Barbara J. Fraser, BComm (Hons.), Chair

As the principal of Barbara J. Fraser & Associates, Barbara helps small and medium sized non-profits to maximize their capacity through organizational development, technology and successful fundraising initiatives.

With a bachelor’s degree in Business Management (Major in Human Resources) and a Certificate in Fundraising Management, combined with over ten year’s delivering success in non-profit sector agencies, Barbara brings a wide range of skills and extensive experience to her role as Chair of the Family Association for Mental Health Everywhere (FAME). Barbara’s commitment and passion for FAME’s mission is derived from lived experience coping with family mental health issues.  Through her role as Chair, a variety of volunteer roles with FAME since 2008 (including Vice-Chair and the Chair of the 2011 and 2012 Simply Divas events), and parallel work in the sector, Barbara supports both the work of FAME and a greater understanding of mental illness, its challenges and opportunities in our society.

Trish Hewitt, Secretary

Ms. Hewitt is a Senior Human Resources Professional with over 20 years experience in the Human Resources field.  She has worked in multiple industries including High Tech, Consumer Packaged Goods, Foodservice, and Publishing for several large Canadian and US organizations.  She currently holds the position of Senior Vice President for a major publically-traded Canadian Media Company.  Ms. Hewitt has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Toronto and holds the CHRP designation.

Nancy Carss, Treasurer

Nancy Carss is the Treasurer of the Board of Directors for FAME  Nancy has extensive experience in capital and financial markets.  She has held senior positions in portfolio management, equity and credit analysis, and institutional equity, debt and derivatives trading. Nancy is a CFA with an MBA from University of Western Ontario, and an MASc and BASc (Engineering) from the University of Toronto.  In the not for profit sector, Nancy has served on boards and committees for schools and  the United Way of Oakville and has been  a volunteer with many other organizations.

Sasha Zibreg, Board Member

Sasha started his career in marketing and promotion with the Yugoslavian National Theater. Over an eight year period he was part of a team which successfully brought the National Theater from local to European prominence. In 1991 Sasha joined AIDA The Opera spectacle which was a world touring theatrical extravaganza. He worked as a Director of Marketing and Promotion with their productions in Asia and Europe.

After years of touring with AIDA he joined the Pepsi-Co European team to market and promote their high profile special consumer events in Europe.

Since 1998 he immersed himself completely in Internet Technology and became a leading web instructor in triOS College. The majority of the past 13 years Sasha spent as a web and multimedia developer and business development consultant.

Sasha is currently teaching Online Marketing, Multimedia, Web and Graphic Design Program at CDI College – School of Art and Design in Toronto.

Joe Parent, Board Member

Joe Parent has over 20 years experience in senior marketing positions within the highly competitive telecommunications and technology industry. He has worked for such firms as Vonage Communications, Sprint Canada, Unitel/AT&T Canada and others. He has worked with newly deregulated and rapidly growing new market entrants and also has extensive experience with start-up companies. He has held a variety of roles including product management/development, branding, strategy, communications, media and public relations and regulatory affairs. Mr. Parent also has experience working with telecommunications companies in the United States and Europe. Mr. Parent earned a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Windsor (Labour & Soviet Studies) and an MBA from McMaster University (Marketing & International Business).

He enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, loves music and a number of activities such as hiking, cycling, hockey and golf. Mr. Parent has been inspired by the dedication of the FAME staff and the many personal stories of triumph he heard since joining the FAME board in 2010.

Michael Robinson, Board member

Michael is results driven Marketing and Sales professional with over 30 years experience in the corporate sector as well as running his own businesses. Michael has demonstrated a strong record of delivering impressive sales growth by building strong sales and marketing teams for companies in consumer packaged goods (Laura Secord) and health care (Abbott Laboratories: Hospital Products, Retail and their Diagnostics Divisions) and Cooper Vision (Executive Director for Marketing and Sales in their Surgical Products Group).

As an entrepreneur, Michael successfully started, grew and sold his own chocolate manufacturing company employing over 40 staff. Following the sale of his company, he served as Marketing and Sales consultant for a biotechnology company in Toronto helping them quadruple sales and ensure their product became a platform technology for the bio-pharmaceutical industry.

Today he is a Managing Partner in a boutique marketing consultancy practice in Toronto (Lanaverde). Michael wants to build strong links between FAME and the corporate community to help expand FAME’s reach and programming services.

Charlene Goodwin, Board Member

Charlene Goodwin has extensive experience in the Not-For-Profit industry with the United Way at a corporate level. In addition to that Charlene has been involved with Gilda’s Club and Serve. Currently Charlene works at ScotiaLife Financial as a Senior Manager in Customer Communications. She holds a degree from Ryerson University in Radio Television Arts and is now pursuing a Masters Degree. Charlene is very passionate about helping others and will ensure a total commitment in both time and energy in your support.

Cindy Woodcock, Board Member

With more than has 17 years of public relations experience in the healthcare industry, Cindy has provided strategic communications counsel and support for a wide range of international and domestic clients. She has implemented national launch and post-launch campaigns, awareness campaigns, media relations initiatives, direct-to-consumer programs, and employee events. She also has extensive experience in facilitating relationships with key stakeholder groups across a range of therapeutic areas. She is a graduate of Centennial College.

Heather F. Turnbull, B.A. (Hons.),CMF, Past Chair

As President of the Turnbull Consulting Group, Heather helps organizations achieve high quality decisions and implement them effectively. Her experience as a facilitator, writer, and management innovation professional spans over 20 years and numerous sectors including financial services and not for profit. Her approach draws upon the discipline of the martial arts: Heather is a world champion gold medalist and 4th Degree Black Belt Martial Artist, and the Founding Partner of Goddess Martial Arts, an organization promoting wellness, personal effectiveness and safety to women everywhere.

A native Maritimer, Heather has proudly served as a volunteer at both executive and committee levels. As the Chair of the Board of FAME (Family Association for Mental Health Everywhere), Heather draws on  her extensive professional experience and compassion in shaping the future of this unique organization, and helping to remove the stigma from mental illness. An excellent collaborator and role model herself, she frequently speaks on leadership and the role of volunteers in creating the new landscape of commitment and change for good.