Our Challenge Team

Julie Greene

Senior Lead, Impact Canada Challenges

Julie Greene is Senior Lead, Impact Canada Challenges. In this role, she is responsible for the Impact Canada challenge program, including developing and iterating on outcomes-based methodology, planning and delivering challenges with federal partners, and measuring the economic, environmental and societal impacts of our Challenges.

Before joining the Privy Council Office, Julie was a key designer of an innovative chronic disease program, which was an early adopter in using matched funding with the private sector and pay-for-results methods. She co-led a program of research to explore these types of partnerships, and has jointly published several papers in this field. Julie also formerly held roles advancing tobacco control, mental health promotion and intervention research.

She was educated at the University of Ottawa, holds a Master's Degree in Education (Counselling), a Bachelor of Social Science, and spent early years in her career working in clinical and community settings.

David Donovan

Senior Lead, Research Integration & Strategic Initiatives

David is Senior Lead, Research Integration and Strategic Initiatives. This entails working across and within Impact Canada’s research and challenge activities to identify meaningful and cross-cutting insights on emerging issues to inform policy.

Before joining the Privy Council Office, David was responsible for advancing private sector partnership and international development finance efforts at Global Affairs Canada. David is the former research director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University.

David graduated with a BA (Honours with Distinction) in Political Studies and Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Queen’s. He was also a Sauvé Fellow of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation.

Dr. Michael Haber

Senior Lead, Platform, Engagement, & Knowledge Translation

Dr. Michael Haber is Senior Lead for Platform, Engagement, & Knowledge Translation at the Impact and Innovation Unit. In this role, he is responsible for collaborating with federal departments and external partners to advance Impact Canada Challenge Prizes and Initiatives, and for supporting the IIU’s digital delivery model.

Before joining the Privy Council Office, Michael spent 10 years with Health Canada as a Human Therapeutic Product Assessment Officer, a project manager, and most recently, as the department’s Government of Canada Entrepreneur to the Deputy Minister Task Force on Public Sector Innovation.

Michael was educated at McGill University and holds a Doctorate and Master of Science in Neuroscience, a Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology, and a Bachelor of Science in Physiology.

Nolan D'Souza

Challenge Prize Fellow, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Nolan is currently working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to support the design and implementation of Challenges related to marine spatial planning. In partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, Nolan has also designed and launched the Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Challenge.

Nolan has an extensive career in healthcare ranging from providing frontline care as a genetic counsellor, to consulting on system transformation, policy, and change leadership across Canada. He is a Certified Health Executive and Certified Canadian Genetic Counsellor. He has a Master’s in Health Administration and a Master’s in Medical Genetics from the University of Toronto.

Nolan is excited to create the space to surface solutions that lead to lasting changes for persisting problems.

Vivian Harbers

Challenge Prize Fellow, Canadian Space Agency

Vivian Harbers is an Impact Canada Challenge Prize Fellow currently working at the Canadian Space Agency. Vivian is responsible for the development and delivery of challenges that support human health during deep space exploration and may support remote communities on earth. Prior to her current role, Vivian was a Challenge Prize Fellow at Natural Resources Canada, where she was responsible for overseeing the Oil Spill Response Challenge. Before joining the Privy Council Office, Vivian was as a Project Manager at the University of Guelph, where she worked on academic research projects addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vivian has work experience in the domains of: vaccine perspectives and trust, the psychology of close relationships, and mathematical and computational thinking in early childhood education.

Vivian holds a Master’s degree in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Guelph and an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and North American Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Meghan MacDonald

Challenge Prize Fellow, Canadian Space Agency

Meghan is a Challenge Prize fellow working with the Canadian Space Agency leading multiple challanges that support human space exporation and spatial S&T.

Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, Meghan was a National Consultant with Veterans Affairs Canada supporting the implementation of a more balanced service delivery model for Case Management Services for Veterans. This included rolling out a national method for determining client complexity, developing new tailored service standards and other tools and processes that support improved outcomes for Veterans across Canada.

Meghan holds a Masters in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Bachelor of Social Work from Dalhousie University, a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Economics from Mount Allison University and is a Registered Social Worker and part-time clinical therapist.

Meghan is passionate about finding innovative, meaningful ways to navigate and tackle complex problems.

Deena Newaz

Challenge Prize Fellow, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Deena Newaz is a Challenge Prize Fellow with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada tasked with designing and implementing the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge.

Deena brings over seven years of experience working in education policy, research, and impact evaluation across three continents. Prior to joining Impact Canada, Deena worked as an Impact Partnerships Manager at ImpactEd, a non-profit based in London, UK. She managed a team, and led mixed method impact evaluations for schools, charities, and the Department for Education to promote evidence-based decision making. She also brings program design and policy experience from her role at the World Innovation Summit for Education where she managed several youth fellowships programs and curated global policy events to advocate for equitable education interventions.

Deena holds an MPhil in Education and International Development from the University of Cambridge and a B.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She is passionate about leading a life committed to social justice and community-led change.

Kiran Toor

Policy Advisor, Impact Measurement

Kiran is a Policy Advisor at Impact Canada and is responsible for the impact measurement of outcome-based funding programs, including Impact Canada’s Challenge program, to promote evidence-based decision-making.

Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, Kiran was an Economist at Statistics Canada conducting quantitative analyses and research on business performance, agricultural supply chains and housing affordability.

Kiran holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Economics from Dalhousie University.

Dr. Ademir-Paolo Vrolijk

Senior Policy Advisor

Ademir is a Senior Policy Advisor at Impact Canada. He is responsible for measuring, analyzing, and reporting on the immediate and long-term impacts of the Challenge portfolio. He also supports the design of new Challenges and mentors Impact Canada's Fellows on the challenge process.

Ademir draws on his academic work for this role. His research studied the use of innovation challenges in complex, technical contexts and open innovation approaches in government agencies. This experience allows Ademir to translate academic findings into practice and communicate Impact Canada's insights to open innovation scholars and practitioners.

Before joining the Privy Council Office, Ademir was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Ready Lab at the University of Toronto. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH) at Harvard University--a centre of excellence for open innovation. Ademir holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University.

Jon Yazer

Challenge Prize Fellow, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Jon is an Impact Canada Challenges Fellow who will be supporting the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in developing a MarineSpatial Planning Challenge Prize.

Prior to becoming a Challenge Prize Fellow, Jon led and assisted multiple concurrent negotiations to advance reconciliation with Indigenous groups for the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Before joining federal government, he pursued public interest work in municipal government and in the non-governmental sector. He brings over eight years of experience and applied skills in strategic research, analysis and communications to his role at Impact Canada.

Jon has a Master’s degree in Global Governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Western University.