About ICC

Civic Panel Members

Toronto

Pam McConnell (Co-Chair): Pam has represented the east downtown area of Toronto since 1980, for the last twelve years as City Councillor. Prior to her election to Council, she served as Trustee on the Toronto Board of Education for twelve years, including a term as Chair of the Board. She served as President of the Cooperative Housing Federation of Toronto, has worked as a teacher in inner-city schools, and has played a critical role in many of the City’s initiatives to improve inclusion for women, visible minorities, and other marginalized groups. She is currently a member of the Policy and Finance Committee of City Council, and is Vice-Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board.
Amanuel Melles (Co-Chair): Amanuel is Community Program Manager with Family Service of Toronto. Amanuel has extensive experience with the Immigrant, Ethno-Cultural and Community Health Sector in Toronto. Currently Chair of the African Canadian Social Development Council. Past Vice-President of the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. Seat on the Board of Toronto Distress Centers and the Ontario Council of International Cooperation and Member of Advisory Committee for the African Canadian Newcomer Settlement Conference, a Citizenship & Immigration Canada that took place in March 2001. International experience in the Academic/Research Sector. Interested in Anti-racism, Access and Equity issues and contributed actively to OCASI’s Anti-racism policy development. Recipient of Jane Jacobs Award for 2002.
Kehinde Bah: Kehinde is the Children and Youth Advocate Program Associate at the Laidlaw Foundation. Kehinde started as a volunteer for Boy's and Girl's Clubs, representing youth in the region. He chaired the Toronto Youth Cabinet in 2001, bringing issues of marginalized youth to the city's table. Kehinde expanded his experience by sitting on For Youth Initiative's board in 2000.
Ekua Asabea Blair: Ekua has been the Executive Director of the Rexdale Community Health Centre for the past 4 years. After migrating to Canada, Ekua studied at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now known as Ryerson University) earning a Bachelors of Applied Arts Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management. In her final year, she was awarded the Laventhol and Horwarth award for best published research paper. Ekua worked in the many foodservice establishments/companies which she continue to volunteer in the voluntary sector up until 1992 where she was first hired as the Youth and Children’s Program Coordinator at the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre.
John Campey: John is Executive Director of the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. Prior to his appointment, he taught immigrant children in inner-city Toronto schools for six years. He served two terms as Downtown Trustee on the Toronto Board of Education, focusing on issues of exclusion such as poverty, racism, language, and homophobia. He was a consultant with the International Children’s Institute, and has edited two books of children’s writing and drawing of their experiences in post-war Bosnia. John is currently President of Friends of Community Schools, a small charitable foundation supporting children’s entitlements, and a member of the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force.
Tam Goossen: Tam is a Research Associate at the Asian Institute of the Munk Centre (University of Toronto). Tam is Past President of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, and is currently a member of the Ontario Press Council, the Board of St. Stephen’s Community Centre, and is actively involved in a variety of other organizations. She has worked with many community organizations including the Chinese Canadian National Council and the Metro Toronto Chinese and South East Asian Legal Clinic. Tam served as a Trustee on the Toronto Board of Education from 1988 to 1997.
Margarita Mendez: Margarita is the Executive Director of Jane Finch Community and Family Centre. Margarita has extensive experience on Community Development Projects in Mexico and El Salvador. She’s past Co-Chair of the Toronto Association of Family Resource Programs; past Board Member of CSPC-T; funding Board Member of Cooperative Housing Project for new immigrants in Toronto.
Fiona Nelson: Fiona has been an elementary and high school teacher for a good part of her life. She has also been an instructor at George Brown College and a School Trustee for 27 years. Fiona has volunteered on a number of boards including the Board of Health and the Planning Board. She’s been very active in public speaking and broadcasting.
Mohammad Qadeer: Mohammad is Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University. He also taught at the Punjab and Engineering Universities in Pakistan, Columbia University, and USA and was a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge and Sheffield Universities in England. He has been a Consultant for CMHC, Ontario Ministry of Housing, CID and numerous community groups in Eastern Ontario and internally for UNDP, UN and the government of Pakistan. His publications include two books, numerous academic and professional articles, newspaper and magazine articles and a number of reports. He co-authored the book “Towns and Villages in Canada” (1983). His research in Multiculturalism and Urban Planning won him an award in the form of Honorable Mention for best Article of 1997 from the Journal of the American Planning Association. He’s a Fellow of the Joint Centre of Excellent for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS). Among his community activities are volunteering stints at a Homeless Shelter in Kingston, Board Member of the Social Planning Council of Kingston and Board Member of HABITAT, at Kingston.
Anne Swarbrick: Anne is President & CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation. She has previously served as Executive Director of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange and Manager, Toronto Operations, of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Anne was a member of the Ontario Legislature from 1990-1995 during which time she held Cabinet positions as Ontario’s Minister of Culture, Tourism and Recreation and Minister of Women’s Issues. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Family Service Association of Toronto and the Advisory Board, Non-profit Management and Leadership Program, Schulich School of Business. She was recipient of the Schulich School of Business 2000 Award for Outstanding Public Contribution.
Trish Stovel: Trish is the Executive Director of Labour Community Services. She is currently a member of the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force, the Women’s Housing Action Group, Co-Chair of the Citizen Advisory Committee to Flemingdon Park Food Bank, and Co-Chair of the Hospitality Employees Hardship Fund. Trish previously sat on the Advisory Committee to the City of Toronto – Economic Development Strategy and was a member of the City of Toronto Economic Development Committee. She is a past board member of One Step, a founding member of the Scarborough Employment Services Group, Co-Chair and cabinet member of the Joint Union Management Division, United Way Campaign.