The Honourable Stephanie McLean was first elected as Member of Parliament for Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke in the spring of 2025 and, shortly after, joined Mark Carney’s government as Secretary of State (Seniors). 

In 2015, she was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Alberta and served as Minister of Status of Women and Minister of Service Alberta. She made history when she became the first member of the Legislative Assembly in Alberta to give birth while in office. 

Secretary McLean earned her law degree from the University of Calgary. As a practising lawyer, she represented both unions and employers, including acting as general counsel for a building trades union. She has called Vancouver Island home since 2019 and lives in the city of Colwood with her husband Shane, son Patrick, and their three dogs. 

The Honourable Uzoma Asagwara was first elected as the MLA for Union Station in 2019, when they became the first non-binary MLA in the Manitoba legislature and one of the first black MLAs elected in Manitoba’s history. They served as the official opposition critic for health from 2019-2023. 

Asagwara is a registered psychiatric nurse and addictions specialist. 

Before becoming an MLA, they practiced frontline nursing in acute adult psychiatry, co-occurring disorders initiatives, and specialized treatment services.   

They also spent over a decade working with youth and families in mental health, addictions and stabilization care. They were an active entrepreneur and community health and equity advocate. They served on the Board of the Women’s Health Clinic and advanced economic opportunity for equity deserving groups across Manitoba. They are a former member of the Canadian National Basketball team and mentor to young athletes.  

They have served as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care since 2023. 

Scott Gillingham believes great cities are built by people who roll up their sleeves, work together, and tackle big challenges head-on. 

Raised on a farm outside Carman, Manitoba, he learned those values firsthand through working early mornings in the fields, grinding four seasons in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and climbing 60-foot poles as a young lineman with Manitoba Hydro.  

A commitment to service led him to a career as a pastor, and then a City Councillor, working to strengthen communities and bring people together to solve tough problems. Something he continues to do as Mayor of Winnipeg. 

Since taking office in 2022, he’s been focused on action: fast-tracking a whole new transit network, driving the most ambitious housing reforms in generations, and launching new programs to improve community safety and tackle neighbourhood maintenance issues. 

He’s also taken Winnipeg’s voice to the national stage as Vice-Chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, pushing for progress on housing, public safety, and economic growth. 

Bruce MacDonald is the President & CEO of Imagine Canada. When carnivals and social good combined, it pointed to a path, and for 30 years, Bruce has been walking that route. From working for organizations that provide services to young people, older adults, persons with disabilities, community service clubs and sports and recreation groups, Bruce’s experiences have led him to Imagine Canada. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada where he participated in a collective effort to bring mentoring programs to kids.  

Bruce holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Sports Administration from Laurentian University, a Master’s in Management in the Voluntary Sector from McGill University, and a former record in the Guinness Book of World Records. From 2019 to 2023, Bruce served as Co-Chair of the Permanent Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, working with the federal government. In 2025, Bruce received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of his distinguished achievements and leadership. 

Dr. Samir Sinha is a Geriatrician and Clinician Scientist at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, the Director of Health Policy Research at Toronto Metropolitan University’s National Institute on Ageing, as well as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Medicine. 

A Rhodes Scholar, Samir is a highly regarded clinician and international expert in the care of older adults. As a former member of the Government of Canada’s National Seniors Council and a current member of its Minsterial Advisory Board on Dementia he helped to develop and now oversee Canada’s National Dementia Strategy and recently led the successful development of Canada’s new National Long-Term Care Services Standard.  

Internationally, he serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the International Centre for Future Health Systems at the University of New South Wales.  Furthermore, as a longstanding member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council and a recently appointed member of the Board of Trustees for HelpAge International, he remains committed to supporting the implementation and administration of unique, integrated and innovative models of geriatric care and support that reduce disease burden, improve access and capacity and ultimately promote health. 

Karen McDonald’s career has focused almost exclusively on the field of gerontology, including a decade in seniors’ supportive housing and fifteen years with the Sage Seniors Association, with half of that time in the role of Executive Director. Sage is a community-based seniors serving organization that provides social services, community development, and life enrichment programming with and for low-resourced older adults. Karen is currently Chair of Community Leadership Council (Alberta) and Provincial Director of Healthy Aging Alberta; working with community-based seniors serving organizations across Alberta to advance sector development to best meet the needs and build on the strengths of seniors living in community.

She also recently took on the role of Co-Chair of the Canadian CBSS Interim Community Leadership Council to advance national sector development. In 2015, Karen co-founded MatchWork, an interactive employment training and assessment tool used by employment support organizations to more effectively guide and support those who face barriers to employment, including older workers and caregivers.

Karen completed her MBA and BA at the University of Alberta, and her current volunteer work includes the Board of the Muttart Foundation. 

Marta Hajek is the Chief Executive Officer of Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO), where she leads a dedicated team advancing the safety, dignity, and human rights of older adults while addressing the systemic impacts of ageism and elder abuse. Under her leadership, EAPO has strengthened provincial, national, and global collaborations to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of older adults inform policy development, decision-making, and resource allocation in support of Canada’s fastest growing demographic. 

Marta has extensive experience in community systems coordination and collaborative leadership. Earlier in her career, she helped facilitate the rollout of Ontario 211, now a national information and referral service connecting Canadians to health and social supports. Through this work she developed deep expertise in building partnerships across community-based service sectors to strengthen coordinated responses to complex social issues. 

Today, Marta continues to advance collaborative approaches to aging policy and elder abuse prevention through a number of advisory and governance roles. She serves on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) and sat on the Boards of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA) and the International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC-C). She is an elected member and Co-Chair of the Steering Group of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP), Co-Chair of the National Leadership Council advancing the Community-Based Seniors Serving (CBSS) sector, and, through EAPO, a founding partner of the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA). 

Internationally, Marta is an active advocate for strengthening human rights protections for older persons. She has delivered several interventions at the United Nations, calling for the development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, and most recently spoke at the UN High-Level Political Forum on the intersection of gender and ageism, alongside Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae. 

Through her work, Marta continues to champion collaborative, community-driven solutions that address the growing complexity of aging in Canada, including the disproportionate impacts of gender-based and intimate partner violence affecting older women. 

Connie Newman (BSc, MEd at UofMB) is the Executive Director (consultant) for the Manitoba Association of Senior Communities.  MASC is a member association currently with 90 member Centres throughout Manitoba.  She travels the province providing guidance and encouragement to member centres. 

She leads the Manitoba’s Age Friendly initiative which provides her and her with opportunities to connect with local Age Friendly communities all around Manitoba.  She is also a member of the Manitoba Seniors Coalition (formerly Seniors Vote 2016). 

She is 78 years young – in her other life she was a junior high teacher/principal for 34 years.  She is a boomer – independent so far with many connections in Manitoba, Canada and beyond. 

Her favorite pastime is her dog – Yoshi, a companion, a friend. 

She believes in active aging and all that it means – keeping one’s mind and body active helps her to assist those around her who may need information and support as we all age together. 

Barbara’s 45+ years’ experience in community, organization, and network development has been gleaned from working and volunteering with a wide range of community and civil sector organizations locally, nationally, and globally, including United Way British Columbia, Vancouver Foundation, Community Foundations of Canada, and Health Canada’s Health Promotion Directorate. Her more recent work in healthy aging has focused on community engagement, sector strengthening, and knowledge mobilization, including initiatives addressing ageism, supporting aging in place, and growing the Men’s Shed movement in Canada.

Barbara is currently Executive Director of Men’s Sheds Canada (MSC), an organization whose vision is a Canada where every man feels valued and engaged in his community, experiencing purpose, belonging, and well-being in his aging journey. She holds a BA in Communications from Simon Fraser University and a Master of Management Degree (National Voluntary Sector Leaders) from McGill University. 

Megan Conway loves sparking creativity, curiosity and capacity across teams, organizations and networks to mobilize social change. With twenty years of diverse leadership roles in government and the charitable, voluntary and academic sectors, Megan has been recognized for her ability to scale innovation, to use evaluative thinking to build and adapt programs, and as a systems change champion. 

Dr. Conway earned her PhD at the University of Waterloo in Urban Planning with a focus on community development and scaling social innovations across sites and scales. Megan is most proud, professionally, of her efforts to create systems that enable youth participation, equity and achievement. Starting as a volunteer in Regent Park, she spent over a decade as a senior leader within Pathways to Education—launching the Kitchener program and then becoming the National Vice President of Programs and Research. She is also the Co-Founder of the Laurier School in the Community, a unique service-learning offering option at Laurier. Megan spent eight years as the Academic Chair of Health and Community Programs at Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley where she launched a Rural Enterprise Hub and managed a diverse professional team of 100 faculty to enable student success. 

Currently Megan serves as a Fellow at Carleton University’s School of Public Administration and Policy where she leads international research on charitable sector capacity building and place-based change. Megan loves the snow and any chance she can to get on to a bicycle. She lives with her husband and two young children in the Ottawa Valley. 

Laura Tamblyn Watts stands at the nexus of law, public policy, and advocacy for older adults. As CEO of CanAge, she champions systemic change for seniors across Canada and has emerged as a global voice on longevity and aging. A lawyer called to the British Columbia Bar in 1999, Laura combines legal expertise with academic research as an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and a Fellow at the Institute for LifeCourse and Aging. Her research spans dementia, elder financial abuse, artificial intelligence in health care, social inclusion, and governance.

Laura’s #1 international bestseller Let’s Talk About Aging Parents resonates with families worldwide and underscores her ability to translate complex issues into practical guidance. Recognized with awards such as Queen’s University’s Global Citizenship Award, she regularly briefs parliaments, appears in media interviews, and advises organizations ranging from the World Health Organization to national insurance regulators. She serves on boards including the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and AGEWELL, ensuring regulatory frameworks keep pace with demographic change.

At home, Laura and her husband Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Rakuten Kobo, juggle family life with three children while supporting their own aging parents. 

Dr. Laura Kadowaki is a Research and Knowledge Mobilization Specialist for the Healthy Aging Department at United Way BC. Through her work with the Raising the Profile Project and United Way BC, she has been collaborating with the community-based seniors’ services sector in BC since 2016 to raise the profile and build the capacity of this sector. Laura has a PhD in Gerontology from Simon Fraser University. Her areas of research interest include community-based seniors’ services, social determinants of health, ageism, and seniors’ housing. Laura is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University. She is also an Executive Committee Member for the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism.  

Bobbi Symes is the Director, Healthy Aging, at United Way British Columbia. Bobbi is a dedicated professional Gerontologist with a passion for improving the quality of life for older adults. Bobbi has an interdisciplinary Master’s degree with a focus on Gerontology and over 20 years of experience working in the field in multiple roles. Known for her compassionate approach and innovative solutions, Bobbi’s passion for the sector is also rooted in her role as a caregiver and the real-life experiences this brings to her day-to-day work. 

Monica Park is the Director, Community Partnerships and Programs with the Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services for the Government of Alberta. Prior to joining the Seniors division, Monica spent over 20 years in the financial sector and is a seasoned treasury professional. Having spent the majority of her career in the public sector, Monica promotes healthy aging in Alberta through the administration of government programs that build community, raise awareness,  enhances supports and services for older adults, and promotes government priorities that enable seniors to age well.  

Monica holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce degree and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Alberta.  

Amanda Krajci is Manager of Community Partnerships in the Seniors Division with Alberta’s Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services. She leads strategic partnerships and initiatives that strengthen community-based supports and help older Albertans age well at home and in their communities. Her work focuses on building sector capacity, supporting innovation, and advancing more connected approaches between health and social systems in alignment with Alberta’s Assisted Living Framework. 

In partnership with Healthy Aging Alberta and community organizations across the province, Amanda supports the co-design and implementation of models intended to strengthen local capacity and inform broader system change. She brings more than 20 years of experience across health, disability, and social services, with a strong interest in collaboration, systems change and turning community insight into public impact. 

Dr. Kiran Rabheru is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital. With over 40 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to caring for patients and their caregivers, first as a primary care physician and later as a geriatric psychiatrist. Dr. Rabheru is a Certificant and Fellow of both the College of Family Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is recognized as a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada. He has received the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry Award from the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP), and in September 2024, he was honored with the Distinguished Service to the Field of Psychogeriatrics Award from the International Psychogeriatrics Association (IPA).

In 2025, he received the Award for Creative Professional Activity from the Association of Chairs of Psychiatry in Canada. Dr. Rabheru is the Founding Immediate Past Chair of the Board International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC Canada). In 2022, under the leadership of Dr. Kiran Rabheru and in collaboration with 14 key national organizations in the field of aging, the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA) was launched. Dr. Rabheru serves as the Founding Chair of CCAA.

Dr. Rabheru is dedicated to serving older persons and envisions a world free from ageism. Through scientific advocacy and reframing how society thinks, feels, and acts about aging, he works to ensure that older persons live without discrimination and fully enjoy their rights. His goal is to create an inclusive world where no one is left behind.