Board of Governors
Board of Governors 2022-23
Isabelle Bissonnette | Chair
Isabelle is currently Principal at Optimus SBR, an independently owned management consulting firm. Prior to joining Optimus SBR, Isabelle was Vice President of Business Architecture and IT Governance at CIBC. Isabelle has over 20 years of leadership experience, in financial services, management consulting and technology development, as well as over 10 years of board experience at other not-for-profit education sector organizations. Isabelle and her husband, Ian Butler, have 3 children, Sarah (Montcrest alum), Charles and James (current Montcrest students).
Colette Tom | Finance
Colette Tom is a Director at RBC Capital Markets, responsible for business development in the Mortgage Investment Group. Colette has previous experience working in Finance, Risk Management and Technology. Colette has an MBA and is a CFA charterholder and she volunteers at the CFA Society Toronto. Colette is also passionate in driving diversity and inclusion at her workplace. Colette has a son in Grade 1 at Montcrest.
Ruth Goba
Ruth graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2000 and was called to the Bar in 2002. After law school, Ruth worked abroad for an international NGO that focused on economic and social rights, and for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Housing. She worked in private practice as a human rights lawyer and then moved to the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, where she was Executive Director from 2007 to 2009. In February 2015 she was appointed Interim Chief Commissioner in the province. In 2016, she was cross-appointed to the board of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, and in 2017 was appointed as a mediator and adjudicator with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Her most recent position was as the founding Executive Director of the Black Legal Action Centre, a community legal clinic with a mandate to challenge individual and systemic anti-Black racism. She and her husband live in Toronto with their three young daughters, one of which attends Montcrest.
Allison Jelley
Allison and her husband, Peter Jelley, have four children currently attending Montcrest School, in grades 6, 4, 1 and Junior Kindergarten. Allison is a Doctor of Chiropractic, with a specific focus on sports injury management, and graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 2006. In addition, Allison worked as a front-line public health volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allison is very involved in the Montcrest community, volunteering as a Parent Ambassador and serving on both, the Advancement Committee and the Montcrest Parent Association since 2019.
Renée Kennedy
Renée Kennedy has 20+ years of experience in the Canadian marketing, advertising, and tech industry, and has developed an unwavering passion for driving client impact and solving business challenges. She joined Google 11 years ago, and has had a proven track record of building high performing teams, managing complexity at scale, and delivering results for customers.
Renée is also passionate about supporting the next generation of female leaders at Google and has led the Toronto chapter of Women@Google for the last 2 years.
Outside of work, Renée’s hobbies include cooking, yoga, skating, and spending time with her family. Her amazing 7 year old daughter, and miniature poodle puppy keeps her particularly busy at home these days! Renée’s happy place is when she is relaxing by the ocean.
Sarah Lerchs
Sarah and her husband, JD Boyes, have two children, Austen (Montcrest alum) and Dryden (Grade 6). Sarah is the Vice President and General Counsel of The Woodbridge Company Limited, the principal investment vehicle for members of the family of the late Roy H. Thomson. Sarah previously served on the boards of the Whitney Child Centre and Youth Without Shelter.
Donna Lindell
Donna Lindell is professor and program coordinator for the award-winning post-graduate public relations program offered at Centennial College in Toronto, Canada. During her nearly 10 years of teaching, Donna has taught Professional Practice, Social Media, Business, Communications Management, Strategic Communications Planning, and Project and Event Management. Donna was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2003 for her career achievements. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa and a Masters of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax. In 2019, she was awarded Educator of the Year by the Canadian Public Relations Society. Donna has two boys who went to Montcrest: Jon (2019) and Henry (2021) and is married to Andrew, a scenic carpenter for Toronto’s thriving film industry.
Warwick Marchant
Warwick Marchant is an investment real estate Portfolio Manager for Manulife. He has over two decades of multi-disciplinary commercial real estate experience. Warwick has served on his building’s condo board, in various positions including previously as president and currently as treasurer. He also has six years of experience serving as a board member for Project Canoe, a charity organization focused on helping youth at risk build positive futures through challenging outdoor activities including wilderness canoe trips. Warwick is currently serving on a real estate related board level strategic task force for Lakefield College School.
Warwick keeps active year round with a variety of activities, including competitive adventure sports and as a general outdoor enthusiast. Warwick has a son in Grade 5.
Michael McLachlan
Bio to come.
Barbara McLean
Barb McLean worked in Human Resources/Labour Relations until her retirement in 2019. Her experience spanned the public sector (Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Labour Relations Board), the private sector (Magna International), consulting (Sedgwick Noble Lowndes) and the not-for-profit sector (The Bishop Strachan School). At The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), Barb was Assistant Head, Human Resources and Professional Growth. Her BSS portfolio also included participation on Board committees and oversight of various aspects of crisis management. Barb obtained her Bachelor of Commerce at Queen’s University. She and her husband, Mort, have two sons who are both graduates of Crescent School.
Candra Reynolds
Candra Reynolds has had a 20+ year career in driving sales and maintaining client relations in the Pharmaceutical industry. Her last position before retiring was VP Client Strategy for iMD Health, of which she was also a part owner. iMD Health sold to Cloud MD in 2019 and Candra has since become an active leader of her family life. Candra has 3 amazing daughters and her husband Brad that keep her busy. She also has a passion for competitive tennis and enjoys cooking healthy food. Candra has an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree from The University of Western Ontario and has also completed her Culinary Nutrition Expert Course which feeds her passion for healthy food.
Joanna Clark Theriault
Joanna has two daughters who graduated from Montcrest. She is a CPA, CMA who worked in the not-for-profit and retail sectors prior to taking a number of years out of the workforce. More recently she retrained in design and project management fields and has returned to work in the healthcare sector. This is Joanna’s second year as a member of Montcrest’s Board of Governors and third year as a member of the Finance Committee.
