti-Discrimination and Equity Committee and served one year as Board Chair.

Aparna Kajenthira (pronouns she/her) is a racialized settler who arrived on this land as a child with her family. Currently, she is the Senior Manager of Health Equity, Community Engagement and Inclusion at the Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health at SickKids. She serves as a member of the Board at South Riverdale Community Health Centre and has supported the Nominations Committee and Tackling Anti-Black Racism Working Group. Aparna holds a BA in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at Western University and a Master’s of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University.

For seven years, Aparna worked as a Youth Outreach Worker at the London InterCommunity Health Centre. This experience shaped her career in working with the community to develop services that meet the needs of those who experience the greatest barriers to care. Following that, Aparna joined the Ontario Trillium Foundation and proudly supported the Youth Opportunities Fund to leverage its resources to support young Indigenous and Black change-makers whose passion and vision are critical in creating sustainable social change.

At GH-CCMH, Aparna worked as a manager with the Intensive Services for Youth Team to redevelop service offerings to better meet youth and families’ needs across the city with intensive mental health needs. In her current role, Aparna is working to reduce barriers to care across the organization and creating sustainable opportunities for client and caregiver engagement. Aparna works from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive framework and aims to surface and address equity, marginalization and power in all of her roles.

Rishma is of South Asian via East Africa decent and grew up as a minority in Montreal. Having lived experience as a caregiver to her father through his battle with cancer, she shifted her career from Oil/Gas to Healthcare to help solve challenges within healthcare systems and contribute to health system transformation.

Her experience in Ontario’s healthcare system has given her knowledge of its diverse communities, government partners, funders, and issues related to healthcare planning. Drawing upon her MBA and her current studies in the MHSc program at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, she is passionate about policy, innovation, and transformation, supporting sustainable results across the health system. Currently, she is expanding her experience by focusing on developing a deeper understanding of healthcare service delivery at the acute and community level.

Rishma seeks to address the social determinants of health and tackle the inequalities in society. She is committed to the principles and practices of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism and is dedicated to her own personal journey of learning and taking action to support and drive societal change. Rishma shares the same values of SRCHC and is currently the board liaison to the Alliance for Healthier Communities.

Dr. Philip Berger began his career as a physician at South Riverdale Community Health Centre in 1978 before he became Medical Director of the Inner City Health Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, and Chief of its Department of Family and Community Medicine from 1997 to 2013. Dr. Berger is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Through his work with torture victims, refugees, people with HIV and drug users, Dr. Berger has helped establish several health organizations aimed at improving human rights. He is a founding member of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, the Amnesty International Canadian Medical Network, and Maggie’s Safe Sex Project for Prostitutes. He also served as Board Chair of Inner City Health Associates, who provide medical services to homeless and precariously housed people across Toronto, from 2018 to 2022.

Dr. Berger is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and is a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2010 and was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. In 2018 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

Nisha (she/her) is a first generation Canadian of South Asian descent and a proud resident of the East End community. Nisha is a public health professional committed to advancing community health and health equity. She transitioned from a career in finance to one in healthcare to pursue this mission. Nisha holds a Masters of Science in Public Health from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and Bachelors of Math from the University of Waterloo.

Nisha has extensive experience in healthcare, having led projects in research, management, analytics and implementation in Canada and Africa over the last 10 years. She has worked on several maternal and child health projects, including leading a multi-country effort to improve access to pediatric HIV testing and treatment with the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Most recently, she managed the COVID-19 vaccine implementation team at the Ontario Ministry of Health. She has also held several volunteer positions, supporting vaccine programs, community HIV testing, and youth shelters.

Through her experience working in the Canadian and global healthcare space, Nisha has seen firsthand how social factors can contribute to health outcomes and wellbeing. She is excited to contribute her expertise, grit, and enthusiasm to the SRCHC Board.

Riannon (she/her) has lived most of her life in Riverdale and is a proud and passionate member of the community. She is a corporate communication and change management consultant, currently working with a range of clients at a national PR and advisory firm, Argyle. She has previously provided communications support for several not-for-profit organizations, including a Toronto hospital.

Giving back to her community was an important part of Riannon’s upbringing and she is dedicated to serving the greater good through her work and volunteer efforts. She also serves on the Board of Times Change Women’s Employment Services.

While far from a scientist or researcher, Riannon is extremely interested in data-driven decision making and was inspired by the SRCHC’s steadfast commitment to evidence-based practice and deepening community engagement.

She is also a huge animal person and can find a way to talk about dogs – more specifically her dogs – in almost any conversation.

Edward Speicher grew up in South Riverdale before work and career commitments took him to other parts of the country. After receiving a degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College in Kingston, he served as an Officer in the Canadian Army for more than a decade including an overseas deployment to Afghanistan in 2011.

While living in Ottawa, he became closely involved with the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre and served on their Board for the maximum term length of 6 years ending in 2019. Always having been a staunch believer in social justice causes, he became a firm advocate for harm reduction services and was proud to see the introduction of a Supervised Injection Service in April 2018 while serving as Board Chair.

A strong commitment to social equity and environmental justice continues to inform much of the work that he now does as a data analyst and data scientist.

Having moved back to Toronto in 2019, he settled once again in South Riverdale with his wife and two young daughters and is looking for the opportunity to give back to the community he loves.