Cendrine Tremblay, Chair

Brad Pierce, Vice Chair

Pat Wetherup, Treasurer

Adele Fox, Director

Allison Webb, Director

Kathryn Quick, Director

Supriya Goyal, Director

Lakshmi Krishnan, Director

Laurel Adamson, Secretary

Ellie Siebens, Director

Michael Grogan, Director

Dr. Roxanne Pinson, Director

Cendrine Tremblay, MBA, CPA
Chair & Founding Member

Cendrine co-founded Silver Linings Foundation in response to her experience as a parent of a child with an eating disorder. During her family’s journey through the illness, Cendrine met many parents and practitioners who recognized the need for improving the continuum of care for eating disorders in Alberta. Cendrine now shares with Silver Linings her expertise in finance and management and experience in financial services, and the high-tech health care sector. She has more than 20 years of operations and oversight experience in not-for-profit organizations, through board and executive committee positions.

Brad Pierce, LLB
Vice Chair & Founding Member

Brad is a retired lawyer and consultant splitting his time between Calgary and Canmore.

An avid skier , cyclist  and enjoyer of the mountains, Brad also devotes considerable time serving his community and supporting various  charitable causes in addition to Sliver Lining, including, serving on the boards of Valour Canada and the Association for Mountain Parks Protection & Enjoyment (AMPPE), and previously as a member of the Calgary Economic Development board and of the boards of the A 100 and the Venture Capital Association of Alberta. 

Pat Wetherup, CPA, CA
Treasurer

Pat has worked in various areas of public accounting, including taxation, data analysis and auditing companies of all sizes, charities, and government organizations. Currently, Pat provides contract risk assurance, contract compliance, and internal audit advisory services to many clients throughout North America to assist their procurement and supply chain groups. 

Most of Pat’s personal time is spent with his wife and two small children, or at the rugby pitch.  Pat’s other interests include playing the cello, Olympic weightlifting, and working on cars.

Adele Fox, RPsych
Director

Adele is a Registered Psychologist, Imago Relationship Therapist and Certified Mediator. She has worked as an Occupational Therapist and Psychologist in both the private and public sectors in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia. In 1998 she trained and worked in the Inpatient Eating Disorders Program at Toronto General Hospital and outpatient at Oakville Hospital.  Relocating back to her home province of Alberta in 2002, Adele now provides individual and group treatment within her private practice. 

Adele lives with her firefighting husband, is a scrabble fan, and lives for travelling the world.

Allison Webb
Director

Allison has extensive experience in the areas of brand strategy, marketing and communications. Over her 25 year career, she has worked for LoyaltyOne (Air Miles), Critical Mass, and is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Mawer Investment Management, which she joined in 2013. In her role at Mawer, she is also responsible for all community giving programs and had the opportunity to work with Silverlinings in a fundraising capacity. This exposure fueled her interest in further supporting the important work of the foundation by joining the board. Allison has also obtained experience in the not-for-profit sector, having served on the boards of the Churchill Park Family Care Society and the Famous Five Foundation. She holds a BA in Communications and an MBA from the University of Calgary.

In her spare time, Allison enjoys traveling with her husband and two teenage daughters, running, biking between Calgary’s craft breweries and playing with her dog, Munchie.  

Kathryn Quick
Director

Kathryn is a transplant from Ontario currently working as a Relocation Consultant, helping families transition to life in Calgary. Through her career in the non-profit world, she has gained expertise in adult education and training, marketing, communications and volunteer coordination. Her personal journey with an eating disorder gives Kathryn the inspiration and drive to bring Silver Linings’ vision to fruition

Kathryn is most proud of the past 25 years of ups and downs invested in raising two amazing children. Outside of work and volunteering, she enjoys long walks in Calgary and making plans for her next visit to the water with her husband.

Lakshmi Krishnan, MSW, RSW
Director & Founding Member

Lakshmi is a registered Social Worker practicing in Calgary for the past 17 years. Lakshmi’s work experience so far includes the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter, Calgary Family Services, Foothills Addiction Centre, and six years with the Calgary Eating Disorder Program. Currently she has a private practice and works at the Children’s Day Treatment Program at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Lakshmi is passionate about working with eating disorders, addictions, trauma, couple and family issues in her practice.  

Lakshmi is the mother of two young men who have spread their wings and are busy exploring their own lives.

Laurel Adamson, MBA
Director

Laurel owns her own real estate consulting business in Calgary specializing in retail leasing, consulting to both landlords and retailers. She has a Masters of Business Administration in Executive Management. Prior to starting her own brokerage, Laurel was Vice President of Leasing for Primaris Management Inc.  Past volunteer positions include serving as the Prairie Provinces Provincial Chair for ICSC, sitting on the board of the Southern Alberta Shopping Centre Association, as well as the Calgary Highland Dance Association.  

When she's not working or volunteering, she's baking for friends and family; playing word games with her two remarkable kids; or chasing after Peekay, her Havanese puppy.

Michael Grogan
Director

Mike Grogan is the President & CEO of IntegralOrg, a nonprofit that provides governance, management and strategic supports to charities and nonprofits across Alberta. Mike has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years and is recognized for his ability to create effective and adaptive solutions to organizational and community issues. His skills and experience stem from a diverse background that encompasses building organizations from the ground up, to leading backcountry wilderness adventures, to developing leading-edge nonprofit collaborative, public policy, and capacity building initiatives.

Dr. Supriya Goyal, MBBS, MD, FRCPC
Director

Supriya currently works as a Family Physician as part of a multidisciplinary team in her practice supporting patients with mental health issues. She has a special interest in adolescent mental health and finds the impact of treating young people personally very rewarding. Prior to completing her residency in Family Medicine in Ottawa she came to Canada specializing in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in India. She is a clinical lecturer in the department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary.

When not working to improve the wellbeing of her patients Supriya enjoys mentoring her colleagues. She loves to travel extensively with her husband and 2 sons.

Ellie Siebens
Director

Ellie Siebens has had a long career advancing the welfare of children throughout the world through education. In 2005 she founded The Ssubi Foundation whereby she built schools and provided educational supports for hundreds of children in Uganda. In 2009, Ellie became the Head of School at the Montessori School of Calgary where she revitalized the school’s operations and raised funds to build a state-of-the-art playground. She currently sits on the Board of West Island College (2017-2022) and the Alberta Ballet (2020-2022). Her involvement with several non-profit organizations in Calgary and throughout the world will bring valuable experience and skills to the board of Silver Linings Foundation. In her spare time, she skis, cycles and rides horses with her husband, Carter. Together they have three adult children, Renner, Dane and Taryn.

Dr. Roxanne Pinson

Roxanne reigns from Edmonton, Alberta, where she completed her undergraduate degree in biological sciences with a minor in business. She then completed her Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Alberta and finally completed her Pediatrics training at the Alberta Children’s hospital.

With Roxanne’s involvement in the competitive dance and cheer world from childhood to her early 20s, she had been in environments where eating disorders were quite prevalent. Her interest was further sparked when she discovered the work of adolescent medicine during her residency. She was quick to notice how unique eating disorders are and the challenges in the system for medical services and resources available. Roxanne had always had a knack for identifying areas of improvement and is inspired to innovate.

Dr. Pinson currently runs a general pediatric practice at Infinity Pediatrics, is a Clinical lecturer with the University of Calgary, and is one of the paediatricians is part of the eating disorder inpatient service at the Alberta Childrens hospital. Additionally she is one of the few paediatricians in Calgary who treat and see patients with eating disorders in her community clinic.

Outside of medicine Roxanne enjoys travelling, staying active with her husband, along with hanging out with her close friends and family.

Gina Dimitropoulos, MSW, PhD, RSW, RMFT
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work
Department of Psychiatry (cross appointed), University of Calgary

Gina Dimitropoulos joined the Faculty of Social Work as an Assistant Professor in 2015. She has extensive clinical experience in both tertiary care and community based settings delivering family based treatments, group therapy and individual counseling for adolescents and adults with mental health issues, particularly eating disorders. Gina will advise the Foundation with respect to clinical aspects and provide access to a network of specialists in eating disorders.

Heather Heasman MSc & Certified Professional Coach

President & Founder, Heasman Group

Heather Heasman is a certified professional coach and management consultant with over 25 years of experience in the private and nonprofit sectors. She is a Past Chair of Woods Homes (one of Alberta’s largest social services agencies) and has in-depth experience with non-profits in the areas of fund development, governance, donor relations and social enterprise. Heather is also a non-profit advisor for the Columbia Basin Trust in British Columbia. Heather has held appointments at the Haskayne School of Business, The Bissett School of Business and currently designs and delivers seminars for the University of Calgary in its Project Management for Non-Profits and Emerging Leaders Certificate programmes. Heather will advise and assist the Foundation with establishing partnerships, securing funding, and managing governance and donor stewardship.

Dr. Blake Woodside, MD, FRCPC

Dr. Woodside’s specialty in psychiatry is the treatment of eating disorders in adults, and family therapy of adolescent anorexia nervosa. He is the former Medical Director Emeritus, Program for Eating Disorders at the Toronto General Hospital and Director of the Inpatient Eating Disorders Service, and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.  He has an active academic career with a long history of grant support from many agencies and private foundations.  His research activity presently focuses on novel treatments in eating disorders, including Deep Brain Stimulation, Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and Family-Based Therapy.  Dr. Woodside will advise the Foundation with respect to clinical delivery model and other clinical aspects of the Foundation’s projects.

Marlies van Dijk
Executive Director

Marlies is a registered nurse and has worked as an innovator and change agent in the health and care system. Her most recent experience was as founder and leader of the Alberta Health Services Design Lab. She led this to design new service models across all corners of the health care system. Prior to that she worked in British Columbia to improve care across 25 hospitals in 7 health authorities. She has worked with many national healthcare organizations to improve health care and services. Her passion is co-design as a way of working and hopes to apply her skills to the creation of a world class eating disorder treatment facility with clinicians, patients, community, and government. 

 She loves the outdoors and feels most alive when she is on her bike (yes, she is dutch too!)

Karen Filbert, BMgt, CFRE
Manager, Fund Development

Karen has worked in the charitable sector for over 16 years. A seasoned fundraising
professional, Karen enjoys finding the donors passion that connect them to their
favourite charities mission.

Karen spent ten years at Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta (KCC) as the
Manager of Annual and Planned Giving, focused on building the donor base through
direct response, monthly giving and stewardship initiatives. She also undertook an
organizational review of policy and procedures in pursuit of accreditation in Imagine
Canada’s Standards Program that is focused on demonstrating excellence in Board
Governance, Financial accountability and transparency, Fundraising, Staff Management and Volunteer Involvement.

An active volunteer with AFP and CAGP, Karen served as Generosity of Spirit Co-chair
in 2008 and 2009, Co-Chair National Philanthropy Day 2010, Co-Chair Banff Compass 2011 and 2013, Chair Calgary Compass 2012 and 2014 and served on the AFP Calgary Board in various roles for almost 10 years. Currently, Karen is serving on the CAGP Southern Alberta board as Communications Chair.

Karen is a self proclaimed “perogie princess” having mastered the creation when she was a teenager under the watchful eye of her Baba. Having created her own fillings, including feta/spinach, these sought after perogies have become a staple of many work potlucks. A life-long learner, Karen is completing her Digital Marketing Certificate and has recently become a Certified Money Coach.

Fiona Simpson-Kane
Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator

Fiona is an administrative professional who has built strong skills by working with corporate and not-for-profit business, a national sport organization and many Calgary local businesses. Along with an administrative business education, she is also educated in marketing, advertising and fundraising.

Fiona enjoys working as part of the team and has worked together with co-workers and volunteers to plan and activate many successful events.

Fiona, her husband and daughter enjoy hanging out in Calgary and the mountains together with friends participating in many activities.

Sophie Balisky

Peer Support Program Coordinator, Community Ambassador, Eating Disorder Recovery Coach 

Sophie is an eating disorder recovery coach and mental health advocate who alchemizes her own lived-experience to validate and deeply empathises with the stories and current struggles  of those in recovery.

Sophie has an educational background in psychology, clinically-mentored experience in working with eating disorder clients in a supportive capacity and, most importantly, first hand perspective of what recovering from an eating disorder truly entails. Sophie works alongside mental health professionals to provide reassurance and compassionate presence every step of the recovery journey. Her supportive approach is grounded in honesty, empathy, creativity and hope. In her spare time she can be found writing poetry, painting watercolour portraits, going on adventures, and having philosophical conversations with friends.

Zoë Fullen
Communications Specialist

Zoë joined the Silver Linings team to help support the growing communications needs of the Foundation. She has held a variety of roles in Communications and Marketing for the past 12 years across many different sectors. After taking a course in 2018 ‘Design Thinking for Social Change’, Zoë was compelled to start working in the non-profit world. She continues to be intrigued by the possibility of building more sustainable models for social good by using principals of business and design thinking. As a graduate of the Alberta University of the Arts, Zoë brings creativity to any role she takes on. She is delighted to be able to work with a team of dedicated board members and passionate staff for a cause that gives her work meaning. Zoë also loves magenta.

Melani Blazun
Communications Consultant

Melani is an Information Design student, currently in her fourth year of studies at Mount Royal University. After spending a year working as a technical content developer for Calgary Counselling Centre, Melani became familiar with the mental health industry and became interested in pursuing a career in this area. In addition to working for clients as a freelance designer, she serves as the volunteer vice president of events for the Information Design Society school club. Melani enjoys spending time with her 3 dogs, travelling various places and learning about arts and architecture, which is why she is pursuing a minor in Art History. As a Communications Consultant, Melani is hoping to spread awareness about eating disorders across all social media platforms, and is passionate about making a genuine impact that is going to change the way people view and talk about eating disorders.

Jennie Mendoza RN

Program Manager/Community Navigator

Jennie Mendoza has been a Registered Nurse for 9 years and 8 of those have involved experience in working with people of all ages with eating disorders. Jennie’s work experience includes the Calgary Eating Disorder Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH) Pediatric Mental Health Unit, ACH Pyschiatry Emergency Services, and ACH Unit 4; she continues to work at each of these sites. Jennie enjoys volunteering and has experience as President of a Young Women’s group, volunteer at Go Girl and other service projects in the community.

Jennie lives with her supportive husband and 2 young boys, and they are expecting a baby girl. Jennie loves to spend time with her family, travel, dance, and play the piano.

Kaci Switzer, MA, BEd, BFA (they/them)

Community Engagement Coordinator

Kaci is a teacher, researcher, and artist. They have worked in both the formal and non-formal education sectors for over nine years. Kaci has a passion for sustainable, inclusive, community-centred education that prioritizes the voices of our most marginalized community members. They have worked in program design and project management for both Beakerhead and TELUS Spark Science Centre. Most recently, they were a grade 8 teacher at a school that allowed them to practice land-based learning. As a recent graduate of the MA in Gender and Social Justice program at McMaster University, Kaci's research focuses on the ways that 2SLGBTQIA+ folks engage in acts of intra- and inter-community care. In 2022, Kaci completed a research fellowship at the Transgender Archives in the University of Victoria. Their research is being presented at the Community-Based Research Centre and TransCare+ conferences in 2023. 

Kaci's love of research design and dedication to relationship building has led them here, where they are fostering lasting relationships between Silver Linings and our Calgary community members and organizations. 

When they aren't teaching or researching, Kaci enjoys taking their cats for walks, hiking in the mountains, and their newest obsession: creating fun flavours of homemade butter. 

Sarah Higgins
RD

Sarah Higgins is a Registered Dietitian in Calgary, Alberta that has worked alongside those struggling with Eating Disorders for the past 13 years. 

Using non-diet, weight-inclusive, trauma-informed nutrition care approaches, Sarah is passionate about supporting people and communities heal their relationship with food and body. Sarah values the involvement of families and other important relationships in eating disorder recovery. 

Shannon Foster
Registered Psychologist

Shannon Foster is a Registered Psychologist who has been working in the field of eating disorders for over 10 years. Shannon holds an undergraduate degree in psychology and fine arts and a master’s degree in counselling psychology. She is a certified Cognitive Behavioural and Accelerated Resolution therapist with extensive training in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. Shannon has extensive experience in individual, family, and group therapy. Her approach utilizes Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioural Informed therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, Psycho education, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and ART therapy. She is passionate about working with individuals who are struggling with eating disorders, and disordered eating as they bravely journey into recovery.