Volunteer Directors

Avinesh currently holds a position with Mackenzie Investments as the Assistant Vice-President of Internal Audit in Toronto. Avinesh started his career at Ernst & Young but has also held positions within Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and BMO Bank of Montreal.

Avinesh hold a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Avinesh also holds a Canadian Chartered Accountant (CA), Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations. He is also completing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Toronto.

Originally born in Trinidad and Tobago, Avinesh migrated to Canada with his parents at a young age. Avinesh now resides in Burlington, Ontario with his wife Andrea and daughter Nikki. Outside of work Avinesh is an avid baseball player playing at the provincial, national and university levels. He also enjoys coaching baseball, golfing and attending sporting events.

Paul Elliott graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with an Hons. BBA in 1988 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991. He began his career with Ernst & Young. Following his work in public practice, Mr. Elliott specialized in corporate development and mergers and acquisitions for Honeywell and SHL Systemhouse. Next came the transition to executive leadership as a CFO in technology based enterprises.

Paul joined Ceridian in 2004 as the CFO of the Canadian business, became Global COO in 2013 and President in 2016. He retired from Ceridian May 2019 but remains an advisor to the company. Paul resides in Oakville Ontario with his wife Christine, three university aged sons and his dog, Bo.

Tavia joined Ceridian in 2009 in Field Effectiveness and thereafter, shifted to Business Excellence. Prior to joining Ceridian, she was engaged in Corporate Training, Learning Management and Quality Programs. Tavia holds a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University and a Graduate Certificate from Concordia University (both in Education).

At the time Ceridian Cares was launched, Tavia was chair of the Montreal Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and was pleased to step into the role of Chair for the Montreal Ceridian Cares Chapter.

When not at work, Tavia has been a volunteer hike leader for the Montreal Chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada, has done peer mentoring for single parents to challenge themselves in the outdoors and has been the organizer of a single parent networking group offering resources and social outings for children and their parents. She also organized toy and winter clothing drives and participated in the Montreal-NY run raising funds for the Esprit de Corps Foundation.

In her free time, she likes to get outside, play the piano, read, or more recently and to her utter delight, create in her pottery studio.

Uma is the Director of Strategic Planning and Innovation at United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County. Uma is currently leading strategy development for a 10 – year community collective impact strategy focusing on improving cradle to career population-level outcomes for children and youth across Windsor-Essex County.

Her role also encompasses evaluating in-demand training and employment social enterprises for youth with barriers to employment. Her previous roles include being a Faculty Teacher at St. Clair College, at The Boston Consulting Group she managed marketing and social impact for BCG’s Canadian operations. At CIBC, Uma worked in Community Investment and managed an $8.5MM national employee United Way campaign and a national youth scholarship in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the YMCA.

Uma is a 2015 Association for Fundraising Professionals Diversity and Inclusion Fellow, a 2008 Ivey MBA graduate, and in 2010, received the Ivey Global Emerging Leader award in Community Advancement.

As Client Solutions Director, Christine works with Ceridian’s Enterprise Account Executives and clients to lead and manage all strategic presales activities. Residing in Burlington, Ontario, Christine Sloan joined Ceridian 15 years ago as an Inside Sales Representative in the call center. Christine held various positions within the sales organization before moving into a leadership role.

Christine holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) with a Major in Marketing & Sales. Prior to achieving her degree, Christine graduated from Mohawk College with a diploma in Business Administration.

Before serving as Vice Chair on the Ceridian Cares Board of Directors, Christine was an active member of the Markham Chapter, actively assessing and approving grant applications. In her spare time, Christine enjoys skiing and golf, and spends much of her free time in arenas with her son for both hockey and lacrosse. Christine is also actively involved in her community, working with The Good Shepherd Center where she annually sponsors a family in their “Family Christmas Program”, and volunteering at the annual “Hockey Helps the Homeless” tournament.

Brian joined the Chatham branch of National Bank Financial as an Investment Advisor in 1999. Born and raised in Chatham-Kent he services over 300 families across Southwestern Ontario providing Wealth Management Advice and portfolio management. Previous work experience included being the CEO of the Chatham-Kent Family YMCA, and Community Education Manager for the Municipality of Wallaceburg. Brian holds a Honours Degree in Recreation from the University of Waterloo, is a Registered Investment Advisor and a Certified Senior Advisor.

Brian has had a lifelong passion for giving back to his community. Over the past 30 years he has been involved with several community non-profit boards including Chatham-Kent Family YMCA Foundation, Chatham-Kent Children’s Safety Village, YMCAs of Southwestern Ontario, and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance to mention a few.

Brian has been married to his beautiful wife Judee for over 35 years and has a daughter Brynelle who is a French teacher with the Lambton-Kent District School Board. Outside of work Brian has been a competitive curler for 50 years and also enjoys golf, squash and working out at the CK YMCA.

Based in Toronto, Ontario, Sharon Wood has served as the President and CEO of Kids Help Phone since August 2009, bringing a depth of experience in the non-profit, charitable sector in leadership roles provincially and nationally.

Prior to joining Kids Help Phone, Sharon was CEO of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's (CBCF) Ontario Region, and served as the interim CEO of CBCF's National Office in both 2004 and 2007, concurrent with her regional leadership role. She has also held positions as Executive Director of Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) and as Director of Organizational Learning and Development at the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Sharon is bilingual in French and English, holds a Masters of Education degree in Adult Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, with a specialty focus in workplace learning and change, as well as a Certificate in Non-Profit Sector Management from Ryerson and the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy.

In addition to Ceridian Cares, Sharon serves on the Board of Directors of the Excellence in Literacy Foundation, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Toronto Chapter, where she is also the Vice-President of Governance. Sharon is enthusiastic about fitness and the outdoors, enjoying running, biking, skiing, hiking and canoeing, as well as relaxing (as a rest from being active) with her two children, ages 12 and 16.

Residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Lyndee Patterson is a lawyer on staff at Ceridian. In her role, Lyndee acts as counsel and is responsible for legislative compliance, making sure Ceridian follows relevant government legislation and regulations. She also represents Ceridian on the Federal Government Relations Advisory Council.

Called to the bar in 2003, Lyndee left private practice to serve as Assistant Corporate Secretary at the Canadian Wheat Board before joining Ceridian.

In her free time Lyndee enjoys spending time with her family, reading, travel and live theatre.

Lisa oversees employee and leadership learning for Ceridian’s North American employees. Prior to this role, Lisa served as the Director of Training and Developing, designing and delivering training programs for a wide range of Ceridian EAP customers. Lisa also has experience as a manager in broadcast communications and organizational safety.

In addition, Lisa has worked as a counselor and a Clinical Supervisor working with children and families.

Lisa has a Diploma in Broadcast Communications, a Bachelor of Arts degree and an M.Ed in Educational Psychology. Lisa is an active volunteer, and has worked with organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross, ECO (Earth Communication Office) AIDS Vancouver and has been a member of numerous boarding in the entertainment industry including the BC Country Music Association.

Chelsea Livingstone is a lawyer on staff at Ceridian’s Winnipeg office. As legal counsel, Chelsea works collaboratively with Ceridian’s internal counsel, management, and personnel in Canada and the United States, in negotiating and drafting agreements with clients, vendors, and partners. She also advises the business on various commercial matters, including dispute resolution.

Prior to joining Ceridian in November 2015, Chelsea was an associate with Tapper Cuddy LLP, practicing in corporate and commercial law. She acted for non-profit organizations and business owners in all phases of the business life cycle, including start-ups, acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, and succession planning. Chelsea also handled secured financing transactions, commercial and residential real estate transactions, and estate planning and estate administration.

Chelsea obtained her Bachelor of Laws from Robson Hall at the University of Manitoba, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba.

In her spare time, Chelsea enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, cooking, and being outdoors.

Cande Dandelé is responsible for all aspects of delivery of the LifeWorks operations in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., focused on ensuring a consistently excellent experience for every participant and customer across all aspects of the service.

Previously, over more than 25 years, Cande held a number of roles at Ceridian in Canada, including systems development and integration, account management, product marketing and project management. Cande joined the Ceridian Canada executive team in 2001 and held a variety of portfolios during her tenure, including Executive Vice-President of Marketing, LifeWorks, and Relationship Management. Prior to the LifeWorks divestiture, Cande was responsible for the North American Operations of LifeWorks within Ceridian.

Cande attended the University of Guelph and studied marketing at Queen's Executive Development Centre, as well as systems dynamics at the Sloan School of Management. She has a passion for animals and health and supports several not-for-profit organizations across Canada, including acting as Chair of Ceridian Cares.

Ross Tennant has 25 years of sales and marketing leadership within high-growth technology firms including management roles at Octel Communications, Lucent Technologies, and Sun Microsystems (now Oracle). Ross was one of the initial partners in Beduin Communications, which was a pioneering developer of Smart Phone technologies prior to its acquisition by Sun Microsystems. He later co-founded Three Point Properties, focused on land development projects in western Canada, and served for 10 years in various roles including Partner and President.

Ross joined Ceridian in 2013 where he serves as Vice President (Western Region), HCM Sales. Ross has been a life-long volunteer with many civic organizations including Young Life, Rotary International, South Cowichan Chamber of Commerce, and with organizations involved with First Nations reconciliation (North American Indigenous Games, Malahat Nation Advisory Council, Cowichan Cultural Connections Commission).

Ross has been married to Evelyn Tennant for 33 years and they have three sons.

Anne-Marie Ostiguy is a bilingual VP Business Partner Team, People Organization at Ceridian. Based in the Montreal office, she has 20 years of HR experience. As an HR Business Partner for Operations and LifeWorks, she is responsible for partnering with management to help deliver on their objectives, developing an HR strategy that is aligned with company goals, and building a highly engaging culture that attracts and retains top talent.

Anne-Marie is a previous United Way co-chair for Ceridian's 2012 Campaign. An active volunteer, she also organized a silent auction for the Sian Bradwell Fund for Children with Cancer 2006/2007.

In her personal time Anne-Marie loves to travel and scuba dive. She is also an avid cyclist.

Based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Mary Martel is the Director, Irving Health Services at JD Irving, a family-owned company that manufactures a wide range of forest products.

For the past 6 years, Mary has been responsible for strategic development and leading Wellness, Disability Management and clinical initiatives across the JD Irving organization. Prior to her current role, Mary held the position of Manager, Claims Management with JD Irving.

Mary is knowledgeable in Coaching, Disability Management, Employee Relations, Wellness, Human Rights, Workers Compensation Defense and Disability Law. She hold certificates in Disability Management Professional, National Institute of Disability Management and Research, and as a Certified Human Resource Professional, Human Resource Association of New Brunswick.

A resident of Prince Edward Island, Elvis is the Auditor at the Provincial Government's Auditor General Office. He previously worked as a Controller for Kelvin McQuaid and General Manager of Cavendish Gateway Resort. He was also a chartered accounting articling student with Grant Thornton LLP.

Elvis graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island as a Bachelor of Science (BSc), with a major in computer science (IT) and a minor in mathematics. He completed a Uniform Final Evaluation (UFE) and along with satisfactory work requirement achieved the chartered accounting (CA) designation.

In 1994, Elvis arrived in Prince Edward Island, Canada, as a refugee from the war-torn country of former Yugoslavia. He credits the province and the with providing him great opportunities to succeed. His goal is to help provide these same types of opportunities to people in his community by participating on the board of Ceridian Cares.

Based in Montreal, Quebec, Daniel is the Vice-President, Finance for Reliance Protectron Inc., a company with over 900 employees in Canada and sales of close to $160 million. Daniel has over 25 years' experience as a CPA-CGA in major companies, and prior to Reliance, was CFO for Randstad Canada.

A skilled negotiator with a results-focused strategic business sense, Daniel is unquestionably an inspiring leader and a gifted communicator. He is a member of the following professional bodies: Ordre des Comptables Professionnels du Québec (CPA-CGA), Ordre des administrateurs agréés, and Financial Executives International. He was also chosen as "People Coach 2011" from among 42 financial executives at Randstad.

In addition to being very active professionally, Daniel, for whom family values are particularly important, makes time to engage in activities with his family and to keep fit with scuba diving, running and cycling.

Graeme is Director of Corporate Affairs at the Sherbourne Health Centre, an accredited health care facility in downtown Toronto, with population-based primary care, a 24/7 in-patient respite centre, at-risk youth development programs and a provincial research/knowledge transfer program. As a member of the executive team, he oversees Human Resources, communications, fund development teams, is active in strategic planning and general management and risk.

He is also principal consultant at Graeme C. Imrie & Associates, a boutique consultancy, providing recruitment, human resources, change management, career counselling and stakeholder relations services. Prior, he was Director of Human Resources at the Canadian Diabetes Association, a major non-profit health organization.

Graeme holds a Bachelors in Business with joint specialty in Human Resources and Public Relations and is a Certified Human Resources Leader. He is a past recipient of the Ross A. Hennigar Award from the Human Resources Professionals Association. Graeme’s past speaking engagements include events for PAVRO and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He has also guest lectured at the York University School of Human Resource Management.

From 2010-2015 he served on the Board of Directors of ALS Canada. He is a Rotarian, a keen runner and avid traveller.

Residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Travis Giavedoni has been with Ceridian for over 5 years in a variety of finance roles. He currently holds the position of Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis. In his current role, Travis is responsible for managing the day-to-day accounting functions for Ceridian Canada. Prior to Ceridian, Travis articled and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation with Grant Thornton LLP.

In his spare time Travis enjoys playing volleyball and golf, and is involved in the community as a board member of the Sons of Italy, Garibaldi Lodge and the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba.

Justine Kilby leads Strategy and Corporate Development at Ceridian. She and her team are responsible for strategic planning across the business, as well as leading strategic programs and initiatives to support the company’s growth. In addition to serving on the Ceridian Cares Board, Justine served as Chair for the Toronto Ceridian Cares Committee in 2014 and 2015.

Justine joined Ceridian through its acquisition of technology company, Dayforce, in 2012. Prior to joining Dayforce she worked as a Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman, where she led organizational change and growth strategy projects for Fortune 1000 companies.

Justine has a business degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Outside of work, Justine enjoys advising social and technology start-ups and playing competitive ringette.

Jane is a Corporate Leader and Management Consultant in the financial services industry based in Toronto. She has both domestic and international experience, having worked for Tier 1 public companies in both banking and life insurance, in a variety of roles leading line operations in Individual Insurance, Wealth, Pensions and Group Benefits, corporate functions such as marketing, technology, international and the Executive Office and business transformation programs.

As the VP, Delivery Shared Services, Enterprise Enabling Technology Solutions with TD Bank, she is currently responsible for establishing a shared services Project Management Office that supports Corporate technology delivery.

She holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Guelph.

Jane has served on both non-profit and public company Boards. She is keenly interested in design, architecture and urban planning and the importance of healthy and sound communities for a civil and prosperous society.

Shelley Ng led Product Management at Ceridian for small business, managed services and tax solutions. She was a proven executive in product innovation, product management and development across Human Capital Management and Financial Services industries.

At Ceridian, Shelley was recognized as an influential leader in developing strategy, launching and growing new, innovative, profitable businesses and financial management. She retired from Ceridian in 2021 but remains an advisor to the company.

Tamar Arje has been with Ceridian for over 5 years and currently holds the position of Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis. In her current role, Tamar is responsible for the budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis for the product development group. Prior to working at Ceridian, Tamar worked in audit at Deloitte where she obtained her CPA, CA designation.

Tamar has a business degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. She currently resides in Toronto. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, and loves to travel.

Alan is the General Partner at William Harris Ventures. The venture fund invests in early stage companies whose vertical business applications have an AI component.

Previously, Alan was Chief Marketing Officer at Ceridian from 2012 until 2016.

Among various philanthropic activities, Alan served on the Board of The University of Ottawa Herat Institute and also was Chairman of the Foundation.

As VP of HR Programs, Kelly is responsible for people programs that enhance Ceridian’s employee engagement. Her work focuses on improving connectivity between employees, managers and teams. Recent programs include the implementation of Dayforce HCM at Ceridian, the development of the Dave MacKay Memorial Scholarship, and the delivery of various leadership development sessions.

As Executive Director of Ceridian Cares, Kelly has overall responsibility for the daily operation of the charity; policy and process development; and leadership of the 12 adjudication committees.

Kelly previously served on the Board of Directors at Humewood House, a not-for-profit organization that helps vulnerable single parents and their children by offering pre- and post-natal residential services, life skills, childcare, school programs and counselling.

Sook Convery joined Ceridian in 2005 in the Recruitment Process Outsourcing group as an Operations Manager, leading teams to execute strategically aligned processes for external clients in Canada and the US. She has over 20 years experience in the Recruitment business.

As Operations Manager for Ceridian Cares, Sook s is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the charity, working closely with the Executive Director, Board of Directors and volunteer committees across Canada. She also is the primary point of contact for community agencies, working to promote the mission and actions of Ceridian Cares.

Sook is no stranger to fundraising and working with not-for-profit organizations. Working with schools and competitive sports teams in her community for her three children, she has volunteered her time for over 20 years in various capacities. She has also been involved with supporting the United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters of York and HOPE Volleyball among a few.

Residing in Toronto, Ontario, Shawna is the Executive Director of Ceridian Cares in Canada and the US. Additionally, Shawna is the Director of Ceridian HCM’s global Community Impact work.

Shawna strives to make a positive social impact in all that she does, and her experience reflects this with a focus on corporate grant-making, employee giving, volunteering, and fundraising. She has worked in corporate social responsibility with two of Canada’s largest banks, worked directly with several non-profits, and studied Corporate Citizenship at Boston College.

Shawna holds a degree in Psychology from York University as well as a diploma in Illustration from Sheridan College. Shawna has been a Director and Advisor for non-profit Boards in the Toronto area, and in her spare time she enjoys art, music, travel, and is an enthusiastic dog lover.