Directors

James Annis

Chair of the UOHIF Board

James is an investment professional with 19-year track record providing comprehensive portfolio management to high-net-worth individuals, families and businesses in Canada.

After the sudden loss of his youngest son at just 20 months due to heart disease, James was motivated to give back to the community in the most meaningful way he could. He began volunteering at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation in 2018 and served as past Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and co-Chair of the Joint Investment Advisor Committee from June 2019 to June 2023.

Jake Levinson

Vice Chair

Jake is President of the Levinson Group of Companies, a real estate development, investment, and management business with a diversified real estate portfolio. Prior to joining the family business, Jake was a management consultant with Deloitte and helped tier 1 banks and insurance companies with their digital transformation journeys.

Jake looks forward to continuing his family’s history of volunteerism in the Ottawa community and with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Erin Zipes

Secretary

Erin Zipes is currently Chief Legal Officer at 1Password. Erin has over 17 years of experience as a corporate/securities lawyer and has spent over half of her career working in house at tech companies. She was previously Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Shopify, Assistant General Counsel of Nordion, and started her legal career at Stikeman Elliott after obtaining her law degree at McGill University and Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. She is also a cofounder of Backbone Angels, a collective of angel investors focused on women and non-binary founders. A proud Ottawa native, Erin returned to Ottawa in 2010 with her husband and two children.

Ian Sterling

Treasurer

Ian is the President of Doherty & Associates Investment Counsel with over 25 years of experience in the investment industry. Ian is responsible for the strategic direction and the day-to-day operations of Doherty & Associates. Ian believes strongly in giving back to the community as demonstrated by his past involvement in coaching minor hockey, as a past Board Member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and former Chair of the Board for Family Services Ottawa.  Prior to joining the Board of the Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation, Ian was a Board Member on the Institute’s Research Corporation.

Lianne Laing

Vice President, Philanthropy of the UOHI - President of the UOHI Foundation

Dr. Rob Beanlands, MD, FRCPC

UOHI President & CEO

Dr. Beanlands is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Rob Beanlands, MD, is president and chief executive officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI). He was the formerly the deputy director general, Vered chair and head of the Division of Cardiology from 2012 to 2022. In addition to his role as president and CEO, Dr. Beanlands is a professor in the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine with cross-appointments to the Departments of Radiology and Cellular and Molecular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).

Dalton McGuinty

Chair, UOHI

Dalton McGuinty, a lawyer, served as Ontario’s 24th premier for three consecutive terms, from 2003 to 2013. The McGuinty government’s achievements include closing Ontario’s coal plants, creating the GTA Greenbelt, implementing full day kindergarten, and expanding Ontario’s hospitals, colleges, and universities. McGuinty policies resulted in Ontario achieving Canada’s highest school performance, highest level of enrolment in postsecondary education, and lowest health care wait times. To spur economic growth, the McGuinty government adopted the HST and created Canada’s first Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Since leaving politics, Mr. McGuinty has served as a Fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and presently serves as a Distinguished Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, and at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Mr. McGuinty has also served as a director and advisor with several business and philanthropic ventures.

Keira Torkko

Chair, OHIRC Board

Keira Torkko is currently a Vice-President at Assent Compliance. She has over 20 years in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

Previous to this role, she had been the COO of the Coaching Association of Canada and Director General, Business Management Support at National Research Council of Canada, where she was responsible for business development and operations and has managed teams of up to 200 research and technology development professionals. Other employment has included positions at TD Bank, Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation and small entrepreneurial ventures.

She has a deep commitment to volunteerism and sat on the Board of Volunteer Ottawa for six years and is currently the VP of the Ottawa Shooting Stars basketball club.

Keira, a CPA, CGA, holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Victoria and brings her unique combination of business, technology, and financial knowledge to the UOHI.

Paul Bodnoff

UOHI Patient Alumni

After a two-year sabbatical from a 30-year career in Ottawa’s technology sector, it was my hope to get involved with an organization of passionate and diverse people that are committed to giving back to the great city we live in. Like many in Ottawa, our family has been a beneficiary of the spectacular care provided by the UOHI, which made my decision to put my experience and energy to work on the Patient Alumni Association Board of Directors an easy one.

Lorraine Audsley

Director

Jordan Bianconi

Director

Jordan is a proven real estate professional who has experience in all major areas of commercial real estate land sectors. At Inside Edge, Jordan is responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of the Inside Edge platform and its investment activities, including sourcing opportunities, structuring and negotiating agreements with partners, and assisting in
the underwriting, due diligence, and asset management processes.

Having executed more than $600 million in real estate transactions for a wide array of clients, Jordan has considerable experience with private, institutional, and owner-users as well as REITS, public, and crown corporations. With a thorough understanding of key market dynamics and challenges, Jordan’s services have been used to determine highest and best use of properties and portfolios, while assisting with determining proper acquisition or dispositions strategies as well as marketing and leasing solutions. This expertise has resulted in Jordan being quoted by media such as the Ottawa Business Journal and the Real Estate News Exchange.

Marc-Andre Groulx

Director

A dedicated, customer focused, IT professional with 15+ years of progressive industry experience.In his most recent role at Microsoft, as a Principal Customer Success Account Manager, Mr. Groulx is responsible for managing large enterprise accounts.  This includes working with customers to ensure operational excellence to reduce risk and maximize business value of Microsoft investments.  While at Microsoft, Mr. Groulx led the addition of Inuktitut language as a supported language within Azure Cognitive Services.  The language is now surfaced within Microsoft’s enterprise product suite.

In his previous role at Brane Capital, Mr. Groulx led the first Canadian implementation of the NIST cybersecurity framework.  He was also responsible for designing and implementing infrastructure/processes/policies which allowed Brane Capital to certify to ISO 27001 and ISO 27017.

Prior, Mr. Groulx spent 7 years at the Canadian Institute for Health Information where he managed infrastructure and security teams. With regards to the NFP/volunteer space, he previously served as the Corporate Secretary and Directory of Industry Relations for ITSMF Canada. In his personal life, he enjoys outdoor running (while listening to tech podcasts) and spending time with his family (2 young boys / wife).

Gail Kaneb

Director

Gail Kaneb is a catalyst for change, using a powerful combination of coaching, mentoring and facilitation. She developed her leadership and change management expertise while doubling the size of the family business in a shrinking market. Gail has been on the founding board of numerous non-profits in Eastern Ontario.

She and her husband Tom chaired the $12 million campaign for the Cornwall Community Hospital. She chaired the board of Tostan, recognized as one of the most effective NGO’s in the world, a West-African non-profit that creates systemic change for women and girls, ending child marriage, female genital cutting and moving women into leadership positions.

Lucas Matheson

Director

Lucas is the Canadian Country Director for Coinbase. He is committed to helping create a more equitable financial system in Canada through the power of blockchain. In his role, he works with partners, the government, and regulators, to make crypto more accessible to Canadians.

Prior to Coinbase, he was the founder and CEO of Pinshape (exit Formlabs), and Senior Director at Shopify leading various operational and finance teams.

Leslie Mise

Director

Born and raised in Ottawa, Leslie has actively served his community for the past three decades.  He began his fundraising efforts with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 2017 after being diagnosed with two aortic aneurysms and having been in the care of Dr. Paul Hendry and the team at the Aortic Clinic. His firsthand experience as a patient ignited his desire to get involved and refocus his energy on giving back to a place that had done so much for him. He first joined as a committee member for the Fuller Keon Golf Classic and in 2018, he became Chair. Prior to this, he served for three years with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and co-chaired the “Do It For Dad” Father’s Day event for two years. In his spare time, Leslie enjoys alpine skiing, golfing, and enjoying time with his family.

Jonathan Murray

Director

Jonathan has an extensive background in leading sales and marketing teams for national and international brands. Prior to launching Forage Hyperfoods and Heartee Foods Inc, hespent a decade working as the National Field Trainer & Territory Manager for the global leader in medi-tech, Stryker Canada(Nasdaq: SYK). He led Senstar Corporation (Nasdaq: MAGS)as the Director of Global Marketing, during which time he led a global rebranding of the world’s largest perimeter intrusion security systems company. He also spent several years working for Bruce Linton (co-founder of Canopy Growth) as the sales and marketing manager for Clearford Industries (TSX.V:CLI), focusing on the South American market. Jonathan’s efforts led to executing the first paid international contracts and opening of subsidiaries in Colombia and Peru. Jonathan brings an intimate understanding on how to scale businesses through local and international market opportunities.

Christian Nguyen

Director

Christian is the Country Leader for Computacenter, a global technology and services provider, where he leads the company’s Canadian sales and business operations. Prior to this, Christian co-founded TeraMach Technologies, an Ottawa-based IT firm that became one of Canada’s leading technology providers before its acquisition in 2016.

Raised in Ottawa, he lives in the city with his wife and two daughters and is an avid golfer, skier and mountain biker. He previously served on the board of the Club de Ski Mont Tremblant and brings a passion for leadership, technology and community service.

Muneeba Omar

Director

Muneeba is currently the Director of Inclusive Growth at the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario. She has extensive experience in policy development and stakeholder engagement, as well as the design and delivery of business-facing programs. Previously, Muneeba served in a variety of progressively senior roles in different federal government departments including Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of Finance. Muneeba joined the Government of Canada in 2008 through the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program, an initiative aimed at recruiting exceptional candidates into the public service. She is also a graduate of the Accelerated Economist Training Program, a two-year leadership development program, during which she worked on a variety of social, economic, and international policy issues. Muneeba holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Carleton University Muneeba served on the board of the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization and has been involved in the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign in a variety of roles. She resides in Ottawa with her husband and two children.

Nick Pantieras

Director

Nick Pantieras, is Senior Managing Director Investments for Institutional Property Advisors: a division of Marcus and Millichap (NYSE: MMI). Prior, Nick was co-founder and President at Primecorp Commercial Realty Inc. with over thirty years of success in investment brokerage and management of commercial real estate. Marcus and Millichap acquired the brokerage operations of Primecorp in 2018. Nick is a co-owner of Primecorp Property Management Inc. Nick is a graduate of Queen’s University Executive MBA Program and holds the professional designation of Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA).

Deneen Perrin

Director

Deneen is currently the Senior Program Manager, Policy & Stakeholder Relations at the Royal Canadian Mint. Previously, Perrin held various positions in communications for the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, where she built an impressive twenty-five-year career with the Fairmont brand. Prior to her departure from the hospitality industry, Perrin occupied the role of Director, Media, Marketing, and Partnerships at Ottawa’s premier hotel.

Jean Spicer

Director

Jean joined RBC Dominion Securities in 1994. She uses a consultative approach to focus on portfolio construction and investment management for high-net-worth individuals and trusts.

As a specialist in separately managed discretionary portfolios, Jean creates solutions for clients using RBC DS A+ Program by engaging Canadian, U.S. and International portfolio managers to invest components of a client’s portfolio, enabling clients to access global exposure and portfolio diversification, backed by some of the world’s top money managers.

Colin Zappia

Director

Driven. Dedicated. Experienced. Professional. Trustworthy. Fun. These characteristics, and more, are what you’ll experience while working with me. My goal as your Realtor® is to build a strong and long-term relationship with you. I want you to be confident in referring me to friends and family so I will be sure to exceed your expectations every time we work together. There’s nothing more satisfying than happy clients. I actively give back to our community. I lost my father Tony at the age of 60 to a heart attack and have been working closely with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for several years now. For every home that I sell, I donate money to the cause. I was recently appointed as the chair of the Wilbert Keon Memorial Golf Tournament, one of the Foundation’s biggest fundraising events.