Board of Directors Archives - Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation

Ashley Davidson, CFRE

Ashley joined the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation in 2012 and has held progressively senior roles, serving as Chief Development Officer since 2019, before being appointed President & CEO in February 2024.

Ashley is deeply committed to ensuring our community has access to the very best healthcare, close to home, and is passionate about inspiring philanthropy for our hospital to thrive. Prior to coming to JBHF, Ashley spent eight years as a professional fundraiser for Trillium Health Partners Foundation in Mississauga and for the Gardiner Museum in Toronto.

Ashley has held the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation since 2020 and is a member in good standing with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP). She is a graduate of Western University, completed a Bachelor of Arts in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University and holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Marketing Management from Sheridan College.

Ashley lives in Oakville with her husband, Dan, their daughter, Emme, and their dog, a whippet named Burnsy.

Meetali Acharya

Meetali Acharya is a registered pharmacist with an MBA. Early in her career, she practiced in both retail and hospital environments, including at Joseph Brant Hospital. In addition to her pharmacy practice, Meetali brings over 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare product management and project management. She thrives on innovative thinking and data-driven insights to improve patient safety and care, while creating efficiencies in healthcare.

As the principal product strategist behind several electronic health record systems, Meetali has honed her communication expertise by cultivating strong, collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders across the healthcare continuum. Evidenced by her numerous patents in healthcare technology, she is recognized for advancing healthcare transformation through meaningful success metrics and comprehensive change management initiatives.

Originally from Newfoundland, Meetali has proudly called Burlington home since 2000. She and her husband of 24 years have raised their son and daughter in the community. An enthusiastic supporter of local initiatives, she has actively participated in fundraising efforts for her children’s extracurricular programs. She was a committed member of the Fern Hill Parent Association and currently volunteers with Food for Life. Meetali loves yoga, reading, and indulging in chocolate.

Meetali is honoured to serve on the JBH Foundation Board, where she is committed to advancing healthcare and strengthening communication and engagement within the community.

Wendy Bennison

Wendy has over thirty years experience as an executive in the apparel retail and e-commerce industries including along the way President and COO of Roots Canada and most recently CEO of Vancouver based SAXX.

Wendy became known not only for operational prowess but also as a very effective leader and developer of talent. Her passion has been the building of highly engaged organizations that succeed through significant periods of change and growth and she has been recognized repeatedly with Best Workplace in Canada Awards.

Upon her recent retirement Wendy relocated back to Ontario making her home base Burlington near family and friends. She immediately began to think about how to bring her experience to her community. That started with the mentorship of female small business founders and by volunteering in the Breakfast Program at her neighbourhood elementary school. Joining the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation Board is an important next step for her on that journey and one that she is honored to undertake.

Andrea Gordon

Andrea is the Managing Partner of GI Professional Corporation, a mid-sized professional accounting firm in Hamilton. Andrea is a member of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and spent the first ten years of her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Andrea is a trusted business advisor and hands-on professional, who feels that a thorough understanding of a client’s business is essential to adding value beyond accounting. Andrea provides risk assurance, tax planning and advisory services for private client enterprises across the GTA. Her portfolio focuses on clients in a variety of industries such as real estate, construction, franchise operations and professional services.

Andrea is also a Board Member of The Charity of Hope, working to generate resources to make an impact on the lives of children and youth in communities across Canada. She lives in Burlington with her husband and two small children and is an avid skier.

Leon Denbok

Leon is the President and Co-founder of DenBok Landscaping & Design Ltd. DenBok Ltd has provided residential and commercial landscape construction and maintenance services since 1992 within the GTA. Leon has over 30 years of experience in the green industry and holds numerous diplomas and certifications in greens keeping, construction, green roof etc.

Leon has used his expertise to build and donate healing gardens for Breast Cancer Support Services in Burlington, as well as Kerr Street Ministries Dream Centre in Oakville. Leon is an active member of The Rotary Club of Burlington North.

Leon and his wife, Victoria, have been married for 30 years, and have two sons, Connor and Stone. Leon enjoys spending his free time with his family, and riding his Peloton.

Karen Dephoure

Karen has held progressive management roles within the Operations and Strategic Planning functions, most recently leading the Sales Enablement team at Ricoh Canada. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the sales organization from a data analytics, strategic planning/sales methodology and process improvement perspective. Karen is a graduate of McMaster University, with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration.

Being involved in her work and home communities has always been a passion for Karen. Work endeavours include participation in the Emergency Response Team, mentor program development and Shoreline Cleanup initiatives. She has also actively participated with her children’s dance and hockey activities over the years.

Karen and her husband Gary have lived in Burlington since 1996 and have 3 children. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cycling, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Rembert De Villa

Rembert de Villa is a Strategic Advisor and Board Member of CareSpan Holdings, where he served as Chairman and CEOP until his retirement in December 2023. During his tenure, he led the execution of the company’s strategy of Integrated Digital Care. Currently, he is also on the Board of Smartcare in Germany and, until recently, of CareSpan Asia. He also serves as senior advisor to data analytics and process management companies.

Prior to CareSpan, Rembert was Global Business Leader of EXL Healthcare (NASDAQ: EXLS), which focused on healthcare analytics and operations management in the areas of care management, payment integrity, and customer engagement. Before his tenure at EXL, Rembert had a long professional career in global management consulting, holding senior leadership/partner roles at Mastercard Advisors, Capgemini Ernst & Young, A.T. Kearney and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). He is Senior Advisor to the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce in New York City, where he served as Chairman of the Board for three years.

Rembert holds an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management and a B.Sc. from De La Salle University. He also completed Columbia University’s Senior Executive Program and attended the postgraduate program in Business Economics at the University of Bonn, Germany as a Konrad Adenauer Foundation scholar.

Mark Fletcher

R. Mark Fletcher is a Partner with Grosman Gale Fletcher Hopkins LLP, located on Bay Street, in Toronto, Ontario. Mark is an experienced trial lawyer who is recognized by his peers and ranked by BEST LAWYERS and LEXPERT as one of the top employment lawyers in Canada. He advises and provides representation to both employers and employees in wrongful dismissal actions, executive compensation disputes, and human rights applications. Mark is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Cases on Employment Law (CCEL) and he is the Editor for the Employment Bulletin publications. He is regularly invited to speak on employment and human rights law issues by the Law Society of Ontario, the Ontario Bar Association, and Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1998, Mark graduated Summa Cum Laude from McMaster University ‘s Political Science and Theme School on International Justice and Human Rights Programs. In 2002, Mark received his law degree (LL.B.) from Western University, and in 2011, he received his Master of Laws in Constitutional Law (LL.M) from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Mark was called to the Ontario Bar in 2002 and has practiced employment and human rights law for the past 21 years. Mark was born and raised in Burlington, Ontario. Mark lives in Burlington with his wife Doris, their two daughters, Naomi and Sophia, and their dog T.J.

Michael Hatcher

Michael Hatcher is currently the Michael Lee-Chin & Family Industry Professor at DeGroote School of Business. Prior to this, he was the Head of Global Equity at Invesco Canada and lead manager of the Trimark Fund. While at Trimark Investments, he was in the role of Co-CIO and Director of Research. Michael has extensive experience managing concentrated portfolios in Global, European, US and Canadian equities and developing equity research teams. His investment philosophy is rooted in identifying and understanding high-quality global businesses and evaluating the attributes of successful management teams.

Michael graduated with a M.Sc. in Econometrics from the London School of Economics, Master of Mathematical Finance from the University of Toronto, B.A.(Hons) Economics from Carleton and B.A. Statistics from Carleton. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Michael and his wife Linda have lived in Burlington since 2002. Their three children were raised in Burlington and are now either at university or just starting their careers.

Deepa Ganatra

Deepa is a registered physiotherapist with over 28 years’ experience treating athletes of all ages. She is currently self-employed as a physiotherapist, and a Learning Facilitator for Sport for Life Physical Literacy programs.

A life long resident of Hamilton -Burlington, Deepa is very involved in her community as an active member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority (a women’s organization serving the community) Beta Xi Chapter, and BSP Burlington City Council Executive. For over 15 years, she energetically participated on Parent Councils at Fairview Glen Montessori School and John T. Tuck Public School, and acted as team trainer and assistant coach for G01Y competitive soccer team (BYSC).

This is Deepa’s fourth year serving on the Board, and first year as Chair. She has participated on the JBH DEI Action Table for the last two years and is Chair of the JBHF Diwali Community Garba event committee. Deepa is honoured to have the opportunity to serve her community as a JBHF Board member. Deepa and her husband of 26 years have raised their four children in Hamilton/Burlington since 2001.