Advisory Committee

Nothing About Us, Without Us

Get Involved

We are looking for volunteer committee members to help inform and promote our employer pledge for organizations to take the next step in creating psychologically safe workspaces.

Informed by the guiding principal of Nothing About Us With Us we are looking for volunteers with lived mental health experience and/or workplace leaders with experience implementing best practices for inclusive workspaces.

The voices, perspectives, ideas, and suggestions of those with lived experience will serve as the foundation for the Pledge.

  • The YES WorkAbility Project is a national initiative, helping employers create inclusive and accessible workplaces for persons with mental health disabilities by offering a range of activities, including coaching, training, and human resources support.

    By building employers’ awareness through education, and promoting the benefits of hiring, retaining, and raising the profile of persons with mental health disabilities, WorkAbility aims to help workplaces thrive in creating mentally healthy environments for all employees. The WorkAbility project will focus on 3 provinces, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta, but aim to support Canada-wide employers.

    Nothing About Us Without Us – The mental health employer pledge will be informed by those who will be most impacted – individuals with lived experience and employers. Their voice, perspectives, ideas, and suggestions will serve as the foundation for the Pledge.

  • The Advisory Committee will assist in the development and promotion of a mental health employer pledge, engaging employers, and gaining 60 employer signatures. The goal of the pledge is for employers to commit to creating mentally healthy workplaces, incorporating inclusive practices into their hiring, onboarding, and promoting policies and into the overall workplace culture. Further, employers who sign the pledge will actively hire and promote employees who disclose mental health disabilities. The Pledge will be adaptable and consider the size and industry of the enterprise.

  • The advisory committee will consist of:

    5 employers that embed inclusive mental health practices and policies

    5 individuals who have lived experience and or knowledge of mental health concerns

    Additional members are welcome, which can include but are not limited to, academic advisors working in the inclusion or employment space, members of institutions working in the mental health space, and more

    Remuneration will not be provided, as this is a volunteer position

  • To develop a mental health employer pledge that includes simple suggestions for employers to adopt into their policies, practices, and workplace culture, creating mentally safe workplaces.

    To encourage 60 employers to sign the pledge and implement new workplace strategies resulting in mentally safe workplaces across Canada.

    To encourage companies to actively hire and promote individuals who disclose mental health disabilities.

    To educate employers on what mental health in the workplace looks like.

  • Committee members who volunteer to be part of the advisory committee will agree to the following responsibilities:

    Be available to participate in committee meetings, which will be scheduled considering time zones

    Provide insight into your experience as an employee with lived mental health within the context of the workplace

    Provide insight into your experience as an employer (what are challenges, barriers, whatcan be changed/adapted) in the context of supporting employees with mental health

    Actively develop the pledge and variations based on insights from employers and individuals

    Provide recommendations for what should be included in the mental health employerpledgeProvide connections to employers who will sign the pledge

    Develop processes on how to source and engage employers to present the pledge to

    Committee members are welcome to attend WorkAbility events (not required)

  • The Committee will schedule 4 –5 meetings per project year (April 1 – March 31), with fewer or additional meetings determined in consultation with the committee.
    Commit to 3 years being on the committee - (2023-2026)

  • Meeting Agendas, terms of reference, and meeting minutes will be compiled and stored by the WorkAbility team members and sent to all committee members prior to and after meetings

    Committee members will agree to their name shared publicly on the YES WorkAbilitywebsite

You can apply with an email to the program senior manager, Shari Raghoo at Shari_Raghoo@yes.on.ca

Please provide a Letter Of Interest sharing why you feel you would be a great addition to the team.

Interested in Taking Part?

Unable to commit to the committee but still looking to involved?
Check out our ‘Events’ page for job fair and forum events to be part of.

We look forward to hearing from you and partnering with you to advance this work!

Thank You to our Committee!

Thank You to our Committee!

  • Dr Meghan Crouch

    Dr Crouch (she/her) is a research associate at the Institute for Work and Health. A qualitative health researcher by training, she is broadly interested in employment and working conditions as social determinants of health.
    She is excited to be a part of YES’ WorkAbility initiative to create more inclusive and accessible workplaces for persons with mental health disabilities.

  • Mohammad Al Akel

    Moe (he/him) is a prominent advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. He has received recognition for his work, including the 30 under 30 award by The Canadian Arab Institute and The Pride Award by The City of Toronto.
    Currently serving as the director at Fife House for the AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario (ABRPO)

  • Leena Chudasama

    Leena Chudasama (she/her) is a trauma-responsive practitioner, educator and experienced facilitator. Her work focuses on cultivating safe and inclusive environments for children and youth with disabilities by meeting them where they are at, designing quality programs and promoting social and emotional wellbeing. She embraces and engages in collaboration of collective community care, love and advocacy.

  • Mr. W. Francis Fung

    Mr. W. Francis Fung (he/him) is a Senior Manager at March of Dimes Canada, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities. His national portfolio focuses on Rehabilitation, Employment, and Clinical Services. He is also currently a Co-Lead for Engagement at the Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA), an applied research project that strives to build employer capacity to develop inclusive and accessible workplaces for people with disabilities. Francis has operated in the non-profit sector for approximately 20 years and has oversight of various rehabilitation and pre-employment programs.

  • Victoria Maxwell

    Victoria Maxwell is a keynote speaker who uses her humour and personal story of recovery from mental illness to make difficult mental health conversations more comfortable and transform negative beliefs. She’s a Lived Experience Strategic Advisor for the British Columbia Mental Health Substance Use Services; a core member of CREST.BD, an international research team for bipolar disorder and has blogged for Psychology Today for more than 15 years. She lives with bipolar disorder, anxiety and psychosis. As someone who re-entered the workplace with the support of many people and programs, she’s excited to be joining others to help create safe and inclusive workplaces for people with lived experience of mental illness to thrive.

  • Morgan Myles

    Morgan Myles (she/her) is a serial entrepreneur, brand consultant, and Founder of The World of Yasu. Morgan has always been a mental health advocate and any venture of hers has been grounded in mental health awareness. It was only natural for Morgan to come on board and join YES' WorkAbility initiative to ensure workplaces are inclusive, accepting, and made accessible for persons with mental health disabilities

  • Alan Cisneros

    Alan has over 14 years of combined experience in human resources, legal and compliance roles. Alan has led cross-functional teams across international companies like CBRE, Shell and Quaker State, as well as in local start-ups, national finance institutions and real estate investment funds. For the past couple of years, Alan has led the Culture and Compliance department at STACKT, a unique Toronto-based company expanding across other provinces through community-driven partnerships. Alan holds an MBA, a Master's in Finance, a bachelor’s degree in law, and diplomas, courses and certifications in real estate, leadership and Human Resources. Alan leads strategic people initiatives that support business goals while leveraging employee experience

Above are some of the incredible members of our committee.
WorkAbility would like to recognize their contributions, as well as the contributions of our committee members who have chosen to not be featured at this time.