Board of Directors

Suzanne Stoltz –  Chair

Suzanne is an experienced advocate with an extensive background in human rights litigation and policy, advocating for the rights of women and girls, and family and constitutional law. Prior to emigrating to Canada, Suzanne worked at the Center for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, and several major law firms in New York City. She is currently working as a collaborative family lawyer with Marian Gage Professional Corporation in Oakville. Suzanne has previously served on the steering committee with the Women of Halton Action Movement (WHAM), on the board of Community Development Halton, as an advocacy volunteer with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, and as an education committee member with LEAF. She has a B.A. from Wellesley College and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before joining the SAVIS Board, she was a member and chair of the planning committee for the Dinner Party: IWD fundraising event, which benefits SAVIS and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. She is grateful to be able to continue her work advocating for the survivors of violence by being a member of SAVIS’s Board of Directors.

Ruth Chun – Past Chair

Ruth  is a proven executive with global experience in corporate law. Previously a partner of Africa’s largest law firm, Ruth has also worked with major legal firms in Canada, and the United Kingdom. She has held executive and board positions in the financial services sector. She is admitted to legal practice in Ontario, New York, and Namibia, and is in-house counsel at Newstrike / Up Cannabis, a licensed producer of cannabis partnered with The Tragically Hip.  Ruth lives on a chicken and garlic farm and has two boys.

Gillian Wassmansdorf – Secretary

Gillian is a staunch advocate for equity in public education and socially-responsible public policy. She graduated from York University’s Glendon Campus in 2015 and from Brock University’s Master of Education program in 2020. She is a classroom teacher in the Halton District School Board and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy, Administration, and Law at York University. In her free time, Gillian is a film photographer and an adoring cat mum. Working with SAVIS bridges Gillian’s passions for policy and education, and she appreciates the opportunity to continue on a journey as a co-conspirator in pursuit of justice with survivors of violence.

Michelle Ghai -Treasurer

Michelle is a seasoned executive with increasingly senior roles across the financial services sector. She leads digital service transformation for Canadian Business Banking as Business Owner and AVP, Business Banking, which is one of the CEO’s Top 10 initiatives at TD. Prior to that, she was AVP Reporting and Insights Canadian Personal Banking and Executive Head of WIL for Canadian Personal Banking at TD. Prior to joining TD, Michelle spent 14 years at RBC in various leadership roles.    Michelle is a Certified Management Accountant, a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Masters in Business Administration. Michelle’s expertise spans across Accounting, Audit, Strategy, Data, Analytics, Digital and Scaled Agile Delivery. Michelle is proud of her commitment to diversity, inclusion and women’s issues and has just joined the Board of Directors SAVIS, as Treasurer.

Alexa  Barkley -Member

Alexa is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Professional Accountant who began her career with KPMG’s Manufacturing, Retail and Distribution group.  After having her children, Alexa began a sole proprietorship, serving small business clients and preparing personal tax returns.  The success of her firm allowed her to expand, welcoming her partner and creating a professional corporation which continued to serve the needs of her taxation clients while expanding into regulatory consulting.

Alexa has been involved as a board member for several not-for-profits, constantly seeking to improve the status of those who have been traditionally marginalized.  In recent years, Alexa has focused her energy on helping those who have suffered Gender Based violence, including members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and Survivors of sexual violence.  She works hard to create safe spaces for all within religious and educational contexts and has successfully advocated for the creation of Consent Culture within the Peel District School Board.  Alexa has also been involved in supporting survivors through the Canadian Court system, using the media and her links to the Liberal party to push for an improvement in Survivor experiences.

Alexa is excited for the opportunity to support the wonderful work being done by SAVIS.

Sherry Miller -Member

Sherry is an experienced advocate with an extensive background working in child welfare. Over the past several years focusing on raising awareness about human trafficking within Indigenous communities, providing education on prevention strategies, and offering support and resources to individuals at risk or affected by human trafficking. Currently sherry fulfils the role of Coordinator of Sexual Violence and Student Conduct Education & Support at OCAD University. In this role Sherry provides needed resources and assistance following experiences of sexual violence and gender-based violence, as well as providing consultation services to faculty and staff after disclosures of sexual violence. Sherry passionate about advocacy work and continues to seek out opportunities to support victims and survivors.

Katie German -Member

Katie is a non-profit leader and community organizer. Having grown up in Halton, the first rally she went to as a teen was a Take Back the Night run by SAVIS over twenty years ago. She has spent 15+ years working in the non-profit sector in Toronto including senior leadership positions working on food justice, health equity, affordable housing, and gender-based violence. She has successfully fundraised millions of dollars for community programs and advocacy work and has led strategic planning processes for complex organizations. She has practical experience building more equitable and justice-oriented work places and her writing on workplace culture & non-profit sector change has been featured in the Toronto Star and Canadian Business. Her community organizing work has focused on building alternatives to policing and increasing affordable housing. In 2022, she moved back to Oakville to be closer to family and is excited to be more engaged in equity-focused community building work happening in Halton.

Anna Morgan -Member

Anna is an experienced advocate in the Gender-Based Violence sector with extensive experience both in front-line and managerial roles providing services to trans and cis women, Two-spirit and non-binary individuals, trans men and other gender diverse people and their children experiencing violence. Anna is currently the Manager, Programs and Client Services at Ernestine’s Shelter.  As a leader in the gender-based violence sector, Anna has been passionate about ensuring equitable access to services for all survivors of violence and a commitment to ensuring that harm reduction, anti-racism and anti-oppression is integral to the work. Anna has been instrumental in furthering the work of the Pathways to Safety Project – focused on implementing recommendations on increasing access of 2SLGBTQ+ survivors to gender-based violence services and leading a needs assessment project to better understand the unmet needs of women and gender diverse communities who use substances and access gender-based violence shelters . Anna has served on several committees working on systems level advocacy work.   Anna is excited to bring her experience to SAVIS in their continued excellence in providing non-judgmental support to women, men, two-spirit, genderqueer, gender-fluid, Trans and non-binary survivors of violence.

To contact The Board of Directors:   boardofdirectors@savisofhalton.org