LEADERSHIP
Working Together to Make a Difference
Kerr Street Mission is privileged to have a dedicated and capable board of directors. Together the board and Executive Director provide strong governance and sound financial management for the organization.
Chair of the Board
Retired – formerly President, Maple Reinders
Mike and his family are long-time residents of Oakville. Married to Colleen, they have 4 adult children and 6 grandchildren. Mike has served on and chaired the Council of Elders of ClearView Church where he attends, has been a board member at John Knox Christian School and Kings Christian Collegiate and co-leads an Oakville Leader Impact Men’s Group (Power to Change).
He has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and is a Chartered Director from The Directors College, McMaster University.
Mike retired in 2018 as President of Maple Reinders Group (www.maple.ca), a family and employee owned construction company focusing on buildings and environmental facilities, with operations across Canada. He now serves on the Board of the company and has served on the Boards of the Canadian Construction Association and the Ontario General Contractors Association.
Mike is currently a Board director for the Aim Environmental Group, Universal Matter Inc, Nation at Prayer and is the Board Chair of Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC). After several years on the Board of Kerr Street Mission, he now serves as Board Chair at KSM.
Chair of the Governance and Nomination Committee
President, Polar Star Advisory Services
Cliff is President of Polar Star Advisory Services Inc., a management consulting firm that he established to advise government and corporate clients on major projects and related financing matters. Cliff retired from CIBC World Markets at the end of 2014 where he was Managing Director and Head of CIBC’s infrastructure advisory and bond underwriting business. Cliff graduated from UBC with a B.A.Sc. in civil engineering and an MBA. He is a CFA charter holder, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute, a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK) and a Professional Engineer (P.Eng). He has a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation and has Chartered Director and Audit Committee Certified designations from Directors College, McMaster University.
Cliff currently serves as Chair of the Board of Ontario Non-union Education Trust and Chair of the Board of Faithlife Financial. He also serves on the boards of OMERS pension plan and JCM Power Corporation. Previously he served on the boards of Oakville Enterprises Corporation, CIBC World Markets plc in London, England and Unionville Alliance Church and from 2017 until mid 2021 he served as Chair of KSM. He and his wife Brenda live in Oakville and have two children and five grandchildren.
Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee
Retired – formerly Chief Strategy Officer, OMERS
Patrick was born in Stratford, Ontario and is the third of nine children. He grew up on a dairy farm about twelve miles northwest of Stratford and graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in 1974 with an Honours B.A.
He is a Fellow of both the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. He has held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer for a number of public and private companies in Ontario, Quebec and the United States during his career, most recently at the OMERS pension plan in Toronto until his retirement in 2016. He is currently a member of the Board of a number of for-profit and not-for- profit organizations.
He and his wife Marilyn live in Oakville and have been married for 43 years and they have four children and four granddaughters. They have been members of St. James Catholic Church in Oakville since 2014, following his ordination as a Permanent Deacon, and prior to that, at St. Andrew Catholic Church, upon their return from the United States.
Director
Former CEO, Christian Children’s Fund of Canada
Mark is an accomplished leader, director, and senior executive who has achieved significant results in six business sectors as well as the not-for-profit sector. He has 20+ years of board membership as a director, vice chair, chair, committee chair and CEO reporting to the board with profit and not-for-profit organizations. He is currently an independent director and interim executive and consultant with a practice focused on working with senior executives and boards of directors.
Mark is a director and Chair of the Governance/Nominating/Compensation Committee at the National Diabetes Trust Corporation. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of Christian Children’s Fund of Canada where he led the organization’s efforts to develop unique global alliances and advance the organization’s vision of a world where every child has the ability to achieve their full potential.
Mark has MBA and Bachelor of Mathematics degrees, and ICD.D (Institute Corporate Directors) accreditation. Mark was recognized by St. Paul’s University College as “Distinguished Alumnus Exemplary Service to Community”. Mark and his wife Angela live in Oakville and have two adult children.
Director
President, Antes Digital, Inc.
Domenic is a Brand, Marketing, Sales and Digital Strategist who partners with CEOs, executives and entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. Over his career, he held a number of senior executive roles in multiple industries (the most recent being President, Content Sales, Marketing and Digital Products for Bell Media), where he led and grew successful businesses through solid strategic and creative thinking.
Domenic holds an MBA and Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He is a graduate of the Rotman School of Management’s Directors Education Program, the Executive Management Program from Harvard Business School and Queen’s University’s Workplace Mental Health Leadership Program. He served on the CTV Specialty Television, Discovery Canada, Animal Planet and Discovery Science boards, as well as The Harold Greenberg Fund board. He was previously President and Chairman of CTAM Canada and a member of the PromaxBDA board, serving as Chair of the International Committee.
He and his wife Susan live in Oakville and have two sons.
Director
Lawyer, O’Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP.
Evelyn is currently a lawyer at O’Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP, the largest full service law firm in Halton Region. She has been a lawyer for over a decade and practices employment law, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, contract disputes, libel and slander defamation, malicious prosecution, and enforcement of foreign judgments.
She has appeared at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Superior Court of Justice, the Provincial Court of Justice, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and the Ministry of Labour.
Evelyn is the author and co-author of over a dozen publications, articles and PowerPoint presentations and is repeatedly asked to speak and teach at various conferences.
Before joining O’Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP, Evelyn articled in Ottawa, and was an associate at three boutique firms where she practiced Criminal, Litigation, and Employment law. Evelyn earned her law degrees from Canada (LL.B.) and the United States of America (J.D.) simultaneously in 2004.
Evelyn is fluent in both Spanish and Armenian, and is involved in both communities. She is conversational in French. Evelyn enjoys spending time with her family and is an avid snowboarder and snorkeler. She enjoys travelling, having visited all continents except Antarctica.
Director
Real Estate Broker, Founder of DeBeck Interiors
Devonia comes to the board with over 10 years of experience as an executive search consultant. She is a seasoned generalist recruiter for top executive management positions, however, her last role with Hutch Group (currently Cause Leadership) focused on finding senior talent for local and global not-for-profit, and Christian organizations.
Devonia also chaired the board at My Life Centre (MLC), a charity focused on supporting teen moms and at-risk youth. In a time of transition and growth, Devonia became the interim executive director for MLC and lead the board and organization in their amalgamation with JFJ Hopes Centre, a Christian adoption and family support centre. Devonia became a part of JFJ’s management team to support the newly established organization.
Devonia is currently a Real Estate Broker and the founder of DeBeck Interiors; an interior decorating and home staging firm. She is passionate about the positive affect of home ownership and home design on her clients. Devonia attends The Meeting House Church and is a member of Intriciti’s Christian leader’s roundtable and Leader Impact. Devonia is married to Ronald DeBeck, from Nebraska, who she met travelling internationally with the organization Up With People. She has three stepdaughters and a granddaughter.
Director
Human Resource Professional
Kristen’s expertise in human resources has focused on talent management, including recruitment, leadership and development programs and performance management. She worked at Loblaw Companies Limited for almost 10 year in a variety of roles. She first managed a newly initiated company wide coast-to-coast grad program which involved recruitment, strategy and a rotational in-house leadership training for all new hires. She led recruitment teams for corporate functions including category management, marketing and finance. She also managed a high potential leadership program and other employee development initiatives such as coaching, mentoring, assessments and performance management. Prior to Loblaw, she worked at the University of Toronto Mississauga’s Career Centre, connecting employers with students and educating students on the job search process. Kristen has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Human Resources certificate from Sheridan College.
Kristen and her husband, Toine, live in Oakville and have three children. Kristen enjoys being active outdoors and spending time with family in Holland. She is currently taking time at home with her children.
Director
President, Women Business Enterprises Canada Council
Silvia Pencak is a highly experienced and well-regarded business leader with significant global experience. She is the President of Women Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada), a Canadian nonprofit organization certifying Canadian women-owned businesses and opening the doors to corporate and government supply chains.
Silvia holds a Master’s degree and has over 20 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and for-profit environments, leading transformational projects and teams. She currently serves on the Supplier Advisory Committee at Public Service and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Procurement Modernization at Shared Services Canada (SSC), WTO Modernization Advisory Group and North American SME Counseling Network.
Silvia immigrated to Canada in 2006 and has been living in Oakville since 2010 with her husband and two daughters.
Ex Officio
Executive Director, Kerr Street Mission
Gary has been the Executive Director of Kerr Street Mission(KSM) since January of 2013. During his tenure KSM has taken significant steps forward in both programme offerings and financial stability.
He brings a strong business background to KSM, He has had the privilege of working for Fortune 500 companies renowned for their people development. He is an experienced leader whose passion for helping people has led him to positions focused on performance improvement, training and development, and leadership excellence. His strategic thinking, creativity and practical insights have been keys to his success in the pharmaceutical industry and at KSM.
Gary currently serves on the Halton Food Council and the Leadership team of the Halton Food Security Alliance.
Gary, his wife and 3 children are long-time residents of Oakville and have been active participants within the community in church, amateur sports and schools.
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