Capacity Canada's Board Members
Joanna Lohrenz
Board Chair
Bringing together people, ideas and resources is what Joanna has done most of her career, and Capacity Canada’s mission is what attracted her to the board. With over 30 years of experience in financial services,with a focus on client service, transformation and strategy, Joanna enjoys leveraging her skills and experiences from the corporate sector, and applying those to the non-profit sector.
Joanna Lohrenz is currently University Pension Plan Ontario’s Chief Pension Services Officer (CPSO) and leads UPP’s day-to-day execution and oversight of member and employer services and regulatory compliance related to pension administration. Prior to joining UPP in 2021, Joanna held many executive level roles at Manulife including VP Sponsor Experience, Group Benefits; VP, Transformation, Customer Experience; VP, Contact Centers, Canadian Division; and AVP Client Services Group Pensions, John Hancock, among others.
Joanna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. When not working, Joanna also sits on the Grand River Hospital Board and keeps busy with her 2 sons and husband Ray, they reside in Kitchener.
Tim Rollins
Board Member
Tim is the EY Waterloo Region Office Managing Partner and Tax Partner for a number of public and privately held technology and advanced manufacturing and mobility companies located in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation corridor.
Prior to re-joining EY in 2015, Tim held senior tax and finance leadership roles at Sandvine (2014-2015) and BlackBerry (2001-2014), including VP, Tax and VP, CFO Transformation and Governance roles at BlackBerry.
Tim is a CPA, CA who graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1996 with a BA, Honours Chartered Accountancy Studies and Master of Accounting. In addition to serving on the Board of Capacity Canada, Tim is the current Vice-Chair of the St. Mary’s General Hospital Board of Trustees, an active mentor with the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance, and past Board member of the Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region Inc. Tim lives in Woolwich Township with his wife Leanne and two sons.
Jeanette Bancarz
Board Member
Jeanette is the Vice-President Training & Strategy for Synergy Group of Companies at the Villeneuve Airport near Edmonton, Alberta. She is passionate about serving her community, leading great people, building audacious strategies and creating an amazing learning experience.
Jeanette has a lengthy history of serving and leading non-profit Boards on a community, provincial and national level allowing her the opportunity to develop her board governance skills.
Jeanette strongly believes in the impact Capacity Canada programs have on non-profit organizations and is proud of how they Capacity Canada Team builds stronger communities through their work.
Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux
Board Member
Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux served as Vice Provost for Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University for three years. Effective September 2016 she was appointed as the 1st Indigenous Chair for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada for Lakehead University and continues to develop pathways forward to reconciliation across Canada.
Cynthia was the inaugural Nexen Chair for Indigenous Leadership at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and remains a faculty member in the Indigenous Learning program. She is the Chair of the Teach for Canada non-profit which recruits teachers for remote First Nation schools. Cynthia was inducted as a “Honourary Witness” by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2014, and is the Chair of the Governing Circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.
She is a member and resident of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation in Ontario and has dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding. She sees endless merit in bringing people from diverse cultures, ages, and backgrounds together to engage in practical dialogue and applied research initiatives. She is deeply committed to public education and active youth engagement from all cultures and backgrounds. She co-founded a youth project out of the University of Toronto, the University of Saskatchewan, and Lakehead University. More information on the Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) can be found at: www.canadianroots.ca.
Raksha M Bhayana M.A M.B.A.
Board Member
Raksha M. Bhayana is currently CEO of the Bhayana Family Foundation and Principal, Bhayana Management focused on managing investment portfolios. Her career spans both the nonprofit and private sectors in senior managerial and consultative capacities. Most recently she was the Director of Business Development at Inscape Corporation responsible for the Information Systems and active with ISO certification, infrastructure development and selection of enterprise resource systems for the Company. Prior to her move to the business world, she was active in directing a range of not-for profit organizations including Family Service Association of Toronto and Dellcrest Children’s Centre-now part of Hospital for Sick Children. She remains active in research on social sector issues leading to publication of the findings.
Raksha and her husband were recently named among the 2021 Indiaspora Global 100 Philanthropy Leaders List .
Raksha and the Bhayana Family Foundation have led successful advocacy campaigns leading to the creation of a Day/Week of Recognition for the Nonprofit Sector in Nova Scotia and Ontario. Efforts are underway in Alberta to similarly recognize its Nonprofit Sector and its economic and social contributions.
Ms. Bhayana has over 25 years of Board Governance experience with a wide range of health care, nonprofit and private sector organizations. These include: Telus Community Advisory Board (GTA) Central Local Health Integration Network, United Way of Greater Toronto, Canadian Mental Health Association (Toronto Branch), Right to Play, Ontario Early Years Champion Steering Committee, UNICEF Canada, Surrey Place Centre, Family Service Association, and Ontario Association of Professional Social Workers. She is currently on the Board of Rise and the Government Relations Committee of Reena.
Susy Martins
Board Member
Susy is an international Business Executive and Executive Coach, having worked and led teams in over 20 countries across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. As an experienced Chief People Officer and Operations Executive, Susy has experience in both rapidly scaling and rightsizing organizations; coaching at all levels of leadership; and hands-on leadership experience across multiple functional areas (People, Finance, Audit, Operations, & Strategy).
From a business perspective, Susy has spearheaded multiple transformation and automation projects as well as global expansions of teams. She has also developed top-rated onboarding programs; HR operating models and strategies; and managed multi-million dollar budgets and 1,000s of employees for Tech Unicorns (Clearco & ApplyBoard), Global Industrial Businesses (General Electric, 3M), and Global Financial Services (Manulife/John Hancock & Allianz Partners).
In terms of credentials, Susy holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University. She has also attained several coaching designations, including the Harvard Coaching Strategies certificate and a NeuroCoaching ICC designation. Susy is recognized as a Women of Influence.
Susy speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. She is a proud champion of diversity and a passionate community builder.
Michael Lanteigne CPA, CMA
Board Member
Michael Lanteigne is the Vice-President of Finance & Actuarial, Group Benefits at Equitable. He’s been an active member of several boards in the Waterloo Region throughout the last decade and has a track record in investing his time and energy into talent development programs, having led several throughout his career.
Prior to joining Equitable, Michael spent 13 years with Manulife, most recently as the VP of Group Disability and Life, managing operations across Canada. Previously, he held several leadership roles in Group Benefits including pricing, underwriting and data analytics. He is a highly respected leader, with a strong background in Group Insurance and a breadth of experience leading Finance and Actuarial teams.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Guelph, and is a CPA, CMA. Michael and his wife Lydia live in Woolwich Township with their daughter and love spending time outside as a family.
