Board of Trustees
Hilary Balaban, Hilary Balaban, Trustee, is the owner and founder of Still Kicking: Active Aging and Mobility. She is a Registered Kinesiologist and went to the University of Guelph for a degree in Biological Sciences Honours in Human Kinetics.
Since schooling Hilary worked in long-term care for six years first as the Registered Kinesiologist running the Program for Active Living, secondly as a Director of Recreation. Working in long-term care helped her to see that there was a gap in the aging process when it came to physical fitness in the community leading to longer wait lists for LTC. It was at this point she became determined to fill that gap and the dream for Still Kicking was born.
Still Kicking is on a mission to help people age independently and empowering independence at any age. As a Kinesiologist and Fitness Instructor Hilary is a certified in the following professional bodies; College of Kinesiologist’s of Ontario (COKO), Personal Training Specialist (Canfit Pro), Yoga Instructor (Yogafit), Zumba Instructor & Strong Nation (Zumba), Urban Poling Instructor, Gentle Exercise Facilitator (CCAA).
In her free time Hilary volunteers with Special Olympics Guelph-Wellington, by coaching basketball. Keeping people moving is her passion, and is so happy to be able to do that in her local community.
Peter Barrow, Trustee is the owner and president of Petrona Associates Ltd, a corporate talent development, training and facilitation company. A long-time resident of Guelph, he is the former Chair of the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington and Hopewell Children’s Homes.
He is currently Chair of PIN - The People and Information Network in addition to his Elliott Community responsibilities. He and his wife Fiona are Elliott neighbours and have two sons and two grandchildren.
Peter was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guelph Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and with an Honorary Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Club of Guelph in 2019.
Joanne Hohenadel, Trustee brings over 20 years experience leading information technology projects across the continuum of healthcare. Her most recent positions have been with the University Health Network (UHN) where she was part of a team to establish the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation and later moved to a leadership position with UHN Digital. Her work focused on the use of technology to enhance patient care as well as improve operational efficiency and decision making. She led projects ranging from implementing back-office enterprise resource planning and supply chain management applications to direct clinical care technologies such as computerized medication management and merging the Electronic Patient Records of UHN’s 4 hospitals to a single UHN record.
Joanne holds a BASc degree from University of Guelph, majoring in Gerontology as well as an Executive Health Leadership certificate from Rotman School of Management. One of her proudest career accomplishments was winning the Project Management Institute Project Excellence Award – North America for the Advanced Clinical Documentation project.
Although Joanne enjoyed her work in Toronto, enough to commute 3-5 hours a day, she recently took an early retirement to be able to spend time with her family and become more involved in her home community of Guelph. She loves the outdoors, especially camping, biking and playing baseball in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. She is an active participant in the Kelly Shires Snow Run for Breast Cancer where every year approximately 100 women travel 100 km by snowmobile to raise funds for men and women who encounter financial hardships while fighting a breast cancer diagnosis.
David Kennedy, Secretary/Treasurer, is semi-retired from a 35 year career working in the broader public sector where he provided leadership and strategic direction to support the delivery of municipal government and public health programs and services. David is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Municipal Finance Administrator, and holds a degree in Business Administration.
David serves on several boards of non-profit organizations and is Past President of the Public Treasurers Association of United States and Canada.
David enjoys the opportunity to give something back to the community by serving on the Board of Trustees of the Elliott Community.
Donna Kentner, Trustee, was born and raised in Guelph. She was a Registered Nurse, Graduate of K-W Hospital School of Nursing (3-year program). She was also a Graduate of Management Courses at Conestoga College and Psychology and Sociology at Waterloo Lutheran University as well as N.U.M. at the University of Toronto.
She worked 36 years full-time at Guelph General Hospital with experience in the Operating Room (20 years), Recovery Room/Pre-Op Teaching. She was a Resource Nurse for busy Day Surgery Unit until her retirement 11 years ago. During her time at GGH she was on the Health & Safety and Risk Management Committees. She cared for her aging parents the past 12 years (her father had Alzheimer's and her mother had Dementia).
She has been married for 47 years to John, and is a mother of 2 children Katie (Kris) and Ryan (Jenn). She is Meme to 5 amazing grandchildren, who all reside in Guelph and says it is “the best job ever”.
She has a great love for The Elliott Community going back over 50 years. She is very concerned for the aging population and hopes to make a difference and give back to her community.
Bill Koornstra, Board Chair, is the Managing Partner at RLB LLP, and is responsible for guiding the growth and development of internal and external tax resources and services for clients of the firm. He has a strong connection with many local law firms and works on a daily basis with a variety of lawyers and other tax team members to further develop the tax practice in the areas of estates and trusts, succession and estate planning, corporate reorganizations, divorce and tax litigation support. The tax group remains a committed resource of the firm and has experienced a significant portion of the firm’s recent growth. The tax group continues to work on several new initiatives aimed at increasing and improving the types of tax services available to our owner-managed business clients.
Bill invests a significant amount of time with several local charity and non-profit organizations. He is currently a member of the professional advisors committee for a local charitable organization and he is actively involved as a board member of one of the largest health care organizations in the community.
Bill is an avid golfer and he enjoys spending free time with his spouse and two children.
Sian Matwey, Trustee, is an enthusiastic supporter and advocate for Guelph Transit. Being a Community Support Worker and having a heart for those in need, Sian is committed to both working and volunteering with the most vulnerable people of Guelph. Her passion for helping the homeless led her to co-creating the “Tie One On” campaign. For many years, hats and scarves were donated by community members and left downtown for those in need. That goal of community awareness is a driving motivator for Sian, who also volunteers with the Royal City Mission to feed Guelph’s homeless.
Sian spent her formative years at the University of Waterloo studying Special Populations and Gerontology. This experience in earning this degree fed her passion for helping others, leading to several roles over the years, including a Librarian, Teaching Assistant, Easter Seal’s Sport’s Director, and Recreation Therapist at Queen Street Mental Health Center in Toronto. After moving to Guelph in 2008, she discovered her love of fundraising and has put this skill to use for various local charities, including Hospice Wellington, Bracelet of Hope, and Royal City Mission.
One of Sian’s proudest moments (after the birth of her three children, of course) came when she won the Niagara College Success Award for creating the charity Murals of Hope. She painted murals that brought life to the hallways and brightened the walls and hearts of sick, abused, and disadvantaged children. Over the five years she ran the charity, she painted 45 murals before a car accident left her physically unable to continue painting. That didn’t stop her, simply shifting her focus to young artists of Guelph, encouraging them to continue the mission, which is evident in the many Murals of Hope projects that can be seen throughout Guelph. Sian is especially fond of the one you see when you enter the Downtown Library.
A new and perhaps unexpected passion of Sian’s is her love for local politics. It was a natural product of her community involvement. That, along with her experience sitting on various boards through her charity work, leads her to join The Elliott Community. Sian has experienced tremendous joy and inspiration through her many conversations with residents of the Elliott while waiting at the bus stop. Through her experience and the life skills she brings, she hopes to be a valuable addition to the Elliott Community Board of Trustees and the valuable work they do.
Dominique O'Rourke, Mayor's Designate
Ravi Sathasivam, Trustee, has always been concerned with the aging population and with it the dilemna of how we are positioned to sustain it. Ravi accumulated analytical and strategic skills during his 20 plus years in the banking industry. During the merger of Canada Trust and TD he managed the USD portfolio from the clearing centre in Mississauga. His passion has now turned to taxes, spending the tax season with H & R Block and upgrading tax knowledge with them during the off season. Ravi has lived in Guelph for 30 years with his wife and son. When he isn't volunteering, Ravi enjoys playing cricket and coaching. He remains fit by working out at the YMCA doing cardio and strength training and participates in yoga classes. Ravi is also a member of the board at Guelph Independent Living and is a volunteer driver for the Family and Children's Services of Guelph.
Kathy Wilkie, BHA (Hons.), MLT, C. Dir.
Kathy is a senior executive with more than two decades of successful leadership experience as the former Registrar & CEO of the College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario (CMLTO). She is currently a Consultant with Meridian Edge Leadership & Governance Consulting, which provides expertise in governance, strategy, organizational development, performance measurement and management operations to senior staff/executives, administrators, and Boards of Directors. Kathy has more than two decades of experience in governance and health profession regulation, and extensive experience in medical laboratory technology and health services management in the public and private healthcare sectors. Kathy is a recognized speaker provincially, nationally, and internationally on the impact of regulatory governance excellence.
Kathy was appointed to the Guelph General Hospital Board of Directors in 2012. She has served as Board Chair, Board Vice-Chair, chaired the Quality, Administration & Facilities, Governance, Nominating and Chief Executive Officer Search Committees, and served on the Audit Committee. She also served as a Director on the Federation of Health Regulatory Colleges of Ontario Board (now the Health Profession Regulators of Ontario), where she held the positions of President & Chair, and Treasurer. Kathy is a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Medical Laboratory Professionals Regulators and served as President of the Alliance for more than ten years. She is currently a faculty member for the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) Executive Leadership Program.
Kathy is a graduate of Ryerson University in Toronto with a Bachelor of Health Administration (Honours) degree and was awarded the Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award. She holds a diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology and is a licensed Medical Laboratory Technologist (MLT) in Ontario. Kathy recently attained the Chartered Director (C. Dir.) designation as a graduate of The Directors College, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University.
In her free time Hilary volunteers with Special Olympics Guelph-Wellington, by coaching basketball. Keeping people moving is her passion, and is so happy to be able to do that in her local community.
Lisa Woolley, Vice-Chair