Indigenous Services

Joanne brings 30 years of experience as a senior advisor and strategic projects leader.  First in financial services and then in provincial government, Joanne has driven evidence-informed decision-making by actively brokering knowledge and building effective partnerships.  She is skilled at navigating complex situations and distilling diverse information to present clear, concise insights and options for action to senior executives and political leadership.  She has also demonstrated success in developing and delivering major program initiatives.

Joanne brings a unique breadth of experience from finance to community engagement.  She started her career as an economist in banking, providing senior executives with advice on country and industry risk and publishing economic forecasts.  She then moved to the Ontario government where her career included  providing economic policy and program analysis for the Ministry of Finance, leading collaborative research and knowledge mobilization in Cabinet Office, engaging with Indigenous communities across Ontario working with the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and advancing equity-based program and policy solutions for the Ministry of Health. 

Joanne is passionate about making programs and policies effective, efficient, and sustainable.  That means they work for the people that they serve, provide respectful and valuable work for those who provide them and deliver value for money for the funders.  She is a strong advocate for the voice of the user and for their role in the design and improvement of programs that serve them.  In particular,  Joanne is honoured to have contributed to putting Indigenous health in Indigenous hands. 

Joanne has a proven ability to deliver across a wide range of initiatives from the development and delivery of an Ontario First Nations Health Action Plan valued at over $100M per year to acting as a focal point for crisis response and governance discussions.  She is highly skilled in partner engagement and facilitation as well as fiscal planning and program improvement.  Joanne earned a Master of Economics and Social Sciences as a Commonwealth Scholar and holds a Green Belt in LEAN Six Sigma.    

Joanne is passionate about improving the lives of women and girls.  She was an active member of Ontario’s efforts to prevent and address violence against women and currently volunteers for Soroptimist International, working to improve the lives of women and girls.  She is committed to building the skills of the next generation, including as a founding member of the Ontario Air Cadet League’s provincial debating competition and over twenty years as their Chief Judge.  Joanne is also dedicated to building strong positive relationships between people and companion animals as a canine obedience/agility trainer and cat rescue volunteer.

When the challenge is difficult, Joanne finds the way forward.

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