Board of Directors

Catherine Danbrook

Board Chair

Catherine has over 35 years of health care experience, including more than 25 years in leadership positions in both community and hospital organizations. Her areas of expertise include Geriatrics, Mental Health, Palliative and Hospice Care, Home and Community Care and Rehabilitation. Recently retired after eight years as CEO of Community Care Health Network in Kawartha Lakes, Catherine has held positions of Vice-President Clinical Programs at The Ottawa Hospital; Chief Executive Officer of the Rehabilitation Centre of Ottawa; and Executive Director of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Home Care Program.

Catherine holds a Master of Health Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, both from the University of Ottawa and is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. She has interests in change management, quality improvement, patient safety, and population health initiatives.

Catherine was a surveyor with Accreditation Canada on its National and International teams for 12 years and in the spring of 2019, she was appointed to the Ontario Consent and Capacity Board as a Public Member.

Catherine has also served as Board Vice Chair (2020-2024) and Governance Committee Chair (2020-2024).

Catherine serves as Chair of the Shepherds of Good Hope Board of Directors and serves on the Finance Committee and the Governance Committee.

Chantal Desmarais Barton

Board Vice Chair

Dr. Chantal Desmarais Barton is an experienced and innovative leader with over 25 years of driving advancements in social, educational, scientific, technological, and healthcare sectors.

She started her career as a researcher in the telecommunications industry and subsequently took on a variety of progressively challenging roles in the private, not-for-profit and public sectors. Her current roles include serving as Executive Advisor to the Vice President and Director of Special Initiatives at a government R&D organization, where she oversees large-scale strategic initiatives in digital technologies, involving strategic planning, partnerships and major capital investment planning.

Fluent in both English and French, she holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Ottawa, a Bachelor of Science from Western University, a Project Management Professional (PMP) accreditation, and a graduate diploma in Social Organization Management.

Chantal serves as Vice Chair of the Shepherds of Good Hope Board of Directors and Chair of the Governance Committee.

Darryl Squires

Board Treasurer

Darryl Squires has been active for the last 20 years as the co-owner of a successful medium-sized construction firm and property developer.

Prior to that Darryl spent 11 years in a senior financial role advising public corporations on mergers and acquisition and raising equity and debt capital. He also has experience sitting on the board of directors of public and private corporations, including audit committee service. Darryl has an HBA from the Ivey School of Business (with distinction) at the University of Western Ontario.

Darryl serves as Treasurer of the Shepherds of Good Hope Board of Directors and Chair of Finance Committee.

Ashley Clark

Director

Ashley Clark is a Mohawk entrepreneur, Indigenous relations advisor, and founder of Bougie Birch, an Indigenous-led business creating immersive cultural experiences grounded in Indigenous knowledge, experiential learning, and relationship-building.

With an academic background in International Relations, Ashley brings a systems-aware lens to entrepreneurship, leadership, and community development. Her work explores how businesses, institutions, and communities can build more relational and regenerative systems, with a focus on long-term thinking and creating conditions where economic growth and community wellbeing can exist in relationship.

Ashley is actively involved in Ottawa’s business, tourism, and community sectors and brings experience in entrepreneurship, governance, Indigenous relations, facilitation, and community engagement to her board service.

Ashley serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Finance Committee.

Dave Donaldson

Director

Dave Donaldson is the retired Dean of the School of Business at Algonquin College and serves as a member of the Ottawa Police Services Board and Vice Chair of the Ottawa Safety Council. His previous volunteerism includes Chair of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Canadian Business Schools. Additional community activity has included several positions with non-profits and business associations in Ottawa and Vancouver. He was a founding principal in Stars4SUCCESS, a unique partnership with downtown Vancouver hotels which retrained street youth.

Dave has a lifetime membership with the Ottawa Board of Trade, received the Algonquin College President’s Star award and was the inaugural winner of the Community Booster award from the Best Ottawa Business (BOBs) awards. He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal as well as the Order of the Tulip as a Chamber past chair. He has also received an Algonquin College Student Association award of excellence recognizing outstanding contribution to student life at Algonquin.

Dave serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Finance Committee.

Lori Henderson

Director

Lori is a seasoned Treasury Solutions professional at RBC, where she leverages over 20 years of experience in commercial banking, corporate finance, and treasury management to deliver tailored Treasury Management Solutions for top-tier Global companies with operations in Canada. Her holistic approach combines deep technical expertise to design innovative, client-centric strategies.

Prior to RBC, Lori held key roles at major Canadian financial institutions and a Crown Corporation, building a robust foundation in financial services. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Marketing from Saint Mary’s University, Certified Treasury Professional (CT) designation from the Association for Financial Professionals, blending analytical rigor with strategic relationship-building.

Beyond her corporate career, Lori serves as Chair of the Board for the Ottawa Safety Council, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting safety and injury prevention in the community. This role reflects her commitment to leadership, advocacy, and fostering positive societal impact. Passionate about driving client success and community resilience, Lori balances her professional achievements with personal pursuits in sports, gardening, and volunteerism. Her board tenure underscores her ability to govern effectively, bridge diverse stakeholders, and advance organizational missions with integrity and vision.

Lori serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Finance Committee.

John James

Director

Growing up in Toronto’s Scarborough neighbourhood, John developed an interest in people and helping the community at a young age. John obtained a B.A. in Political Science from York University and then embarked on a three-month backpacking tour across Europe. This trip inspired a lifelong love of travel and connecting with people.

In 1995, John joined the RCMP. Over his career as a Mountie, he was posted in British Columbia, Nunavut, Nova Scotia and recently retired at HQ Ottawa. John has varied police experience including general duty, serious crime, crisis negotiation, human trafficking, crime prevention, tactical team and First Nations policing. John’s work for the RCMP has taken him to every province and territory with the exception of the Yukon.

John brings to the Shepherds of Good Hope Board an extensive background in volunteer work. He has held a variety of roles across the country in both frontline volunteering duties and several non-profit boards of directors. Some of the organizations John has served with include the Scarborough Distress Centre, Big Brothers, Pathways to Education, youth softball organizations and several adult literacy organizations in BC, Ontario and Nova Scotia. More recently, John served as the President of the Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre Board and as President of the Canadian Mental Health Association Board, Ottawa Branch. John has served on the National Board of Pathways to Education Canada and served on the Board of Operation Come Home. He currently serves on the Board of Hospice Care Ottawa and on the Board of Governors of Algonquin College.

John’s passion is travel, and he has currently backpacked to approximately 75 countries. When he’s not on the road, John enjoys a quiet existence with his wife and son and their dog, Barley, in his adopted home of Ottawa.

Christian Kratchanov

Director

Christian has acquired 40 years of experience in management, management consulting, finance, governance, audit and program evaluation in numerous private and public sector organizations. Examples of Christian’s rich experience include: seven years as Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive for the Department of Finance of the Canadian government; five years with KPMG Consulting Ottawa; six years as a Board Member and Treasurer for the Multifaith Housing Initiative (a federally incorporated charitable organization established in 2002); and five years as Chair of the Finance Council of the Saint Isidore Parish in Ottawa.

Christian holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Ottawa. In addition, he has obtained the following professional designations: Certified Management Consultant, Certified in Risk Management Assurance, and Certified Internal Auditor. Christian’s motto is: Life is a mystery, life is unfair, and God is fair.

Christian serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Finance Committee.

Madison McCulloch

Director

Madison is the Manager of a Housing First program with Options Housing. Madison has been working in the housing and homelessness service sector for over 6 years, with both front-line and program/project management experience.

Having completed a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in social work, Madison had her first field placement at the Shepherds of Good Hope in 2015 where she developed an early interest in working with individuals experiencing homelessness.

Passionate about systemic solutions to homelessness in her community, Madison has led the kick-off of several projects in Ottawa aimed at ending and preventing homelessness, including a rapid rehousing pilot.

Madison serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Governance Committee.

John Peters

Honorary Officer Emeritus

John has been on the Board of Directors of Shepherds of Good Hope since 1993. He has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board as well as Chair of the Human Resources Committee (HRC), which he continues to contribute to as a member. John is also a Past Chair and a Director on the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation Board.

John is a partner at Gowling WLG practising in the Advocacy Department and in particular, the Employment, Labour and Equalities Group. Prior to joining Gowling WLG, John was Principal Litigation Counsel at Export Development Canada (EDC) where he led the Litigation Management team, which delivers advice on all liability-related issues. With over 29 years of experience as a lawyer, John has extensive legal knowledge and experience in the areas of insurance and employment law as well as general litigation matters. John has received both the Gordon F. Henderson Award from the County of Carleton Law Association (2007) and the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from the Governor General of Canada (August 2017) in recognition of his work with Shepherds.

John will continue to serve as a member of the Governance Committee and is an Honorary Officer Emeritus of Shepherds of Good Hope.

Richard Pommainville

Director

Richard Pommainville is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. Previously, Richard was Executive Director for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for the National Council of Canada. Richard also worked for over 30 years in the Telecommunication equipment provider sector working for Nortel Networks and Ciena.

Richard is fluent in both English and French, and holds an M.A. in Economics from Carleton University, and a B. Math Honors Statistics/Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.

Richard is a director on the Board of the National Association for Charitable Textile Recycling (NACTR); he is also on the Board of the Ontario Basic Income Network (OBIN) holding the position of Treasurer. Richard was on the Board of directors of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada (CCODP), holding the position of treasurer, and chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.

Richard has been a mentor with the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) since 2007. He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal. Richard is a strong believer that by providing opportunities, we can provide alternatives to certain social and economic disadvantage situations.

Richard serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Finance Committee.

Desiree Rapoch

Director

Desiree Rapoch is the Director of Development at the Caring and Sharing Exchange, where she leads fundraising, donor engagement, corporate partnerships, and community initiatives that support low-income individuals and families across Ottawa.

Desiree has dedicated the majority of her more than 30-year career in the non-profit sector to housing, homelessness, harm reduction, and community-based services. She has worked alongside individuals, youth, and families experiencing poverty, housing instability, trauma, mental health challenges, and other systemic barriers.

Most recently, Desiree served as Director of Housing and Community Services at Options Housing. She led supportive housing sites and outreach programs, managing teams that delivered wraparound supports for individuals transitioning out of chronic homelessness. Her responsibilities included oversight of crisis intervention, case management, eviction prevention, housing retention, program budgets, staff leadership, and service-delivery outcomes. She also led building partnerships with Ottawa Community Housing, local health agencies, and other community providers to improve access to coordinated supports and help residents build stability, belonging, and connection in their communities.

Desiree’s career also includes leadership roles with Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, the Youth Services Bureau Foundation, United Way Eastern Ontario, and Somerset West Community Health Centre. Across these roles, she has developed innovative, community-centred programs and partnerships that strengthen housing retention, foster inclusion, and improve outcomes for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Desiree brings a trauma-informed, harm-reduction, and equity-driven approach to her work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University and is a graduate of the Non-Profit Management program at George Brown College.

Desiree is honoured to join the Board of Shepherds of Good Hope and contribute to its vital work supporting people experiencing homelessness and other complex challenges in Ottawa.

Desiree serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Governance Committee.

Lisa Roots

Director

Lisa started her career in community justice working with the John Howard Society (JHS) of Ottawa. Her work involved supporting individuals who are marginalized, vulnerable and most often lacking strong community and family supports.

Lisa is currently a professor at Algonquin College in the Police and Public Safety Institute. She has been recognized by the Students’ Association for her college community engagement, with the Chris Warburton Award of Excellence; by the College for her teamwork, with an Employee Team Award; and by the Students’ Association for excellence in teaching. Lisa is currently teaching in the Police Foundations program.

In addition to her work at Algonquin, Lisa volunteers with Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA). CoSA is a reintegration program inspired by restorative justice principles. The program aims to reduce victimization by assisting people who have committed sexual offences to lead responsible, constructive, and accountable lives in the community. Lisa’s work at CoSA involves working with both individuals who are living in the community and individuals who are incarcerated.

Lisa also works part time with Family Services Ottawa in their Supervised Access program. This program provides a safe, neutral, and child-focused setting for children to visit with their parent or relative. All visits and exchanges take place under the supervision of trained staff.

Lisa serves on the Shepherds of Good Hope Governance Committee.