Our Board

Scroll down for bios of our current board members. Are you interested in joining our board to provide leadership in equitable systems transformation? Apply here.

Perry Sankarsingh

John Gunn

Desmond Miller

Peggy Tibbo-Cameron

Kenisha Gordon

Fadi Al Qassar 

Robert Bernard

Shantia Russell Stubbs

Habiba Onuorah

Madeleine Edwards

Catherine Fogarty

Sue LaPierre

Dianne Oickle

Mary Ellen Gurnham


Robert Bernard

Since 1997, Mr. Robert Bernard has been a successful owner of a number of Indigenous owned companies focused on creating sustainable and “mutually beneficial” relationships with the mainstream world. His newest business, “Indigenous Guide Consulting Services”, has brought together all of his expertise under one vision, helping to create capacity-building opportunities for Indigenous people, businesses and communities across Canada and around the world. Mr. Bernard has supported Indigenous communities, organizations, businesses and individuals across Canada in such areas as business, tourism, cultural development, environmental services, sports and recreation, recruitment & retention, employment training as well as diversity & inclusion for multiple industry sectors trying to connect with contract/procurement opportunities. His focus has always been community.

A fluent Mi’kmaw speaker, Mr. Bernard has delivered dozens of workshops, presentations and has facilitated sessions from the community level to national levels involving grassroots, governments, multiple industry and political levels. He truly believes that in order to achieve any level of true Reconciliation in Canada and around the world for Indigenous people, Indigenous people need to be front and centre in the development of a strategic plan that focuses on Reconcili-ACTION based initiatives from the grassroots up. Mr. Bernard lives in his home community of We’koq’ma’q (Weh-go-km-ahg) Mi’kmaw Nation along with his beautiful wife Kelly and four daughters Jordynn, Kaylyn, Kassidy & Karmin and one grandson, Rory. He continues to operate his businesses on a full time basis and continues efforts to educate mainstream society on cross-cultural awareness.

Madeleine Edwards

Maddy (they/them) has a lifelong fascination with communication: they believe authentic, empathetic understanding is vital to making the world a better place. Maddy holds a Master of Arts (MA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English: throughout those programs they sought out opportunities to learn about how social, cultural, and language systems impact how we communicate. Now working in community engagement, Maddy collaborates with infrastructure and energy sector clients to help them follow best practices and legislation in their development projects. They also work on projects which are community-led or highly collaborative between the developer and community: Maddy enjoys helping people who may have very different lived experiences to communicate their needs and goals and find a common path forward. Maddy has lived in Kjipuktuk/ Halifax since 2020 and has been connecting with the community through art courses, library events, and now with Inspiring Communities.

Maddy is a versatile and passionate lifelong learner who loves trying new things. They spend their time hiking, at the beach, gardening, and taking their cat, Andy, out on walks. Maddy also likes trying out new art projects: collage, bookbinding, and making miniatures out of found objects. Maddy believes almost any activity can be a way to communicate unique experiences and looks forward to growing their knowledge of how best to communicate with others on their level.

Catherine Fogarty

Catherine has lived in Nova Scotia most of her life and is very proud to call this province home. As a finance expert, mortgage broker, and small business owner, Catherine is well aware of the specific challenges of balancing work life and family life. She is passionate about community and helping others achieve their goals, with guidance, from her own experiences. Catherine believes that when one does well it is important to give back. She has been an avid volunteer most of her adult life: she currently sits on the funding committee with United Way and has just been added to the Board of Team Work Cooperative. 

Her beagle Marley forces her to take breaks daily and you can be sure to find them power walking through Point Pleasant Park where he is known as the “squirrel whisperer”. He sings and they run!

Kenisha Gordon

Kenisha Gordon (she/her) is a high-performing professional with a passion for helping organizations foster inclusive work culture and deliver high-quality services through development, operationalization, monitoring and evaluation of equitable human resource policies, diversity and inclusion action plans; and inclusive communication frameworks. Kenisha’s areas of expertise include: diversity, inclusion, human equity, corporate governance and gender equality policy development, action plans, monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
Kenisha brings over 10 years professional experience in government, and social justice frameworks at the national, regional and international levels. She is the current Chair for Kingston/Greenwood Community Health Board (NS), Vice Chair of the Commonwealth Women in Local Government Network (UK), and was responsible for the development of the Municipality of the County of Kings Diversity Implementation Plan. She has recently joined the Worker’s Compensation Board of Nova Scotia in the role of Diversity and Inclusion Advisor.
Her values are trust, collaboration, high-performance, integrity, empathy, kindness, transparency,
accountability, high-quality service delivery and adaptability.

John Gunn

John Gunn, Treasurer

John Gunn has been a dedicated professional accountant for more than 40 years. His most recent professional roles included National HR Partner with Grant Thornton and CEO with CA School of Business in Western Canada, following which he served more than three years helping oversee and guide the rationalization of the accounting profession. In addition to his dedicated work leading the professional education program for accountants, John has served on not-for-profit boards throughout the last 20 plus years, for organizations including Saint Andrew’s United Church, environmental charity Clean Foundation, MPA Society, a non-profit service agency that supports people living with mental illness and ACCORD, the Association for Creative Change in Organization Renewal and Development.

Mary Ellen Gurnham 

Mary Ellen is a Registered Nurse who recently retired from the position of Senior Director Interprofessional Practice and Learning, with the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Mary Ellen’s career spanned 44 years holding positions in clinical practice, operational management, professional practice and learning. Mary Ellen has experience in strategic planning, policy development and implementation, change leadership, program development, implementation and evaluation. She has served on a number of professional and volunteer boards, such as the United Way, YMCA, and Canadian Nurses Protective Society, and her current role as the Chair for the Victoria Hall Society.

Sue LaPierre

Sue LaPierre has worked for United Way Halifax for 20 years and holds the role of Director of Community Impact. In joining Inspiring Communities’ board, Sue says for her, social innovation “means nurturing relationships, keeping values at the front, and a belief that we can do better.”

Determined is a word often used to describe Sue: Sue sets bold goals for herself and in service of community, bold goals rooted in the belief that we can do better and getting uncomfortable is good and stretches us to new places.  Sue has helped transform United Way Halifax into an organization committed to alleviating the impacts of and finding solutions to poverty, and committed to equity. Outside of United Way, Sue can often be found outdoors; running, walking, cycling, and swimming. Her greatest inspiration is her husband’s unwavering integrity, and she believes the true meaning of love is wanting to be a better person because of it.

Desmond Miller

I have 14 years of experience in the financial services industry, currently serving in a senior leadership role at my firm. I bring an extensive understanding of financial reporting, project management and change management.

I enjoy working with my team to solve immediate problems and implement strategic solutions. I look forward to bringing the same strategic and collaborative mindset to the Inspiring Communities board and contribute to its governance the best I can.

If I could instantly become an expert at something, it would be renewable energy. It’s a timely, heavily debated topic with a variety of widely held beliefs. I believe it’s essential to our well-being and earth’s future as the population and life expectancy continues to grow. I am a person who enjoys the process of things so I wouldn’t want to instantly become an expert at any of my hobbies – this would take away some of the enjoyment for me.

Find me on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmond-miller-9242a532

Dianne Oickle

Dianne Oickle (she/her) is a registered dietitian who has been working in the public health field for over 27 years, and strives to live in a way that is anti-oppressive. Her biggest passion is for meaningful engagement of people with lived expertise of inequities to inform public and community health priorities. As a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual woman, Dianne actively continues her learning about the privileges that come with these identities and how they intersect with her own lived experience of struggle in other areas. Her professional work is with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH) and as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at St. FX University. Her work  focuses on community engagement, mental health promotion, inter-sectoral practice, and action on the social and structural determinants of health equity. Dianne earned a BSc at St. Francis Xavier University and an MSc at the University of Saskatchewan and has been with the NCCDH since 2014. She lives with her husband, son, 3 dogs, 3 cats, and some chickens in Monastery, NS.

Habiba Onuorah

Habiba Onuorah is a communication professional with over ten years of experience spanning three continents. She finds great joy in communications because it enables her to demonstrate her proactive personality and unleashes her creative genius.

Having moved to Nova Scotia with her family four years ago from Nigeria, Habiba has fallen in love with the province. She is now committed to influencing other newcomers to make Nova Scotia their new home.

She serves as a volunteer mentor for the EduNova Study and Stay program, where she guides and supports international students (mentees) in crafting impressive resumes and improving their interview skills, preparing them for success in the job market.

Fadi Al Qassar 

Fadi has come a long way from his native Jordan. And he’s made a lot of stops along the way.

He leads Venture 2 Impact, a charity organization focused on creating innovative digital experiences to advance social impact and the SDGs around the world. The organization virtually connects nonprofits and skilled-volunteers from across the world to partner on solving social issues. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fadi’s work helped 29,000 children in Uganda receive better care through a data management and digital design hackathon in collaboration with Salesforce and Microsoft Employees. He also supported emergency digital training and up-skillment of organizations in 9 different countries benefiting 1.5 million indirect beneficiaries, and provided digital entrepreneurship training and e-commerce training to women victims of human trafficking to reduce their risk of revictimization.

Prior to the pandemic, Venture 2 Impact facilitated physical skilled-based volunteer programs around the world.  Fadi has experience facilitating digital innovation projects globally, including in: Uganda, Rwanda, Romania, India, Ecuador, Indonesia, among other countries.

Fadi’s work on digital innovation and social impact has been featured in many media outlets including: NASDAQ, Google, Salesforce, CBC and Entrevestor.

Add me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fadialqassar/.

Shantia Russell Stubbs

Shantia currently serves as the chair of the Governance Committee.

Shantia has always had a strong desire to help others; therefore, she is no stranger to giving back to her community. During her undergraduate studies in Business Management at the University of The Bahamas, she joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., where she solidified her personal mission of helping those in need. While completing her studies, she balanced working full time in the customer service industry and working within her community tutoring youth and working in food kitchens. She moved to Nova Scotia in 2013 and returned to school to complete an advanced diploma in Human Resource Management at NSCC.

Shantia’s background has afforded her the opportunity to work in a variety of industries which include telecommunications, technology, hospitality, alcohol, cannabis, and dentistry. These experiences have allowed her to operate in a manner that meets people where they are and help them develop to their fullest potential. 

Perry Sankarsingh

Perry is a self-directed Operations Management professional with broad acumen, informed by diverse experiences in Health Care, private sector OEM, and non-government organizations. 

Perry holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BTech). Starting as an industrial engineer working in the manufacturing sector, Perry developed an expertise in LEAN quality improvement and change management working for companies ComDev Honeywell, John Crane and Ford Canada.

For the last decade, Perry has applied that expertise to improve the design of human services. His experiences range from social services to health care research with senior roles in occupational health and safety, community-based care, emergency health services and public drug plans.

An experienced leader and change agent, Perry is driven by a fundamental belief in the values of public service, community activism and socially responsible enterprise through continuous quality improvement.

Perry and his wife are aspiring homesteaders, and along with their two children enjoy gardening and tending to a motley cast of chickens, pets and other random forest creatures.

Peggy Tibbo-Cameron

Peggy Tibbo-Cameron

Peggy is the consummate problem solver and strategist.  Her facility for development and implementation of truly actionable plans – strategic, business and tactical – has benefitted both government and public-private partnerships.  Successfully leading programs and projects that require collaboration between industry groups and government stakeholders at all levels has earned her national recognition.

Peggy’s background and diversified experience has taken her from public policy through to research, strategy and analysis. Notably, she spearheaded and managed a unique national information resource for arts, culture, heritage and sports. Working with people, her teamwork, communication, creativity, enthusiasm and infectious laugh are a win/win for clients and boards alike.