Board Members
Anne Irwin: Chair and President
Anne is a Toronto lawyer with an LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution who was called to the bar in 1992. Her background is in human rights, pay equity, administrative and education law. She currently represents children in the area of education law, and brings to the table both personal and professional experience advocating for children within the school system. She has worked extensively in the volunteer sector in various leadership roles, and is ardently committed to the goal of advancing children’s rights and interests.
Tamara Nachmani, Vice-Chair and Vice-President
Tamara is a partner in the corporate group at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. Her practice covers a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, fund investments and commercial agreements, for Canadian and international clients. She also assists a number of pro-bono clients with day-to-day matters and negotiations. She has a keen interest in children and youth rights and advocacy. During law school at University of Toronto, Tamara volunteered with Peacebuilders, a youth restorative justice program and was seconded to JFCY during the summer of 2011 while working at Blakes. An avid traveller and food lover, Tamara looks forward to sharing the sights and tastes of the world with her daughter, son and husband.
Angela Reid: Treasurer
Angela is a finance and accounting professional with more than 35 years in the banking industry. She is a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) and holds a M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Schulich School of Business, and a B.A. in Economics. She is presently a Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, in TD Bank’s Corporate Operational Risk group where she leads the development and implementation of enterprise wide programs. Angela was actively engaged in community work including serving many years as Treasurer and Board member on the school counsel at her children’s junior public school, and earlier in their lives, as Treasurer and Board member for their nursery co-op.
Emma Katz, Secretary
Emma is a family lawyer at Kelly Jordan Family Law Firm. She practices in all areas of family law including parenting as well as complex financial issues. Emma also practices fertility law, drafting and providing legal advice regarding donor and surrogacy agreements, and litigating issues that arise. After practicing civil litigation in the earlier part of her career, she transitioned to family law so she could advocate for individuals. During law school Emma spent one semester working with Parkdale Community Legal Aid Clinic, during which time she gained a strong understanding of the important role of legal aid clinics in promoting access to justice and assisting members of our community. Emma has been a supporter of JFCY since 2017 as a member of the Development and Fundraising Committee.
Tim Welsh
After becoming intrigued with the world of advertising at Queen’s, Tim moved to Toronto in 1995, got hired at Gee, Jeffrey & Partners, and started pumping out print ads for Sporting Life and Telco giant Rogers – including 5000 ads in one calendar year – for four years. In April 1999, Tim moved from GJP to BBDO, moving from Account Supervisor to VP, Group Account Director in the Account Service Department, eventually running the entire PepsiCo Canada portfolio for seven years. Tim’s work has been recognized in business building and creative award shows around the world, from Cannes Lions to Effies. Tim joined FCB in 2017 as Vice-President, Managing Director. Tim splits his time working in Canada and on the North American team. He is on the New Business and corporate communications teams, as well as leading accounts, FCB Canada’s PR, and the award show program. Tim also has an altruistic side and has long been a charity volunteer. For the past 20 years, Tim has been a board member, and is currently the Chair, of the Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund, a charity that raises funds to send deserving children to summer camps across Canada. Tim has been married for 22 years and has two daughters 18 and 16, who look shockingly like him. They love traveling and have visited Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Bali, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Joe Louch
Joe is a criminal defence lawyer, having now been in private practice for thirty years, called to the bar in 1988. He holds a B.Comm. from Carleton University, and worked as a Chartered Accountant (now CPA) prior to attending University of Western Ontario Law School. He has previously served as Treasurer of JFCY as well as Treasurer of the Howard Public School Council. He volunteered as a scouting leader and sports coach when his children were young , and continues to volunteer as a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Association. After initially working as duty counsel at Legal Aid Ontario, he commenced his law practice which is restricted to criminal law. While he has represented and continues to represent adults at both the Ontario and Superior Court of Justice, his practice has often focused on defending youth charged with criminal offences. He has spoken at professional education seminars on youth issues, and been involved with justice committee work at 311 Jarvis Youth Court.
Roma Shah
Roma is a technology leader, with 14 years of experience leading projects and teams in the effective delivery of high impact, new technology products and services. Roma began her career at BlackBerry in the mid 2000s contributing to the development of (at the time) revolutionary new handheld mobile devices. Following, Roma worked for multiple high growth tech start-ups as a Product Manager and then as an Agile Leader, coaching teams and organizations on how to work lean, iteratively and with a people centric approach. Roma is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity in the workplace and society. She is a proponent for people with disabilities and chronic illness, focused on building awareness and accessibility in all settings for all people. Roma is the founder of an employee resource group at her current company for people with disabilities and their allies. Prior to joining the Board of JFCY, Roma volunteered as the Director of Development for The Minds Foundation, a grassroots organization providing access to mental health resources in rural India, and working to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness. Roma values compassion, volunteering and contributing to her communities. She aims to use her experience working in high-growth tech to support and advance causes that help people in need.
Falguni Patel
Falguni is a dynamic Human Resources practitioner with over 12 years of experience. Falguni has experience in several aspects of Human Resources including, recruitment, onboarding, compliance, payroll, benefit, employee relations, coaching, training and development, performance management, compensation, wellness and recognition. Falguni has managed Human Resources functions in mid-size companies in industries including communications and the mental health sector. Currently, Falguni is the Director of Employee Experience at Rethink and has a proven track record within the communications industry She has demonstrated success in working across the business developing trust and building effective partnerships. Falguni is passionate about building strategies and initiatives focused on solving business and people challenges.
Dr. Barbara Fallon
Dr. Barbara Fallon is the Associate Vice-President, Research for the University of Toronto and a Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Dr. Fallon also holds a Canada Research Chair in Child Welfare. She is an Adjoint Professor at the Kempe Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, University of Colorado School of Medicine and at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Fallon’s research interests include comparisons of child protection systems, the disproportional and disparate representation of racialized groups within the child welfare system, and the contribution of worker and organizational characteristics to child-welfare decision making.
Dr. Lance McCready
Dr. Lance T. McCready is an Associate Professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Director of the Transitional Year Programme at University of Toronto. He is affiliate faculty with the Centre for Urban Schooling, the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, the Centre for the Study of the United States and the Black Canadian Studies certificate. Dr. McCready brings a wealth of lived experience, community partners, and expertise gained through his research program which broadly addresses the education, health, and welfare of Black children, youth and families with a focus on vulnerable populations, specifically Black families and youth involved in the child welfare system, young Black men and Black queer youth. He is the author of Making Space for Diverse Masculinities published by Peter Lang and Co-Principal Investigator of the Exploratory Study of Black Gender-Expansive Youth, and African, Caribbean, Black Family Group Conferencing Project. He also serves as Co-Investigator on the Mapping Disparities project, Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) Getakit study and International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience, He is the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Research Scholar Award from the Ontario Education Research Symposium.