Who We Are

• Mission and Values
• History
  • 50 Stories for 50 Years
  • Founders
  • Milestones
• Volunteers
  • Crossroaders in the Field
  • Honorary Patrons
• Board and Staff
• Financial Summary
• Work with us

Board and Staff

Board of Directors

Offices and Staff

Board of Directors 2012-2013

Executive

Éthel Côté, Chair

Éthel has spent the past 25 years working in the field of sustainable community economic development with non-profit organizations, government, the private sector and numerous cultural organizations. She is a specialist in social enterprise and member of the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal. For six years she headed the Conseil de la coopération de l'Ontario, a provincial association representing the Francophone caisse populaire and co-operative sector. In 2001 she founded a consulting firm called l’Art du développement. She describes it as a social enterprise at the service of communities with a mission to promote social, economic, community and cultural development. Her interest in international social development took her on assignments to Mali and Romania and to Nairobi, Kenya for the World Social Forum (RIPESS) in 2005. She is currently a Board member of RIPESS – the international association of organizations involved in community economic development and the social economy and is also an active Board member of CCEDNET – the Canadian network of Community Economic Development organizations. She has significant Board and policy experience, and teaches part time at Concordia University. She is a bilingual francophone based just outside Ottawa.

Guy Ouellet, Treasurer

Guy held a variety of senior positions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where he worked for some 30 years in Africa (South Africa and Angola), Asia (Vietnam, Pakistan and Thailand) and Europe. His last position was as Deputy Director, Europe Bureau at UNHCR headquarters. He has recently retired but is very interested in continuing to be involved in the work he has cared so deeply about – in particular the focus on women and children. His areas of expertise include: strategic planning, analysis/problem solving, diplomatic and negotiation skills, team building, training, and representational skills. Guy is fluent in English and French and has an extensive influential network of social and work contacts throughout the world. He holds an Honours in Philosophy from Sir George Williams University and studied for a Masters in Education Technology at Concordia.

Kathy Macpherson

Kathy currently holds the position of Research and Policy Director at the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation. Kathy lived in Indonesia for 11 years and was Senior Public Policy Specialist for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, The World Bank ( from 2002-2007) and Project Manager and Policy Coordinator for a $10 million CIDA policy reform project (1998-2002) where she led a multi-disciplinary team of experts to work on policy reforms with various government partners. From 1985-1993 Kathy held a number of senior positions in the Ontario Government including Senior Manager with the Ministry of Community and Social Services in Corporate Services Division and prior to that with the Employment Equity Program. She holds a Post-Graduate Diploma, Asia Pacific Management (Dean’s List), Capilano College and a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction), Political Science, Carleton University.

Karen Takacs

Karen Takacs is the Executive Director of Crossroads International. Karen has extensive experience working in partnerships with communities to help them meet their objectives. Having worked with a variety of local, regional and national organizations and coalitions, Karen has served as an organizer and spokesperson, and written on numerous social policy issues addressing women's equality, poverty, immigration, homelessness and mental health. She has also lectured on the history of volunteer cooperation and the role of volunteers in social action and advocacy.

Prior to her experience with Crossroads, Karen worked with YWCA Canada as Director of National Programs and Advocacy where she was also served as their representative on the Canadian Coordinating Committee for the World Women’s March Against Violence and Poverty. She brings previous experience as a funder and public servant (Health Canada and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.) Karen has served as a volunteer and board member with a variety of organizations and currently serves as a Board member of Forum for Development Service — the international association of Volunteer Cooperation Agencies and as Vice Chair with the Canadian Council of International Cooperation (CCIC). She holds a Masters of Management for National Voluntary Sector Leaders from McGill University.

Directors

Adjoa (Thérèse) Akakpo

Adjoa (Thérèse) Akakpo is the NGO Coordinator at LA COLOMBE (Crossroads partner organization since Jan. 2012). Thérèse has more than 15 years’ experience in the field of development. Under her leadership LA COLOMBE has initiated and carried out education and professional training programs for more than 500 poor and illiterate girls and women. She is a strong, passionate and engaged advocate for the most vulnerable, women in particular. For four years she was the Treasurer for the board of the Federation of NGOs in Togo (FONGTO), a national network of forty non-governmental organizations. For the last two years she has been on the board of the Office of Support for Grassroots Initiatives (AGAIB) - Maritime Region, a network of NGOs financed by the Togolese government and World Bank. Thérèse holds a Master 1 in Communication Marketing and a Bachelor in Business Administration at the International Institute (IIM) at the University of BK Group Lomé.                                                                                                 

Ian B. Anderson

Ian is the Vice-Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and a mediator of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Ian practised law for 17 years in the areas of labour law, workers‘ compensation, constitutional and civil litigation. Ian founded the Worker's Rights Group at Parkdale Community Legal Services and brought his extensive experience and long-time commitment to labour and human rights to many boards and committees across Ontario. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Work and Health. 

A former Crossroads volunteer (Sri Lanka, 1978), Ian joined the Board of Crossroads International in 2011.

Gilles Cloutier

Gilles is a management consultant in international development, change management and restructuring and is a part-time professor at the École des sciences de la gestion (UQAM) and the Centre for Developing Areas Studies (McGill University). He also coordinates the international management program in innovation and project monitoring at the École de Technologie Supérieure. He is often invited to lecture at universities around the world. Over the last 30 years, Gilles has worked in the private sector (eg. from 1986-1990 as president and general manager of the Groupe Stratt Inc. – a Canadian international management consultancy to financial institutions, telecommunications and energy companies) as well as in the public sector with government agencies and multilateral and bilateral institutions (Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America) including the United Nations, the World Bank, USAID, and CIDA. Early in his career he worked in the Federal Government at the Privy Council and for the Minister of Communications. Gilles brings significant private and public sector governance experience and currently sits on the board of a number of charitable organizations – (i.e. Music in Me International, Enfants Soleil, I Medici Di Mcgill and The Maghreb Plus, Projets Biopharmacologiques et Agricoles-Mali). He speaks French, English, Spanish, and some German, Italian, Arabic, Croatian and Bambara.

Cebile Manzini–Henwood

Caroline Newton

Laxmi Parthasarathy

Laxmi Parthasarathy is a recent Crossroader (Swaziland 2011) and currently works with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in Washington, where she is Global Media Manager. Laxmi has been involved in the civil society sector for over 8 years, starting her own community organization and newspaper at the age of 19. She was selected as one of Canada's Top 20 Under 20, received a TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership and has been recognized for her community leadership and work in the field of media for social change by the former Governor General Michaelle Jean. She has done research and worked on Gender and Development projects in Swaziland, India, Rwanda, Mexico and the UK. Laxmi holds a BA from Carleton University in Ottawa and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Randy A. Pepper

Randy is a renowned arbitrator, mediator and barrister currently practising as a independent counsellor in matters involving complex international business disputes. For many years, he was a partner at Osler, Hoskin and Harecourt, and contributed to many legal publications and articles. He attended the University of Western Ontario (H.B.A, 1978), University of Toronto (LL.B, 1981) and London School of Economics (LL.M, 1998). 

Randy has a long-time involvement with Crossroads: first as a volunteer (Lesotho, 1975), then as a board member and committee member. In addition to his work with Crossroads, Randy volunteers as a conflict resolution facilitator/mediator with the United Church of Canada and has served as a board member with Oxfam Canada Board; Downtown Economic Enterprise Dep’t; and as a legal advisor with the Disabled Women’s Network Ontario. Randy returned to Crossroads' Board of Directors in June 2011.

Dr. Farah Shroff

Farah is a public health researcher and educator with longstanding interests in social justice, spirituality, holistic health, policy and more. She currently works part time at UBC in the Medical School’s Family Practice and is also the sole proprietor of a consulting company. She has worked in many parts of the world: Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa as a researcher and/or health professional. She is currently designing a course called Global Perspectives on Community Development, which will examine Ghandianism and various Indigenous social movements. She has worked on women's issues for decades and was recently interviewed on CBC radio with regard to the federal government announcement that they would not include contraception in their Maternal and Child Health initiative. She has served on the Canadian Women's Studies Association's board and also worked on the Women of Color and Anti-Racism Caucuses of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association. She is a member of the India Mahila Association and also sits on the Board of the Cooperative Auto Network. She does a great deal of volunteer work in the Francophone community in BC, for schools and organizations such as Reseau Femmes de Colombie Britanique. She holds a PhD, Sociology in Education, Major in Community Health (1996) from the University of Toronto; as well as a Master of Education in Primary Health Care (PHC) (1988) with Distinction from the University of Manchester, England; and, a Bachelor of Science 1986 Dean’s Honour List from Trent University. She is a Kenyan born Parsi who has lived in Canada most of her life. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and English and is conversant in Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi and a few other languages.
Farah is proud to be a Crossroader (1985 Costa Rica). Shortly after she returned from Costa Rica she continued her involvement with Crossroads and became trained as an animateur. In 1987 she started Crossroads International's first committee in the NWT and sent volunteers in that first year!

Offices Staff