St. Leonard’s is grateful of the Board Members who generously volunteer their time. Their expertise, knowledge, and passion provide direction and stability throughout the entire organization.
Our Board of Directors
Linda’s career development began as a correctional officer in the late ‘70’s, then 19 years in an open custody setting for male youth. Shifting from custody to a community setting, she provided evidence-based programming for youth on probation as Coordinator of an Attendance Centre. Then as Executive Director of Community Organized Support and Prevention, she expanded services to all of Hastings & Prince Edward Counties resulting in the necessity to securing a larger home for COSP at 250 Sidney St, Belleville. Before retiring the end of 2019, Linda assisted in the amalgamation of COSP with St. Leonard’s Home in Trenton.
Why I Volunteer?
Now as Chair of the Board of Directors for St. Leonard’s Community Support, Prevention, and Residential Services, I am afforded the opportunity to develop, guide, and grow this organization along with a dedicated group of board directors and accomplished CEO. Volunteering affords me the opportunity to give back to a sector that has supported me for over 30 years. I’m motivated by the knowledge that responsible, effective, and evidence-based/informed programming, along with a caring empathic approach, produces positive results for the youth we serve.
Christina’s bio is in the works. Please stay tuned.
Why I Volunteer
With so many reasons to volunteer, we look forward to hearing why Christina volunteers.
Donna’s professional career spans 40 years in finance, IT project management, and software design/development. Her skills include business management, finance, project management, strategic planning, and software design/development. As the past owner of her own consulting firm in the Ottawa area, Donna worked on multiple IT contracts in the telecommunications industry providing project management and software design & development in both small and large teams. For 20 years in Toronto, she worked in finance, primarily in large ticket leasing, progressing from General Accountant to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Why I Volunteer
Working in finance for 20 years and then in IT for another 20 years left minimal free time for volunteering until retirement. With extensive experience in business, Donna can contribute equally as a leader or as a team member. Her volunteer service has included, past Director and President of a condominium board in Picton and now in Trenton as Director and Treasurer of St. Leonard’s Community Support, Prevention and Residential Services. After having sailed to the Bay of Quinte for vacations since 1992, Donna and her husband retired to the Quinte area in 2019.
Tom holds an honours degree in Sociology from Queen’s University and a Master’s degree in Criminology from the University of Ottawa. During his undergrad, Tom started working in the field as a summer student at Ontario Works and volunteering at Kingston Penitentiary with the John Howard Society. While finishing his Master’s, Tom worked as a residential counsellor at a youth custody facility. In 2004, Tom became a Probation and Parole Officer with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Service in Windsor. During his time with the Ministry, Tom assumed various specialized roles including Pre-Sentence Report writer and Intensive Supervision Officer and engaged in several special projects around the province with the Ministry’s Program Effectiveness, Statistics and Applied Research office.
In 2010, Tom started teaching part-time at Loyalist while continuing his full-time career in provincial corrections. Tom joined Loyalist College as a full-time Professor in 2012 and assumed the role of Associate Dean in 2022.
Tom is a contributing author and has published chapters on Conditional Release in Emond Publications ‘Corrections in Canada – Principles and Practice” and “Thinking About Criminal Justice in Canada”, which was published in early 2022.
Since relocating to Belleville when he joined the team at Loyalist, Tom and his family have settled into a community they are proud to call home. Tom is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board of Director’s at St. Leonard’s Community Support, Prevention and Residential Services. When not in his office, you’re likely to find Tom at the fitness centre, golfing, or with his wife cheering on their kids’ sports.
Why I Volunteer
I volunteer with the agency because I believe in the work that the organization does to support youth and create pathways out of the justice system, which has positive impacts for clients, their families and the public.
After graduating from the University of Toronto with B.A.s in Sociology and Philosophy, Paul’s professional career spans almost 40 years in quality management, lean manufacturing, managing newspaper circulation and distribution, and now international student recruitment and enrolment.
As co-Founder of two corporations in Toronto establishing the first database of ISO 9000 registered companies and implementing Continuous Improvement/Toyota Production System learning models in OEMs at automotive suppliers in Southern Ontario, Paul gained international experience and expertise in quality management systems and solutions, and leading organizational transformation through Kaizen into learning corporations.
Working in the Local Community Newspaper arm of the Toronto Star for over a decade brought Paul to Belleville in 2014, where he led a team of 600 carriers and 100 drivers from Northumberland to Kingston, and Prince Edward County to Bancroft.
After the unfortunate shuttering of all local papers east of the GTA as part of the significant downturn in the industry, Paul elected to stay in Belleville where he had laid down roots and called home. For the past two years, Paul has been recruiting, enrolling and assisting international students from Asia at Albert College, where he has grown the demographic of international students here in Belleville to include China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and the Philippines.
Why I Volunteer
Paul was adopted as a child, which left an indelible mark on the importance and value of choosing to give of yourself for someone else. Experiencing such profound generosity is life altering. His mother would lead by example; a life of respect, giving back, and volunteering. “As I chose Belleville as my home, I choose to give back to my community, to hopefully help however I can.”
Julie has been a resident in the Belleville area for most of her life. Julie’s working life has been one of service with the Canadian Armed Forces and with Belleville Police Services. Julie worked in finance while serving in the Air Force and then worked and supervised in Operations (patrol, media, quality assurance) and Investigations while policing. Julie has worked on a variety of local boards throughout her policing career. Julie recently retired from policing and hopes to continue to serve her community by volunteering.
Why I Volunteer
I have volunteered in some capacity since I was a young teenager. Volunteering has provided me with opportunities that cultivated lifelong friendships and introduced me to experiences that I would never have had the courage to explore on my own. I would say that balance and change motivate me to continue to volunteer. Change in any organization is hard and necessary. I believe that challenging assumptions and solid communication is key to moving projects forward. I enjoy working on projects that are focused on creating balance for everyone. This led me to the work being done at St. Leonard’s Community Support, Prevention and Residential Services.
Become a Board Member
If you are interested in contributing in an impactful way to the community and in the lives of youth, please complete an application for consideration.
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