In 2003, Ilana Landsberg-Lewis joined with her father, Stephen Lewis, to create a Foundation to work hand-in-hand with Africans struggling against the AIDS epidemic. Together, working at her kitchen table, she and Stephen forged a unique, anti-colonial vision of working as supportive partners with African activists, understanding that it was the frontline advocates who must lead the way. Unlike many other charities of the time, Ilana and Stephen had deep ties with grassroots organizations in Africa and knew how to build respectful relationships that led to innovative programs on the ground. This community-led work was so effective that Ilana, as Executive Director from 2003 to 2018, together with colleagues, soon built the Foundation into a $10 million a year fund.

Among her innovations was the Grandmothers Campaign, which enlisted a vibrant worldwide network of activist older women, primarily from Canada, working directly to support African grandmothers. The Foundation also led in refraining from bureaucratic harassment of grantees, instead creating a humane Impact Assessment Framework done in consultation with partners.

Ilana is a labour and human rights lawyer who, prior to co-founding the SLF, worked for eight years at the United Nations Development Fund for Women, where she first understood the urgency of bringing frontline activists into decision-making positions. She was instrumental in launching the UN’s Trust Fund on Violence Against Women. She is a YWCA Woman of Distinction (2009) and one of the Top Women of Influence in Canada (2012). She served as Senior Advisor to the SLF Board of Directors from 2019 to 2020.

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, with appointments in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She is also the founder and director of the Black Health Equity Lab (The BHEL), which conducts community-based health research and works with Black communities to develop advocacy tools, strategies, and programs to improve health outcomes, well-being and success in Canadian systems. Her early health-leadership career established several organizations, which serve Black communities in Canada, such as Africans in Partnership Against AIDS. She developed and served for two decades as Executive Director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre in Toronto — the only community health centre in North America specializing in primary health care for Black and racialized women.

David Morley is President and CEO of UNICEF Canada. A prolific international speaker, commentator, human rights advocate and mobilizer, David has more than thirty years of experience advancing children’s rights and sustainable development. David has dedicated his career to improving the lives of children and communities in Canada and around the world.

David has also served as Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders Canada, as President and CEO of Save the Children Canada and was founding Executive Director of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. A recognized leader in the field, David has taught at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and sits on the Advisory Council of the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University. He is also an award-winning author of two best-selling books, including Healing Our World: Inside Doctors without Borders.

In recognition of his dedication to global sustainable development, David has been appointed to the Order of Canada. As Canada’s highest civilian honour, the Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation. David has been invested into the Order “for his leadership in international development and for his humanitarian commitment to improving the lives of children and families around the world.”

Dr. Mandeep Dhaliwal is the Director of UNDP’s HIV and Health Group, Bureau of Policy and Programme Support. Ms. Dhaliwal brings to the organization over 25 years of experience working on HIV, health, human rights and evidence-based policy and programming in low and middle-income countries. Dr. Dhaliwal joined UNDP in 2008 and was the architect of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Prior to joining UNDP, she was a senior adviser to the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute’s Special Programme on HIV/AIDS. From 2000 to 2006, Dr. Dhaliwal worked for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance’s Policy, Research and Good Practice Team in the United Kingdom where she focused on issues of HIV care and treatment in developing countries. She was instrumental in expanding the International HIV/AIDS Alliance’s technical and policy work on issues of HIV care, treatment and support in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. While at the Alliance, she led the development of an operations research initiative in Zambia on community engagement for anti-retroviral treatment. From 1993 to 2000, she worked on HIV and human rights in India, including as the founding Coordinator of the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, a leading human rights organization, establishing the Unit’s legal aid, public interest litigation, legal literacy and policy/advocacy work.

Sarah is a certified public accountant with over eight years of experience working in a variety of accounting, finance, and risk management roles in Toronto and Washington. Sarah’s experience includes public accounting focusing on international, not-for-profit organizations with large government grants as well as auditing, reporting, and controls advisory support within a large, international corporation. She currently works in operational risk management at Manulife and is actively involved in DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) efforts by serving as the Women@Manulife co-chair (an employee resource group with 1,400 members). Sarah has actively been involved with and advocated for a number of organizations to give back to the community.

Srinivas Murthy is a physician at BC Children’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia. He has long been active with advocacy for global health justice with a number of international organizations and civil society groups.