Senior Executive Team

Frances Lankin

Frances Lankin has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way Toronto since 2001, guiding the organization through its strategic transformation to a leading community builder in the city. Under Frances’ leadership United Way has engaged in a number of strategic initiatives that aim to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities in Toronto:

  • A five-year Neighbourhood Strategy, which is currently developing social infrastructure and engaging residents in priority neighbourhoods identified by the City of Toronto and United Way.
  • Partnerships with Government, Business and Labour have focused attention and resources on United Way Toronto’s key priority areas: neighbourhoods, youth and newcomers.
  • Primary social research such as Losing Ground, Decade of Decline, Poverty by Postal Code, as well as participation in the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force Report, has focused attention and resources on poverty in the City of Toronto and its underserved inner suburbs.
  • Building and strengthening the city’s critical social infrastructure of community supports through funding United Way's network of health and social service agencies, and by developing agency capacity and local leadership skills.
  • Mobilizing the community’s volunteer and financial resources. In 2007, through the tremendous generosity of the people of Toronto, United Way raised $108.1 million.

Frances has spent a lifetime in service to the community and is a recognized leader in the non-profit sector. In 2006, she chaired a Federal Government commissioned Blue Ribbon Panel, which made recommendations for improving how Ottawa distributes grants and contributions to charities and other organizations.

She has served on the Boards of several not-for-profit and charitable organizations including Equal Voice, The Canadian Club, The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE), Altruvest Charitable Services, the Board of Governors of Seneca College, and co-chaired the Toronto City Summit in June 2002 and 2003. Currently, she is a member of the Toronto City Summit Alliance Steering Committee and the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy Advisory Committee.

In 1990, Frances was elected MPP for the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York and served in the Rae government as Minister of Government Services and Chair of the Management Board. She was Minister of Health from 1991 to 1993 and was appointed Minister of Economic Development and Trade, a position she held until 1995. Frances served as MPP for 11 years until she joined the United Way in 2001.

In 2003, Frances was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal. In 2004, she was presented with United Way of Canada’s Award of Excellence for her community building work in Toronto. In 2007, she was named the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) CEO of the Year for Excellence in Public Relations and received the Toronto Star Laurel Award for Losing Ground, United Way’s report on family poverty in Toronto. In 2008, she was named one of More Magazine’s Top 40 over 40 in the Fighting-for-equality category. Most recently, she received the Equal Voice EVE Award for her achievements in political life and her efforts to advance the cause of electing more women in Canada and the Consumers’ Choice Woman of the Year award.

Catherine Smith

Catherine Smith joined United Way Toronto in August 2003. As Chief Operating Officer, Catherine is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization and leadership of the Finance, Information Services and Human Resources teams. She is also responsible for all regulatory and legal issues, risk management, privacy, change management initiatives, internal communications and Board committee work.

Catherine brings 25 years of operational, financial and administrative experience from CIBC to UWT. Her most recent position was Executive Vice President in the Wealth Management division at CIBC, and her career with the company included strategic business roles and responsibilities, and extensive fiduciary and governance roles in Canada, New York, and Tokyo.

Catherine has held a number of volunteer roles including: past Chair of the York School Board, past member of the Finance Committee of Toronto East General Hospital and past Board member with the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario. She is currently a member of the Finance Committee for Grace Church-on-the-Hill.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Queen’s University and has attended various executive development programs at Harvard, Kellogg, Ivey School of Business and the Niagara Institute. She completed in September 2007 the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) program at the Rotman School of Business, and received the professional ICD.D designation in November 2007.

Susan McIssac

Susan McIsaac joined United Way Toronto in June 1998. As Chief Development Officer, Susan leads all of United Way's resource development and marketing initiatives. She is responsible for marketing initiatives, special events, the annual campaign, the major gifts program and The Tomorrow Fund—United Way's endowment fund. Susan also oversees donor and constitutent relationship management; corporate, community and volunteer engagement and development; and is responsible for providing direction and support to the Campaign Cabinet and the Major Individual Giving Cabinet.

In 2007, Susan successfully led the largest United Way fundraising campaign in Canada to a record-breaking $108.1 goal achievement, helping United Way Toronto focus attention and resources towards creating opportunities for youth, building strong neighbourhoods, assisting newcomers, and ensuring social services agencies receive critical core funding. In 2007, Susan was awarded the Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

In the not-for-profit sector since 1989, Susan most recently worked for Ketchum Canada, a leader in organizational health, fundraising communication and philanthropic counsel, where she supported a variety of non-profit clients as a Campaign Director and later as Vice President of Educational Services from 1992 to 1998.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University and currently volunteers in the social services sector for a refugee shelter, an agency that supports newcomers, and with Imagine Canada.

Lyn Whitham

Lyn Whitham joined United Way Toronto in February 2005, becoming Senior Vice President, Communications, in July 2008. Lyn is responsible for developing and managing the execution of all strategic communications for United Way Toronto. This includes positioning and messaging across the organization, senior accountability for the Board of Trustees, as well as building external relations.

Since joining United Way, Lyn has led the implementation of a major rebranding strategy, shifting the focus of United Way Toronto from a traditional fundraiser to a community building organization.

Lyn brings a wealth of marketing and communications expertise to United Way Toronto. As Vice President of Community Marketing for Foresters, Lyn led a team which implemented the Foresters brand in 2002, an initiative that won a Silver Leaf Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators. Previously, Lyn served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Zurich Financial Services Canada.

Lyn began her communications career as an award-winning reporter, producer and anchor for CBC News and The Journal. With her CBC production team, she won the Michener Award for Public Service Journalism, Canadian Centre for Investigative Journalism award, and received a Gemini nomination for best television documentary in 1992.

Lyn holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University and is a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society and the Canadian Marketing Association.

Her volunteer activities include coaching soccer and donating time to a local school.

Gillian Mason

Gillian Mason joined United Way Toronto in October 2007 and now holds the position of Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Community Partnerships. Gillian is responsible for advancing United Way’s community impact work by providing leadership on research, public policy as well as the development of community initiatives and partnerships. She also works closely with Board Committees such as the Community Impact Committee and the Research, Policy and Priorities Committee.

Gillian previously held the position of Executive Director and CEO of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), an international organization she helped found. At CAPAM she was responsible for the leadership and strategic management of its international membership association of senior public officials, both appointed and elected. Gillian gained a wealth of experience working in diverse, multicultural environments while traveling to many of the 53 Commonwealth nations, where Gillian worked closely with local teams in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the south Pacific as well as the United Kingdom and Malta in Europe in capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Prior to CAPAM, Gillian was the Vice President of the Canadian Urban Institute which she also helped found. In the late 1980s, Gillian was Project Manager, Municipal Economic Development Program and Director, Policy and Research Department with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). At FCM, she led projects including the establishment of the FCM International Office, which works with municipal governments worldwide to improve the quality of life and the sustainability of local communities.

Gillian holds a number of volunteer positions in the community that have included member and Vice Chair of the Toronto Public Library Foundation, member and Chair of the Toronto Public Library Board, and various positions with the Diaspora Dialogues, the Community and Race Relations Committee – City of Scarborough, the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Wilderness Canoe Association. She is the recipient of a number of leadership and community service awards.

Gillian holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario, where she graduated with distinction. She also holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Honours) in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Waterloo.

WaseemS yed

Waseem Syed joined United Way Toronto in February 2007 as Vice President of Community Investment. He leads the development and oversight of UWT's fund distribution process, including funding to member agencies and special grant programs, the volunteer review, and developing investment opportunities for major individual donors.

Waseem is also responsible for organizational capacity building support in such areas as leadership, strategic planning, organizational assessment and governance for staff and board member and partner agencies interested in improving their operations.

As a newcomer to Canada, Waseem brings a wealth of international and local experience. His first position in Toronto was an internship at TD Bank Financial Group through Career Bridge, a program designed to integrate skilled immigrants into the Canadian workforce.

Prior to moving to Canada in 2005, he was head of Operations for the United Nations Development Program in Geneva, Switzerland, where he co-managed a US $140 million trust fund for global crisis prevention initiatives. From 2001 to 2003, Waseem was head of Administration and Finance for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, where he oversaw the Kosovo education budget, allocating funds to municipalities, and the reconstruction of educational infrastructure.

Waseem's background also includes the role of Regional Administrator for Central Asia for ACTED, an international non-governmental organization, and Chief Financial Officer for Brikks PLC, a construction material manufacturing company in Pakistan.

Waseem holds an MBA in Finance from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan.

Louise Bellingham joined United Way Toronto in June 2006 and holds the position of Vice President of Marketing. Louise is responsible for managing the development of marketing strategies and marketing communications support for the United Way Toronto brand. This includes the development and execution of market research, mass advertising, direct mail, marketing collateral, special events, promotions and online marketing initiatives. As an integrated part of United Way Toronto’s Resource Development department, Louise and her team are focused on reinforcing the community building positioning of the United Way brand, building increased awareness and engagement with the brand, and enhancing overall resource development efforts of the organization.

Louise joined the United Way movement after leaving a 25-year career with Bell Canada. In her years at Bell Canada, Louise held a number of progressively senior positions in the areas of product management, consumer and business advertising, promotion, sponsorship, and corporate communications. In her previous position as Senior Director - Corporate Social Responsibility for Bell Canada and BCE, Louise championed the company’s significant commitment to community investment and partnered with a large number of charitable organizations, including United Way, to advance their work in the community.

Louise holds an Honours BA in Social Science from York University and Masters of Business Administration with specializations in Marketing and Organizational Behaviour from the Schulich School of Business. She is active in the community and has volunteered for numerous non-profit organizations including the Faculty of Social Work at University of Toronto, the Board of Directors for the Toronto International Film Festival Group, the Conference Board of Canada’s CSR Advisory Group, United Way, Kids Help Phone, Altruvest and Imagine Canada.

Rahima Mamdani

Rahima Mamdani joined United Way Toronto as Director of Human Resources and Organizational Development in February 2005 and is responsible for developing the HR capacity of the organization. She provides senior management with strategic counsel, directs the development and administration of HR goals, plans and programs, and provides HR advice and support across the organization.

Under Rahima's leadership, several comprehensive HR programs for UWT Staff have been introduced in areas such as recruitment, performance management, professional development, compensation and wellness.

Rahima began her career at Bell Canada over 15 years ago, where she researched best practices in Human Resources and focused on designing and implementing HR programs. Rahima also worked for Saville Systems, Rogers iMedia and Buybuddy Incorporated.

As well, Rahima has provided HR consulting services to not-for-profit organizations such as Right To Play and Greenpeace Canada and volunteered with the Toronto Children's Aid Society, the Aga Khan Development Network and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Rahima holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology and a Masters of Information Studies from the University of Toronto. She holds a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation and is a member of the Human Resources Professionals of Ontario (HRPAO). Rahima also sits on a national steering committee for the HR Council for the Voluntary/Non-Profit Sector's project to build capacity for effective HR management across the sector.

Rahima is currently on leave until January 2009.