Our Leadership

Sonu is a partner in Torkin Manes' Litigation Group and practises in all areas of civil litigation, with a particular focus on business law. She is the recipient of the 2018 Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyers Under 40. She is a highly respected instructor, lecturer and facilitator. Sonu is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association, Advocates' Society, 10 + Standing Committee,  and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC).

Sonu is highly passionate about our Promise and Mission, as she is personally impacted by the disease.

Keith Persaud has worked for over 20 years in the financial and capital markets sectors. He has guided organizations to implement effectiveness and growth strategies through structural and system changes, revenue improvements and targeted cost management. Some of the functions he was responsible for include Finance, Human Resources, Technology, Risk Management, Strategy and Project Management. 

Keith is a CPA, CA and is recently retired. His last position was the Chief Administrative Officer at the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization. Prior to that he was the Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration at the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, and has held senior roles at capital markets firms. Keith holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto.

Sara Gottlieb is General Counsel with VON Canada. Ms. Gottlieb was previously counsel in the post-secondary sector, prior to which she worked as Counsel with the Ombudsman of Ontario and in private practice with Goodmans LLP in Toronto and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York City. Ms. Gottlieb has corporate governance and regulatory experience including as a volunteer board member and government appointee with a variety of health, equity and diversity initiatives in the community.

As an individual impacted by Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, Sara is committed to helping those living with the diseases as well as supporting research and fundraising initiatives that help find a cure and treatments.

Jodene Baker is the Vice President, Research, Advocacy & External Relations at Imagine Canada, where she oversees key functions spanning research, government relations and communications, working to enhance the ability of Canadian charities and nonprofits to serve individuals and their communities.

Jodene obtained her PhD in Social Psychology from McGill University in 2005 and worked previously in the post-secondary education sector for 15 years.

Jodene lives in Winnipeg with her spouse and two children. She is personally affected by ulcerative colitis and is passionate about growing awareness of IBD.

Janis Byrne is an experienced corporate director and recently retired as Executive Vice President – Legal, with Pennecon Limited, a leading provider of integrated solutions in the heavy civil, industrial, services & maintenance, and marine sectors across Canada.

Janis has served on numerous boards, with more than 25 years’ experience on non-profit and for-profit boards. She is Director and Chair of the People and Culture Committee and member of the Governance Committee, Atlantic Lottery Corporation; as well as Director and Chair of the Regulatory Committee and member of the Governance and Human Resources Committee of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. She is also a Director and Chair of the ESG Committee, Canadian Manganese Company Inc. She is a past Chair of the St. John’s Board of Trade, and a past President of the Canadian Bar Association (NL Branch).

Janis is a graduate of Memorial University, and holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor as well as a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Ottawa. She received the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation in 2017 and an ESG certification from Competent Boards Canada in 2022.
 

Ted Fleming is the Founder of Partake Brewing, the pioneer of low-calorie craft non-alcoholic beers brewed for those who make it happen. Ted created the business after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2005 and making the life changing decision to give up alcohol a few years later. Partake Brewing is a certified B-Corp for its leadership in making business a force for good.

Overcoming the challenges of living with Crohn’s, Ted has become a respected Canadian business leader and is recognized for his entrepreneurial spirit including being named a Globe & Mail Changemaker, a Maclean’s Power 100 List honoree, an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and winner of numerous World Beer Awards. 

Ted is a graduate of Queen’s University (Engineering and Economics), is a past Canadian amateur squash champion, and now aspiring pickleball player.  He lives in Calgary with his wife and three daughters.

Darren Kerr is a joint replacement Orthopaedic Surgeon in Saint John, NB, whose practice focuses on adult reconstructive surgery and trauma. He received his medical degree from Dalhousie University before completing his Orthopaedic Surgery residency at Queen’s University. He then completed additional training at Queen’s and Harvard University before starting his surgical practice in 2001. He is currently the Clinical and Academic Head of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University (Saint John, NB campus).

He is heavily involved in medical education – teaching and training Dalhousie University Orthopaedic Surgery residents, Family and Emergency Medicine residents, and undergraduate medical students.

Darren’s involvement with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada is a result of having a son, and more recently a niece, with ulcerative colitis. He resides in Rothesay, NB with his wife and is an avid sports participant.
 

Jess Messias, MSc, Pht. is a physiotherapist and director of Dynamix, a fitness club and physiotherapy clinic in Montreal where he provides honest, empathetic care to help others build and sustain a healthy lifestyle and achieve their wellness-related goals.

Jess was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 22, just prior to a move to Melbourne, Australia. Following a year of visits to unbelievable gastroenterology teams in Montreal and Melbourne, he was put on a biologic treatment and has fortunately been in good health ever since. Supporting his community has always been important to Jess; he has served in volunteer roles for local Montreal organizations including Federation Community Jewish Appeal, Israel Cancer Research Fund, West Island College Alumni Foundation, and Beth Tikvah Congregation.
Since 2015, Jess has supported Montreal’s Generation C initiatives, chairing fundraising events focused on 18-to-30-year-olds: Slashing Crohn’s & Colitis, a two-day hockey tournament; and Bottoms Up, a casual gala event.

Jess is returning to McGill University in the fall 2023 for an MBA program at the Desautels Faculty of Management.

Marty Murray is a Managing Director at Protiviti where he is the Country Market Leader for the firm's Canadian operations.  Marty has over 20 years of experience as a management consultant where he has worked with senior executives on a broad range of strategic and operational initiatives within finance, HR and IT.  He has a strong background in organization and operating model design, technology enablement and process improvement.  Prior to his career in consulting, Marty spent several years in accounting and finance roles with large, global organizations.  Marty is a designated CPA and PMP.  He holds an MBA from the University of Guelph and completed his undergraduate and Master of Arts degrees in philosophy prior to studying business.  Marty resides in Toronto with his wife and two kids.

Alex Sherrington is Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Creyos, a leading healthcare technology company. Prior to Creyos, Alex was Director of Product Management at Medcan, a large Canadian health and wellness provider, and co-founded a wellness start-up focused on improving the lives of young professionals. Alex began his career on Wall Street in the healthcare investment banking group at Credit Suisse in New York, and was a healthcare investment professional with Madison Dearborn Partners, a large Chicago-based private equity firm. Alex holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from Cornell University.

Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at a young age, Alex is passionate about the mission of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, and efforts to enhance care, empower patients, and support chronic disease management.

Dr. Laura Sly is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia, and a Principal Investigator at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Her research focusses on identifying and developing novel therapeutic targets and strategies to treat inflammatory bowel diseases and its complications. She brings leadership experience from her service and current role as Vice-chair on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes Institute Advisory Board, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. After years of service to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, she joins the Board as the current co-Chair of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Council.

Kyle Steward is the Founder, and Lead Strategist at KRAS Sales Consulting Co., a management consultancy focused on helping start-ups, scale-ups, and enterprises create, implement, and measure sales and business development strategies.

Kyle is accredited by the Canadian Professional Sales Association as a Certified Sales Leader (CSL), recognizing Canada's top sales leadership talent. Kyle recently earned a Master of Communication Management (MCM) degree from McMaster University and Syracuse University. 

Crohn's disease turned Kyle's life upside down, from a healthy 10-year-old to the intensive care unit in a matter of days. Kyle was eventually put on Remicade in 2001 and has been in relatively good health. 

Since his diagnosis, Kyle has supported Crohn's and Colitis Canada. In 2007, Kyle was the Ontario Youth Advisory Council (YAC) representative, in 2009, he was the recipient of the UCBeyond Crohn's Disease Scholarship, and in 2010, he served as the Halton Honorary Chair to the organization's Heel n' Wheel-a-Thon (now known as Gutsy Walk).

Dan Tanenbaum comes from a long family history of giving and is proud to be a part of a large philanthropic family. His passion for philanthropy is demonstrated in his personal as well as his professional life, and when Dan’s twin boys were recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, he became focused on helping Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.
 
Dan was the founder of the first electronic 50/50 raffle software program with his company Bump Worldwide Inc. After building, growing and, in turn, selling the company Dan then became the Chief Innovation Officer at Ascend Fundraising Solutions, which has helped more than 500 Not-for-Profit organizations raise hundreds of millions of dollars by offering various fundraising technology platforms. As the CIO, Dan’s role has been to create new and innovative ways for the charitable industry to raise money through new technologies. His latest ‘Round-up’ program allows charities to empower their supporters to become monthly donors via their everyday activities.  

Dr. Kaley Wilson is currently the Director of Business Development at Quark Venture, a Vancouver based venture capital group that invests globally in health science.  Investing out of the $500M USD Global Health Sciences Fund, Dr. Wilson works closely with Quark’s Investment Committee to identify and diligence potential investment opportunities. 

Dr. Wilson is also currently the interim CEO of Sitka, a biotherapeutics company with a breakthrough nanoparticle platform technology to deliver compounds to difficult to penetrate tissues.  Sitka’s lead asset, STK-01, is Phase 1 ready and is being developed for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.  Dr. Wilson joined Sitka in March 2020 to raise a Series A financing to take Sitka’s lead asset into the clinic. 

From January 2018 until September 2019, Dr. Wilson was also the interim CEO of ARTMS Products Inc. a global leader in the development of disruptive medical isotope production technologies. Prior to joining Quark Venture, Dr. Wilson was the Associate Director, Partnerships, at the Centre for Drug Research and Development. 

Dr. Wilson is also an Advisor and Mentor for Ontario Bioscience’s Capital Access Advisory Program (CAPP), a member of GlycoNet’s Commercialization Committee, Nanomedicines Innovation Network’s (NMIN) Research Management Committee, a Director on the Board of Sitka, Canary Medical and Microbion and an Observer on the Boards PHEMI and ARTMS. 

Dr. Wilson obtained her PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, in 2007.