Vince Higgins, Chair
Vince Higgins is a retired sales and marketing executive and real estate broker.
His extensive volunteerism has included serving as an unpaid managing director of a non-profit seniors 96-unit apartment building, seeing the project through from design through construction and occupancy. Vince was also a volunteer speaker and worker with Canadian Blood Services in Eastern Ontario, as well as being a donor over 75 times. He has been involved in a number of other volunteer efforts including running an elementary school alcohol and drug abuse awareness poster campaign.
Vince's environmental experience includes the setting up of a pioneering municipal recycling program in a small town, dealing at ground level with householders, drivers, etc. as well as the recycling companies themselves.
Vince is acutely aware of the need for serious change in waste habits in every segment of society and sees the 3Rs Working Group as a valuable asset to the City in its efforts toward making a greener planet.
Elaine Lepage, Vice Chair
Elaine Lepage attended the Task Force 2010 initiatives in 2001 and in 2003 became Co-chair of the New & Emerging Technologies Policies & Practices (NETP&P) Advisory Group established from the TF2010 recommendations. She participated in a Trade Mission to Holland in 2004 with other Canadian environmental stakeholders to view their facilities. As a member of the NETP&P, it was important to report back on what would work on Canadian soil as Dutch facilities had a range of new, efficient technologies. In 2005, her employer, Canadian Pacific Railway, recognized her dedication and continual communication with friends, fellow employees and her townhouse complex on issues regarding Toronto’s recycling/garbage. For going above and beyond her job, she won the CPR Environmental Excellence Award for 2004 and was further nominated for the overall American Association of Railroads John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award presented in Washington DC in May of 2005. Elaine continually engages in crafty ways of reducing and recycling materials and continues to steward others for their input and commitment towards this goal. Her commitment for the 22 months on the NETP&P continues on with this next step to ensure that the communication and knowledge gained will help the process.
Adi Astl, Member
Adolf was born in Vienna, Austria and immigrated to Canada in 1970. He is a Canadian citizen with an educational background in psychology and human behaviour. His task oriented and team work nature has led him to excel in several senior sales management positions throughout his career. Adolf regularly applies his knowledge of human behaviour to helping others and teaching valuable skills. He has a strong passion for making life better for seniors and at-risk persons. To this end, Adolf has worked with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation since 2000 promoting safe and clean living for its tenants. Adolf is also a volunteer at the Osgoode Hall homeless program, and a member of the Toronto Senior Forum. Adolf also has a keen interest in the environment and packaging issues and has been a member of the Toronto Environmental Volunteers since 2005. When not working in his various endeavours, Adolf loves sport, cycling, and every once in a while actually sitting down for longer than five minutes to read a book or watch a movie.
Tara Athar, Member
Tara is a Toronto native who graduated in 2009 from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor's degree in Management and Organizational Studies and a Minor in Economics. She is currently pursuing a career in Business Administration.
Her interest in environmental preservation and public policy extends to understanding how Toronto can learn and adopt sustainable habits from other cities, as well as pioneering its own achievements to become a leader in recycling initiatives. Tara is excited to help the city work towards accomplishing its target 70 goal and support citizens to find gradual ways of developing more sustainable lifestyles.
Carol Bailey, BA, MA, Member
Carol Bailey is a retired writer, editor, journalist and photographer with a long-time interest in environmental issues. She holds a B.A. in political science (University of Toronto) and a Masters in Environmental Studies (York University), and has completed three masters-level courses in social psychology (York University).
Carol gained her writing and editing experience while serving as Executive Director for the National Parks and Wilderness Association where she was responsible for all aspects of the association’s magazine and other promotional materials. Later, she developed her expertise as a communicator when she was employed as a writer for the Ontario Ministry of Energy and as senior writer and editor for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. In both positions, she was responsible for communicating complex and technical information in easy-to-understand language designed for the general public.
Carol has also worked as a freelance corporate writer for engineering firms and as a freelance journalist for weekly newspapers and trade magazines. She was also employed by the Manitoulin Tourism Association as a nature and landscape photographer.
In recent years, Carol has been an active volunteer with the New Democratic Party, the University of Toronto Settlement House (as a teacher of English as a Second Language), the Unitarian Church as a Tai Chi teacher for seniors, and with the Toronto International Film Festival. She plans to study for her certification in Teaching English as a Second Language in 2010.
Dan Boulos, Member
Dan Boulos is a Team Leader in a finance company specializing in student loans. He brings his experience in coaching; problem solving and group work to the team. He has an honours degree in Business & Society from York University. As a student, Dan studied the varying relationships between different sectors of the society, with special detail given to their impacts on the environment. This program inspired him to think of new ideas that communities can adopt to maintain a level of sustainability, while not sacrificing their integrity and prosperity. These ideas, coupled with a life-long love for the outdoors, have encouraged him to continue to participate by becoming part of the decision-making process.
Mohammed Jeewa, Member
Mohammed Jeewa is an educator, teaching primary and junior grades at the Toronto District School Board for the past 11 years. As an Educator, Mohammed has experienced the uniqueness of Toronto's various communities. He is interested in finding ways to present science and mathematics concepts in more engaging and interesting ways.
Mohammed earned his Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) (1995) and his Bachelor of Education (concurrently in 1995) from York University. In the early 1990's, he worked in the retail sector and as a camp counselor for the City of Toronto Parks and Recreation Program. He believes that equity and consultation are important factors in arriving at sound decisions and values life-long learning and civic engagement. Children are our future consumers and recyclers. Their waste diversion habits impact tomorrow's waste accumulation and management. Therefore it is important to enhance Recycling and Waste Diversion Literacy among the citizens, especially the young residents in Toronto.
Mohammed will strive to learn from the ideas and experiences of the public, consultants, staff, colleagues - 3WRG members and various governmental and non governmental groups. He is keen to listen to the various ideas, data and strategies to promote effective and creative waste diversion solutions and help Toronto reach its 70 % Diversion goal.
Edward Lee, Member
As a result of re-deployment of CEAT members by the Toronto City Council, Edward Lee is now re-appointed as a member of the Reduce Recycle Reuse Working Group (3RWG).
Edward Lee brings his enthusiasm for the betterment of the environment and discipline of financial management to the service of the 3RWG of the City of Toronto. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with B.B.A.-Finance and B.Sc.-Economics. For over 20 years, he developed conceptual/practical framework for annual budget preparation and performance measurement in banking, IT and various industries. Outside his profession, he participated actively in civic activities, especially education and the environment, serving in the advisory council of the Curriculum Implementation Plan of the Toronto School Board and the Don Valley Task Force. Edward loves travel, from the Alaska interior to tropical forests, from the Great Wall to the birthplace of the Renaissance and truly enjoys and admires the diversity of cultures and the natural environment. Edward finds it an honour to contribute his part, however minuscule, to help preserve the natural environment, starting with our own backyard.
Nesamoni Lysander, Member
My post-graduate study in Public Health and Wellness Promotion has enlightened me and enhanced my understanding to achieve the goal of 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Public Health cannot be achieved or enhanced without promoting a total and deeper understanding of "community development" and "illness prevention". Reducing, Recycling and Reusing of products that we produce or purchase to maintain our wholesome life is part of the principle of illness prevention and wellness promotion. This can only be achieved by cooperative efforts of people who live in our community and the business in our society.
Francesca Millescamps, Member
Francesca has been involved with numerous projects throughout the City related to promoting sustainability, from contributing to organizing a sustainable energy fair to developing efficient small scale recycling programs in buildings.
A recent move into a small space prompted her to dispose of many unused household goods and she sought to divert all the items from the landfill, making use of many programs available to Toronto residents. She is very interested in helping ensure the successful implementation of waste reduction and recycling initiatives in multi-unit buildings, and in Toronto in general.
Francesca has extensive experience working within the provincial government developing policy and implementing various programs. She is excited for the opportunity to become involved from a citizen's standpoint and help the City achieve its diversion goals
Madhusudan Kannaiah Nambakkam, Member
Mr Madhusudan Nambakkamm is an engineer who has worked as senior management executive in various plastic and automotive ancilliary industries. He has initiated many recycling programs in the industries where he worked. This initiative has considerably reduced the amount of plastic waste which was directly shipped to landfills. He is passionate about environmental issues where there is direct participation and contribution by citizens. He believes that as ultimate beneficiaries every citizen should be aware and contribute towards the welfare and well being of the 4 Es: Earth, Ecosystem, Environment and Equality.
Cait Ryan, Member
Cait brings a passion for the environment combined with marketing, project management and strategic planning experience. She is currently employed by Summerhill Group where she manages utility programs that help people make better, more sustainable choices. In addition, Cait volunteers with Amnesty International where she is Chair of her local community group. She works with groups around the city on a variety of awareness campaigns, fund raising and special events. She is particularly interested in how environmental degradation results in human rights abuses. Cait believes that as individuals we can make changes that will positively affect our environment on a global scale.
Anne Sabourin, Member
Anne Sabourin is a student at law also completing her masters of environmental
studies. Born and raised in Ottawa, Anne was excited about her move to Toronto
in order to take part in Toronto's Green Bin Program. She believes that waste
reduction and achieving Toronto's 70% waste diversion goal is necessary to make
Toronto a healthier, more sustainable city.
Anne has been passionate about environmental issues since her first elementary
school lesson on recycling. She has been involved in waste reduction and green
building campaigns on Canadian campuses, and implementing various programs in
the workplace. With a keen interest in sustainable decision-making, Anne is
excited to actively participate in shaping municipal policy as an ear and voice
for residents.
Garry Tanuan, Member
As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), Garry has over 20 years of combined project management and technical professional experience working for large multinational businesses in the financial, health care, pharmaceutical, biotech, research, energy, education, U.S. federal and Canadian government sectors. He is a graduate of Silliman University where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP).
Having both lived in a multi-family dwelling and in a single-family dwelling; he clearly sees the environmental differences and the 3R impact in a more objective manner. He believes that the catalyst to achieving the 70% waste diversion goal is for the City of Toronto to focus and work closely with multi-dwelling stakeholders to overcome the obstacles that prevent the multi-family dwellers from fully participating in the 3R initiative.
He proposed and is strongly advocating the ingenious strategy of building a large-scale hierarchical peer-to-peer network of volunteers as the preferred approach in the 3R Ambassadors Program to directly educate and actively reach out to fellow Torontonians.
Garry's other volunteer involvement includes:
- Mentor, Mentoring Program, PMI Southern Ontario Chapter
- Coach, Situational Coaching Program, PMI-GTISLIG Southern Ontario Chapter
- Safe Schools Representative, Notre Dame Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)
- Board member, Cardinal Leger Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)
- Finance Advisor, Servants of God's Love, Toronto-based Catholic Covenant Community
- Member, Sword of the Spirit Community, international ecumenical association of Christian communities
Hanna Ziada, Member
Hanna Ziada moved to Canada in 1998 from Switzerland, bringing with her an avid interest in innovative public policy.
She graduated from the University of Toronto's Engineering Program in 2006. She has since worked in the Energy Sector as an Engineer and more recently as a Policy Analyst with the Provincial Government. Hanna is currently pursuing her Masters in Engineering and Public Policy on a part time basis.
Hanna was a member of the City of Toronto Community Environmental Assessment Team since it's formation in 2006 and now looks forward to her work with the 3Rs Working Group. This experience, combined with her education and government work, gives her knowledge and problem-solving skills that she hopes to contribute to the 3Rs Working Group.
