CEO & Board Of Directors

Lesley has been with SHIP for over 15 years in various positions within the organization. Most recently, she was acting CEO since June 2021. Prior to that, Lesley held the role of Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations, Program Manager and various front line roles.

Lesley demonstrates exceptional capabilities as SHIP’s executive leader and has been guiding our 500+ staff and managers in providing housing and mental health services to more than 5,000 annual clients.

With her breadth of experience, leadership, vision, and utilization of strategic thinking, Lesley continues to steer SHIP in the proper trajectory,  solidifying SHIP’s position as a leader in the healthcare landscape.

Lori is an independent Board Director specializing in governance best practices, risk management and strategy. Lori started as a Director and Chair of Governance with Services and Housing In the Province (SHIP) Board in 2021 and was elected Chair in 2024. She recently served as a Director and Governance Chair with the Board of CMHA Peel Dufferin, and is a Past Board Chair of Headwaters Hospital. She previously served as a member of the governance working group for the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team. Lori is also a past Board Director for the Canadian Federation of University Women - Ontario Council, and a past President with the Orangeville Food Bank.

Lori enjoyed a 25+ year career in the financial technology services industry, culminating with lending solutions for the Canadian and US Banking sector, before moving to the Headwaters Region. She has a Mathematics, Computer Science degree from the University of Waterloo, is a Fellow of Board Governance with the Canadian Board Diversity Council and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors having completed the Rotman School Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Education Program in NFP Corporate Governance. She has completed the San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program and the University of Alberta Indigenous Canada program from the Faculty of Native Studies.

Lori leads with a passion for collaboration, transparency and continuous improvement and education and believes that governance work is an opportunity to put values into action and is honoured to be serving organizations with altruistic purposes.

After 32 years of outstanding contributions to the fields of social housing and human services, Keith Ward retired from his position as Commissioner of Human Services and General Manager of Peel Living in 2009 and since been involved mostly in volunteer endeavours.

Throughout his long and successful career, Keith's professional achievements have been a testament to his leadership and vision. In the early 1990s, Peel Living sustained the highest volume of non-profit housing construction in Ontario. Keith's team developed integrated special needs projects and oversaw the transfer of social housing administration from the Province to the Region.

During his tenure, Keith concentrated his formidable strengths in management to prioritize addressing gaps in the needs of the most vulnerable citizens and improving customer service. Keith was a key initiator in the establishment of shelters for the homeless in Peel.

Keith has an Honours BA from the University of Western Ontario and an MA in Economics from the University of Toronto. Even in retirement, he continues to actively contribute to the community. Keith is the past Chair of the Social Housing Services Corporation Financial Inc, past President of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, and volunteers with three community boards.

Brian Scott is a resident of the town of Mono. Brian has led strategic initiatives for over 30 years in the areas of communications, marketing, human resources, technology development, and strategic planning. Brian has held leadership positions within the Ontario Public Service and the University of Toronto, and has served on the board of directors of the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, "Lbs/sq” Dance Company, Inner City Angels, and the Arts Foundation of Toronto.

Brian is committed to service leadership and is passionate about building a vibrant and sustainable workplace culture. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and a Technology Diploma from the Information Technology Institute.

Tandra has more than a decade of experience in various areas of Tax, Treasury, and Accounting.  She currently works as a Large File Auditor with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).  Prior to joining the CRA, Tandra has held numerous positions of increasing responsibilities with industry leaders including; Ricoh Canada Inc., Labatt Breweries of Canada (Anheuser Busch InBev), and ARI Financial Services in multinational environments.

Most recently, she held the role, Manager, Tax & Treasury of Ricoh Canada where she led the department that is responsible for Canadian corporate tax, indirect tax, transfer pricing, liquidity management, and internal control to name a few.  In 2015, she was also involved with the acquisitions of Mill Street Brewery and Mike’s Hard Lemonade when working for Labatt.  She has a proven track record of leading tax compliance.

Tandra holds an Honours, Bachelor of Commerce from Laurentian University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA).  She lived in the Region of Peel for over twenty years and is committed to raising SHIP’s profile in the community.

Jennifer Graham is currently employed as an Assistant Crown Attorney in Peel (MAG). She has held that role since 2014 and has been involved in many initiatives. Most notably, Jenn joined the Brampton Drug Treatment Court team in 2016 where she demonstrated leadership and a keen interest to better understand the challenges that the clientele face within the broader system. Jenn has been a member of the Human Services & Justice Coordinating Committee since the spring of 2019 and has been the co-chair of the Peel Regional Committee since September 2020. Further, Jenn is a founding member of the Association of Justice & Treatment Professionals, which is a non-profit association that seeks to highlight innovative justice and treatment collaborations. She has a strong interest in initiating and supporting the exchange of knowledge across sectors and truly appreciates the importance of collaboration and collective effort.

Jenn has also started her own not-for-profit group called The Pearl Project, whose mission is to use their collective crafting skills and make cold-weather accessories to donate to those individuals who are released from custody and do not have permanent housing and/or support in the community.

Justyn brings experience in education, and public service leadership. Throughout his career, he has been community-focused on outreach and engagement with racialized, Indigenous, and low-income communities through inclusive community development. In addition, Justyn is currently pursing his doctoral degree at York University and brings his experience as a researcher with a focused interest in diversity and social justice issues.

Justyn is passionate about utilizing an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens to improve systems and quality of life for others.

Sandy is a leader and co-founder of Infin8 Consulting Group Ltd., a multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm. Her experience spans over 30 years of progressive leadership in strategic marketing, business development, technical product marketing and management, as well as new product introduction and software / systems engineering in telecommunications. Sandy holds a BSc. in Computer Science from McGill University and has completed advanced comprehensive leadership and management training programs through McGill University.

Sandy and her family have lived in Caledon since 1992 and in Peel since 1986. Sandy has over 15 years of board experience and has served as President and Chair of the Board of Directors for over 10 years for community agencies in Peel (Family Education Centre, Elder Help Peel). Sandy served on the Headwaters Healthcare Board from 2014 to 2020, where she was chair of the Quality committee, Vice Chair of the Board, and as member of the Governance and Finance committees.

Sandy is currently serving as a director at the Orangeville Food Bank Board (Governance and Finance committees) as well as the SHIP Board, and as a Lay Chaplain for Spiritual Care at Headwaters Healthcare.

Arun is a seasoned risk management specialist with over ten years of experience in IT risk management, audit, security, and governance. Arun has effectively forged strategic alliances with organizational leaders and risk management functions to assess and evaluate key business initiatives and processes. Arun's professional journey spans diverse organizations on Bay Street and beyond, exposing him to varying IT controls and systems. He holds a master's degree in cyber security from the University of Essex.

Arun is dedicated to community investment, aiming to establish a strong foundation that fosters individual excellence and well-being. His commitment extends to supporting organizations addressing mental health issues, reflecting a core priority in his endeavours.

Arun completed Volunteer MBC's BoardWalk program and now serves as a Board Director and a member of the Governance and Risk Committees within SHIP.

Buruzoth Bala is a strategic leader and business transformation professional with over a decade of experience guiding organizations through complex business challenges and industry transformations. As a board member at Services and Housing In the Province (SHIP), Buruzoth brings extensive expertise in strategy formulation, execution, and innovative thinking to support SHIP's mission of providing quality housing, services, and lives for individuals with mental health and addiction challenges.

In his current role at a major financial institution, Buruzoth leads strategic transformation and data strategy enhancement efforts. His experience implementing data governance models, integrating analytics into risk management frameworks, and developing comprehensive data strategies aligns well with SHIP's commitment to efficient and effective service delivery.

Buruzoth's background includes senior roles at a leading global consulting firm, where he led key strategy consulting initiatives and achieved significant returns on investment for various projects. His expertise in portfolio management, strategic planning, and operational excellence will be invaluable in supporting SHIP's ongoing efforts to identify and address gaps in service provision.

With an Executive MBA and an ESG Designation from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Buruzoth brings a unique perspective on sustainable and responsible governance. His experience developing strategies for ESG initiatives demonstrates his ability to align organizational goals with broader societal impacts, a crucial skill for SHIP's mission-driven work.

Buruzoth's commitment to community involvement is evident through his roles on various boards and councils focused on social impact, entrepreneurship, and healthcare. These experiences have honed his skills in strategic planning, corporate governance, and advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives – all essential to SHIP's values and operations.

As a board member at SHIP, Buruzoth is dedicated to leveraging his expertise in data-driven decision-making, strategic change management, and operational enhancement to further SHIP's vision of providing quality housing, services, and lives for those in need. His passion for connecting strategic planning with tangible business outcomes and societal impact makes him a valuable asset to SHIP's board and its mission to support individuals with mental health and addiction challenges.

Lawrence is a finance, audit and risk management professional with decades of experience in both the private and public sectors. He has worked with, among others, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC)- a federal crown corporation; Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)- the federal financial services regulator; and Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) – the provincial regulator of financial services.

Lawrence has several years of corporate and board governance experience. Currently, besides SHIP, he serves on the Board of the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of its Audit, Finance and Risk Committee. He is also a member of the Compliance Audit Committees of the City of Toronto and the Toronto District School Board.

Lawrence holds multiple professional designations in management, accounting, auditing, fraud examination and risk management such as CPA (Canada and USA), CFE, CISA, CIA, CRMA, CGMA and CITP.

In addition to joining SHIP as a Board Director and as a member of the Health System Transformation (HST) Committee, Michael is also currently fulfilling his executive role with Nikon Canada Inc. as President & CEO.

Michael has enjoyed a successful career as a senior business executive with over 30 years’ experience, all within the Imaging Business in Canada. His passion for photography developed early in life, which, following his postsecondary education with Nipissing University and the University of Toronto, ultimately guided his career path.

Over these many years as a senior business executive, Michael has built the foundation of his leadership qualities upon a deep commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, with his focus on developing and supporting leadership and growth opportunities for all, at all levels of an organization.

Michael is deeply enthusiastic about supporting our community with care, empathy, and humanity. As a Board Director, he is committed to getting involved and to help build upon the success of SHIP, as the organization continually expands its efforts to support the needs of our vulnerable populations.