Board of Directors

Christopher Ah-kion is a Director at Pomerleau Inc, a Canadian leader in the construction industry. He is responsible for the protection of Pomerleau’s financial health by leading the team in charge of analyzing and vetting the company’s business partners. He is also heavily involved and knowledgeable in the insurance domain. He has close to 14 years of risk management experience, with a focus on credit risk, governance risk, and strategic risk. Christopher holds a bachelor of commerce degree in finance and the CFA designation. In February 2023, he obtained his certification from the Young Administrators Network (YAN) Program of the College of Directors and the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal. He is known for his high level of authenticity and human approach to business, which allows him to develop and maintain solid long-term relationships. He is a strong advocate for access to educational resources and finds joy in conducting training sessions to help and inspire others.

Geneviève Cyr is a doctoral candidate in Public Health (specialization in health systems, organizations and policies) at the Université de Montréal. She holds a master’s degree in health services administration from the École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal (ESPUM) and is a member of the Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec. Her research focuses on the management of innovation in healthcare organizations and on better understanding the role of patients and their families in the development of innovation in a living laboratory context. She is passionate about solving complex problems that require interdisciplinary collaboration and wants to push the limits of the health system to improve the accessibility of mental health care for all.

Denis Fournier completed his doctorate in medicine at Université Laval and has devoted his entire career in family medicine since 1988 exclusively to the care of the elderly population suffering from a loss of autonomy in the beautiful provincial capital, Quebec City. His experience incited him to invest himself even more in the mental health cause and more specifically these days to open  a discussion over the importance of creating psychologically safe workspaces and more people-oriented work environments in order to battle the professional burnout epidemic in our modern societies.

A retired professor and president and founder of several community organizations in Québec, Karen Hetherington is Executive Director of OPTION MILIEU, a mental health planning and training enterprise. For a number of years, she has been a senior consultant with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Jean-François Michaud is the founder and manager of Familio, a network of interdisciplinary clinics specialized in health and social services. He holds a master’s degree in international studies and a bachelor’s degree in management. He has worked in sustainable development at Cirque du Soleil, SAQ and for NGOs as well as in Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Oxfam-Québec. He has served on boards of directors such as CECI and ECPAR. Passionate about project development and community involvement, he believes in the importance of developing a more resilient and inclusive society. His current role at Familio is to increase access and quality of mental health services.

Marianne Poliquin is a lawyer specializing in labour law and civil and commercial litigation with Robinson Sheppard Shapiro LLP. She is trained in industrial relations and is a member of the Certified Human Resources Professional. Because of her personal background in mental health, she understands the need to increase accessibility to public health services and wants to help reduce the systemic stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems or illnesses through increased public awareness.

Itsel Vaval