Our Challenge Team

Julie Greene

Senior Lead, Capacity and Partnerships

Julie is responsible for developing partnerships and building capacity for the Federal government to use outcomes-based funding approaches, including Challenge Prizes and pay-for-success projects. Her team’s current portfolio of projects span social determinants of health, environment and inclusion.

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. Previously, Julie worked to advance tobacco control and mental health initiatives, and has always been passionate about understanding how to motivate and measure behaviour change.

Julie 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. Raised in the federal Health Portfolio, with feet firmly planted in policy, program and research positions, she is looking to further contribute to the systemization of public sector innovation.

David Donovan

Senior Lead, Policy and Innovative Finance

David is Senior Lead, Policy and Innovative Finance at the Impact and Innovation Unit. Before joining the Privy Council Office, David was responsible for advancing private sector partnership and international development finance efforts at Global Affairs Canada. He has held roles in public, private, and academic sectors. David is the former research director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University. He has published a number of articles relating to the international promotion of democracy, and on democratic and Parliamentary reform in Canada. He has also presented his views on democratic governance before a number of Parliamentary Committees and international conferences. David graduated with a BA (Honours with Distinction) in Political Studies and Master's in Public Administration from Queen's. He is also a Sauvé Fellow of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation based in Montréal.

Andrea Colasanti

Junior Research and Policy Analyst

Andrea is a Junior Research and Policy Analyst on the Policy and Innovative Finance team at the Impact and Innovation Unit. In this role, she is responsible for providing policy support for various IIU initiatives.

Prior to joining the IIU, she worked with the Legislation and House Planning Secretariat at the Privy Council Office.

Andrea holds a Master's of Public Administration from the Queen’s University School of Policy Studies. She also completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies at Queen’s.

Clélia Cothier

Challenge Prize Fellow, Canadian Space Agency

Currently, she works with the Space Exploration Strategic Planning team at the Canadian Space Agency and oversees the development and implementation of the Deep Space Food Challenge. Prior to joining the government, Clélia worked with Desjardins’ innovation lab to apply social innovation concepts to the business world and the financial industry, and developed open innovation projects like Coopérathon. Her goal is to act as a tri-sector athlete, by connecting and working with the private, public and social sectors on important societal issues. Clélia is also a board member of two Montreal-based organizations, Esplanade and Institut du Nouveau Monde. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences and International Development Studies from McGill University.

Nola D'Souza

Challenge Prize Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Nolan is designing and implementing a Challenge for the prevention of chronic illness. Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, he worked with community agencies, hospitals, and government to support health and social service delivery strategy for marginalized communities in Ontario’s COVID-19 hotpots.

As a certified genetic counsellor, he worked in provincial government on clinical genetics testing strategies, provided frontline care for inherited conditions, and continues to work on genetics policy and best practices in Canada. He is a board member for two Ontario health organizations, WellFort Community Health Services and the Canadian College of Health Leaders – Greater Toronto Area.

Nolan is a Certified Health Executive and has a Master’s in Health Administration and a Master’s in Genetic Counselling from the University of Toronto. Nolan is excited to facilitate the creation of solutions that improve the wellbeing for as many people as possible, hoping that this work will inspire and stimulate further innovation.

Annamarie Grant

Junior Research and Policy Analyst

Annamarie is a Junior Research and Policy Analyst on the Policy and Innovative Finance team at the Impact and Innovation Unit. In this role, she is responsible for providing analysis and support on IIU initiatives crossing the policy and behavioural science functions. Prior to joining the Government of Canada, she worked in the non-profit sector in services for children and youth with special needs. Annamarie holds Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and Public Administration from York University and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at the University of Victoria.

Vivian Harbers

Challenge Prize Fellow, Natural Resources Canada

In her role as Challenge Prize Fellow, Vivian is working with Natural Resources Canada to oversee the design and implementation of a Challenge Prize to address oil spills in Canada.

Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, Vivian was Project Manager of a COVID-19 research project, investigating social dimensions of the pandemic, vaccine perspectives, and trust amongst Canadians.

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

Mohamed Yassine

Senior Advisor, Capacity and Partnerships

Mohamed provides technical assistance and advice to federal departments in the use of outcomes-based funding approaches, including Challenge Prizes and pay-for-success projects. He works across different sectors and contributes to the impact measurement and evaluation of outcomes-based funding programs.

Before joining the Privy Council Office, Mohamed was an Education Specialist at the World Bank, where he led the design and implementation of large-scale education programs. He managed large portfolios covering more than $500 million in financing for education reform in the Middle East and Africa regions. He co-led several research programs, including impact evaluations; and worked on introducing innovative financing methods, including outcomes-based financing, public-private partnerships, and pay-for-success instruments. Mohamed has worked in over ten countries across North America, the Middle-East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

He holds a Master’s degree in Learning, Design, and Technology from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the American University of Beirut.