Our Team

Liv Mendelsohn, MA, MEd, is the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence where she leads innovation, research, policy and program initiatives to support Canada’s caregivers and care providers.

A visionary leader with more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Liv has a been a lifelong caregiver and has lived experience of disability. Her experiences as a member of the ‘sandwich generation’ fuel her passion to build a caregiver movement in Canada to change the way that caregiving is seen, valued, and supported.

Over the course of her career, Liv has founded and helmed several organizations in the disability and caregiving space, including the Wagner Green Centre for Accessibility and Inclusion and the ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival.
Liv serves as the chair of the City of Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee. She has received the City of Toronto Equity Award, and has been recognized by University College, University of Toronto, Empowered Kids Ontario, and the Jewish Community Centres of North America for her leadership.

Liv is a senior fellow at Massey College and a graduate of the Mandel Institute for Non-Profit Leadership and the Civic Action Leadership Foundation Diversity Fellowship program.

James Janeiro is a public policy and advocacy professional with over a decade of experience in politics, policy and government relations. As director of policy and government relations at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, James leads an ambitious national and pan-Canadian advocacy and policy development agenda focused on substantive and practical reform.

He began his career in the Ontario Public Service working on disability legislation. He then transitioned to the political policy space and served two successive Ontario ministers of community and social services as senior policy advisor on social assistance, poverty, disability, and veterans’ issues.

In 2014, James assumed a new role serving Premier Kathleen Wynne as her social policy advisor. In this position, he was responsible for a diverse array of policy areas, including poverty reduction, housing, the Basic Income Pilot, disability issues, autism services and municipal affairs. In 2018, James left government for a senior role in the not-for-profit sector. He was director of community engagement and policy at Community Living Toronto from 2018 to 2022. In this role, James developed and executed advocacy strategies focused on housing, income security, and service improvement.

He holds an honours BA in political science, history, and languages and a master’s in public policy from the University of Toronto. James lives in Toronto with his wife, dog and two cats.

Olivia Olesinski is a professional communicator with over 10 years of experience working for various healthcare organizations including Health Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Through her experience, she has gained a keen understanding of the Canadian healthcare landscape, its strengths and shortfalls, and is passionate about using the power of storytelling to bring meaningful change to recipients of care and their caregivers.

Kayla is a public policy professional with more than ten years’ experience working in the public sector, with a keen interest in social policy. In her role as Manager, Policy and Government Relations, she supports CCCE’s national advocacy and policy development agenda, as well as leading the expanding provincial advocacy initiatives.

Beginning in 2012, Kayla held different positions within Ontario politics. She was a Constituency Case Manager, supporting constituents with urgent support, largely focusing on social services. She transitioned to the Ministry of Research and Innovation to support the Parliamentary Assistant with her legislative and ministerial duties. Kayla then joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, providing executive support to the Minister and case support for all constituencies and stakeholder organizations across Ontario.

Outside of government, Kayla was part of Parkinson Canada’s advocacy team, where she developed a national advocacy campaign and led the Ambassador Program, mobilizing volunteer patient and caregiver advocates with lived experience nationwide to connect with their local members of parliament, and began to expand the provincial advocacy effort.

In 2020, Kayla joined the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University as the Manager of Operations, supporting the institute’s mandate of sharing the business case for diversity, through academic research and knowledge mobilization.

Kayla holds an MA in Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Queens University, a BA in Political Science from Brock University, and studied Public Administration and Human Resources Management.

Grace Smith, PhD, is a data-focused project manager and instructor who has worked in community, health, and arts settings. She has also worked as an independent theatre producer and director, as well as a writer. Grace comes from a family of wonderful caregivers and is passionate about creating better systems for caregivers, care providers, and care recipients.

Grace is an avid animal lover and in her spare time enjoys writing and reading.

Esther Lee is a communications professional with experience in financial technology, media and non-profit sectors. She is passionate about digital storytelling and finding ways to connect to people from all walks of life. She is eager to tell caregiver stories to make an impact through storytelling.

She has an undergraduate degree from the Toronto Metropolitan University’s journalism program, with a double minor in economics and French. In her spare time,
Esther can be found reading, exploring new restaurants, and going to dance classes.

Fabio Robibaro is a sociologist who specializes in the care economy. His research interests are embedded in understanding the scope, scale and impacts of care through quantitative research. His work at the Canadian Center for Caregiving Excellence focuses on creating a clear data narrative for care in Canada.

Fabio joins the team after being part of Statistics Canada’s Care Economy project, where he contributed to the development of various surveys, consulted with key data users, and worked to define how care can be understood in Canada. He is affiliated with schools across the country, including Université de Montréal, McGill University, and the University of Toronto.

Fabio’s passion for better understanding systems of care is tied to his experience as a young caregiver for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s.

Helen is the co-founder of Siblings Canada, part of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. Siblings Canada raises awareness of the critical role siblings play in creating robust and responsive systems of care for people with disabilities.

Helen is a community builder, innovator and, most importantly, carer to her brother Paul. During a lifetime of advocating, Helen has learnt of the power of full and inclusive citizenship for all members of our community. Helen holds an MBA from the University of Guelph.

Christa is the lead for the Working Caregiver initiative at CCCE, and is the immediate past-chair of Caregivers CAN. With over 25 years of experience as a senior healthcare leader, Christa is the founder and managing director of 4C Strategy group, a company dedicated to advancing meaningful change in healthcare by partnering with organizations to ensure lived experience of patients, residents, clients and caregivers are central to decision making.

Christa believes that family caregivers are the glue that keeps our healthcare system together and partners with organizations including the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence to create awareness and co-create strategies and approaches to improve the lives of caregivers.

Christa is a caregiver to her father who has late-stage Alzheimer’s. Through constant service navigation and advocacy, she strives to create a supportive environment that allows him to live and thrive at home. When not at work, Christa loves to walk, travel and is an avid hobby photographer. She currently lives in Guelph with her family.

Christa holds a degree from the University of Ottawa, a from Seneca College and is an Executive Scholar in Non-Profit Management from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.