Our people


The Impact Canada Initiative is led by a Centre of Expertise housed within the Impact and Innovation Unit of the Privy Council Office, which also manages this platform in partnership with Government of Canada departments.

Since its launch in 2017, the Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) has remained focused on working with federal departments, other levels of government, and external partners to support the implementation of inventive programs and services designed to improve social, economic, and environmental outcomes for citizens. In particular, the IIU focuses on improving outcomes for citizens by using a set of innovative approaches designed to achieve greater public value in program and service delivery.

Our leadership team

Rodney Ghali

Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet

Chad Hartnell

Director of Operations

Samantha McDonald

Director of Operations

Valérie Anglehart

Senior Lead, People and Talent

Dr. Lauryn Conway

Senior Lead, Behavioural Science

David Donovan

Senior Lead, Policy and Innovative Finance

Julie Greene

Senior Lead, Capacity and Partnerships

Dr. Michael Haber

Senior Lead, Public Engagement

Jessica Leifer

Senior Lead, Behavioural Science

Executive Support

Saskia Jarvis

Senior Advisor, Operations

Jessica Ly

Executive Assistant

Trevor Nugent

Executive Assistant

Behavioural Science

Daniel Almeida

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Matthew Blackshaw

Behavioural Science Fellow, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Sofia Deleniv

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Dr. Amanda Desnoyers

Behavioural Science Fellow, Employment and Social Development Canada

Dr. Nicholas Diamond

Behavioural Science Fellow

Dr. Maral Yeganeh Doost

Behavioural Science Fellow, Natural Resources Canada

Kaitlyn Fallow

Behavioural Science Fellow, Natural Resources Canada

Caitlyn Gallant

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Tyler Good

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Jacob Graham

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Kathryn Harper

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Dr. Kyle Hubbard

Behavioural Scientist

Arvin Jagayat

Behavioural Science Fellow

Erik Jansen

Behavioural Science Fellow, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada

Christine Kormos

Behavioural Scientist

Karissa Leduc

Behavioural Science Fellow, Communications Community Office

Vivian Li

Behavioural Science Fellow, Natural Resources Canada

Elliot MacDonell

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Harry MacKay

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Angela Mastroianni

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Anthony Murkar

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Jay Olson

Behavioural Science Fellow, Natural Resources Canada

Brian Pereira

Behavioural Science Fellow

Klajdi Puka

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Justin Savoie

Behavioural Science Fellow

Colin Scott

Behavioural Science Fellow, Communications Community Office

Dhawal Selerka

Behavioural Scientist

Annabel Sibalis

Behavioural Science Fellow, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada

Paniz Tavakoli

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Nick Thompson

Research Associate

Kaian Unwalla

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Thomas (Tom) Vargas

Behavioural Science Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Sarah Wall

Behavioural Science Fellow

Michael Weiss

Behavioural Science Fellow, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Alyssa Whalen

Advisor

Challenges

Laura Portal Avelar

Senior Advisor

Nolan D'Souza

Challenge Prize Fellow, Public Health Agency of Canada

Vivian Harbers

Challenge Prize Fellow, Canadian Space Agency

Meghan MacDonald

Challenge Prize Fellow, Canadian Space Agency

Deena Newaz

Challenge Prize Fellow, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Policy

Meghan Corbett

Junior Research and Policy Analyst

Kieran Findlater

Senior Policy Advisor

Annamarie Grant

Research and Policy Analyst

Darren McKee

Senior Policy Advisor

Anke Shi

Junior Research and Policy Analyst

Public Engagement

Laura Portal Avelar

Senior Advisor

Laurie Bennett

Senior Graphic Designer

Elysabeth Breton

Graphic Designer

Tarab Hussain

Junior Research and Policy Analyst

Chris Soueidan

Senior Visual Designer