Save the Children Canada Board of Directors

Board Chair

Robert J. Myers, MSW, is the past Chair of the Board of Green Shield Canada. Robert's many years of experience include Executive Director of United Way Canada and Director of the Imagine Campaign at the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (CCP). Robert is Past President of the Board of Directors of CCP.

Vice-Chair of the Board

Kirby Chown was the Ontario Regional Managing Partner of McCarthy Tétrault and has now retired. Ms. Chown is a patron of Starfish Greathearts Foundation, a South African AIDS charity. She is a member of the United Way Cabinet and was Co-Leadership Chair for the 2007 campaign. She sits on the Major Individual Giving Cabinet. She is the founder and Co-Chair of Women Gaining Ground, an innovative women's initiative at United Way. Among her many community activities she is a founder and Co-Chair of smART Women, a group of women who support educational programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Myrna Alexander, a native of Québec is currently a consultant to the World Bank, studying development prospects, internal reviews of quality, and assisting in the implementation of auditing controls for the World Bank's portfolio in Latin America. Prior to acting as a consultant, Myrna worked for over 20 years in a number of capacities within the World Bank including, Manager of the Public Enterprise and Public Sector Technical Unit in the World Bank's West Africa Region and Africa Region, Director of the World Bank's Operational Policy Department, Director of the World Bank's Program for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Orysia Andryo is currently in her third year at the University of Calgary, and her second as President of the University of Calgary Save The Children Canada Volunteer Club. Her passion for volunteering is never ending.  Orysia became involved with Save the Children in high school, and has been an active volunteer for many organizations for several years. She recently travelled to Mexico through Project Amigo to assist in building a house for a family in need, sponsored a child, and during the next school year will act as a global mentor to an international student. At the moment she is working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, which she intends to follow with a Pastry Arts degree in the hopes of one day opening her own bakery.  

Jeff Donahue, Senior Principal, Private Investments, CPPIB Equity Investments Inc.  Jeff is responsible for developing and leading CPPIB’s principal investing activities in extractive industries and focuses on the oil and gas industry and mining industry. Prior to joining CPPIB, Jeff was Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at BHP Billiton PLC in London.  Previously, he had a range of senior corporate development roles at Enron Corp and spent several years as both an investment banker and management consultant. Jeff holds an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. 

Tracey Jennings is a Corporate Tax Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, specializing in the Canadian entertainment and media industry. Since 1997, Tracey has worked extensively in the broadcasting, film production and distribution, and newspaper sectors. Her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers began in Halifax in 1987. She has provided tax planning, compliance, and international tax advice for a wide variety of clients from smaller independent firms to large multinational corporations. Tracey is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick and a licensed Chartered Accountant. She has spoken at numerous industry events, tutored for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (“CICA”) In-depth tax course, and is currently PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Tax Learning and Education Leader for Canada.

Feroz Kassam PhD, MBA has been an independent business consultant in Montreal for over three years. Prior to that he was a business leader in the corporate sector for over thirty years: most recently, as the Global Vice-President for Smith & Nephew, a U.K.-based global company in the advanced medical devices industry. Feroz has been actively involved as a volunteer in the Ismaili Muslim Community as well as the Aga Khan Development Network for several years at a local as well as at a national level. From March 1994 to July 2006, after serving as a member for three years, he was appointed as Chairman of the National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, a non-profit, Canadian agency that supports international social development programs in Asia and Africa.

Kish Modha M.Sc., is General Manager of Mondetta Clothing Company, established in 1986. Kish was born in Uganda to Indian parents. He was forced to leave that country in 1972 when the Uganda Government under Idi Amin expelled people of Indian origin from the country. As Kish and his partners/nephews come from Kenya and Uganda, they decided to give back to those countries through the creation of the Mondetta Charity Foundation in 2006. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife, Divya. An active community member, Kish has worked with the Rotary Club and other prominent service organizations.

Robert Rafos is the President of the Northwater Foundation. He has a PhD from Michigan State University and spent 10 years as a research fellow, before joining ICA international, a private NGO. He worked in various financial and administrative roles while serving in Kenya, Nigeria, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Chicago and Toronto. He helped to found Northwater Capital Management Inc. in 1989 and retired as a Managing Director in 2003.

Effie J. Triantafilopoulos is a senior executive with management experience and accomplishments in government and public policy, private legal practice and non-profit organization management. Her previous executive roles included serving as Executive Director for the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association and as interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Canada. She also worked at senior levels of the federal government as Chief of Staff to Cabinet Ministers at the Departments of Industry, External Affairs and International Trade and the Treasury Board. In private legal practice, she specialized in international trade law and regulatory and government relations. Recently, she has served as Consultant to the Global Leadership Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Law and a Masters of Law in International Trade and Competition Law. Effie has been active in several communities, voluntary and trade organizations, including as a director of the National Broadcast Reading Service, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Empire Club of Canada.