Board of Directors

As an ovarian cancer survivor, Erin is proud to work with Ovarian Cancer Canada to support any person or family touched by this disease.

Professionally, Erin specializes in communications and fundraising, and has worked with internationally respected charities, businesses, and marketing agencies.

Approached in 2008 by a North American branding firm to launch the firm internationally, Erin opened the UK office of Octopus Strategies in January 2009. The firm was immediately engaged by Sentebale, HRH Prince Harry’s charity, to develop the charity’s fundraising and communications plans. Working with charities, social enterprises, and NFPs, in 2010 Octopus Strategies UK was named as “One of the top 100 Companies to Watch in London.” In 2012 Octopus Strategies merged with Junxion Strategy, creating an international marketing consultancy with offices in Vancouver, London, and Delhi.

In April 2014, Erin successfully negotiated her exit from Junxion Strategy and joined Maybe* Solutions as Co-Founder and CXO. A conversational commerce platform that connects the online, offline, and social customer journey, the Maybe* platform uses AI, chatbot, and sentiment analysis to allow any organization to benchmark their performance, see insights in real-time, generate social proof, and deliver a connected conversational experience. Maybe* Solutions has donated both their time and expertise to support the efforts of Ovarian Cancer Canada.

Erin is currently working on her first novel and enjoys spending time with her young family.

Karen Greve Young became CEO of Futurpreneur Canada in 2018. This non-profit organization is Canada’s only national organization dedicated to supporting young entrepreneurs. Futurpreneur’s unique model combines funding, mentorship and start-up programs to fuel the success of thousands of diverse young entrepreneurs in every Canadian province and territory.

A compelling spokesperson and executive strategist, Karen has a proven track record in optimizing organizations to achieve inclusive economic and social impact. She is adept at inspiring, managing, and influencing others; and her practical experience and expertise builds on exceptional academic and business foundations.

Prior to her CEO role with Futurpreneur, Karen acted as Vice-President, Corporate Development and Partnerships with MaRS Discovery District, the world’s largest innovation hub, from 2011-2018. She was also the Founding Executive Director of the ICR Global Foundation, a US-based foundation supporting the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research from 2008-2010. Karen’s professional expertise and academic pursuits have taken her across the globe; she has previously held finance, management and strategy roles in San Francisco, New York and London, UK, at organizations including Bain & Company and Gap Inc. Along the way, she co-authored a book with her mother about their shared experience through her mother’s ovarian cancer journey.

Karen holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics from Harvard University, both with honours.

David Power is a Partner in KPMG’s Audit practice in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with a focus on industrial markets and automotive. He has over 14 years of audit experience, primarily with public companies, having worked mostly in Toronto with two years in London, United Kingdom on secondment to KPMG’s International Standards Group. In addition to his technical and client service abilities, Dave is known for his significant interest in and commitment to people management and development, having been a People Leader for four years, a leader in the development and mentorship of people. At KPMG, Dave also oversees the firm’s program to support its employees through the professional examination process.

To support his communities, Dave is the incoming Chair of the board of directors of ACCESS Community Capital Fund, a not-for-profit focusing on micro-lending to support individuals, including those new to Canada, grow self-sustaining businesses and careers.

Michel Brunet has over 15 years of experience leading various areas of Sun Life Financial’s Canadian operations. He currently leads the client service teams supporting Sun Life’s advisors as well as the Canadian group pension business.

Lazy at heart, Michel has spent most of those 15+ years finding ways to get better results with less effort and at lower cost. He will bring that same mentality to his work with the board of Ovarian Cancer Canada.

Michel was spurred to action when he lost his mother and his aunt to ovarian cancer. He wants a better outcome for all the other wonderful women in his life.

Lydia is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Stewart McKelvey, being called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1992 and the Ontario Bar in 1994. After seven years as in-house counsel, Lydia joined Stewart McKelvey in September 1999, becoming a partner in 2001 and CEO in 2015. She is recognized in her profession previously being named Top 40 Under 40 by Lexpert Magazine, and over the years has been noted as a leading corporate-commercial practitioner in a number of legal publications. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2020. Lydia is currently Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the QEII Health Sciences Centre Foundation. She is a recipient of The Progress Club’s “Women of Excellence” Award, was named one of the top leading women lawyers in Canada receiving a L’Expert “Zenith Award” and, for the past five years, has been named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine, being inducted into the Atlantic Business Magazine Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame in the spring of 2022. Lydia is an active supporter of Ovarian Cancer Canada. Her organization, Stewart McKelvey, is a lead sponsor of the Walk of Hope.

Victoria is a family physician who has had a well-established family practice in Burlington for 17 years. Recent research including our Every Woman Study has revealed that family physicians can and should play a key role in the prevention and detection of ovarian cancer. As an experienced family physician, Victoria can contribute important perspectives to our Board of Directors, enabling the organization to make further strides in this area. Victoria has multiple and very close personal connections to ovarian cancer. After losing her mom and aunt to ovarian cancer, Victoria has become a strong supporter of Ovarian Cancer Canada. Victoria participates in the Burlington Walk of Hope and serves as a member of our Prevention Task Force.

*Dr. Galloway provides medical care to patients in her family practice, and does not provide medical consultations to patients by self referral

Dr. Vanderhyden obtained her Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology at the University of Western Ontario and then did postdoctoral studies at The Jackson Laboratory in Maine, where she learned to climb mountains, both literally and scientifically. Since 1991, she has been a Professor at the University of Ottawa, and is also a Senior Scientist in the Cancer Therapeutics Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Her research focuses on the cellular and molecular processes associated with ovarian tumorigenesis, the generation of ovarian cancer models, and the testing of novel therapeutics.

Dr. Vanderhyden has been involved with Ovarian Cancer Canada since her appointment in 2000 as the inaugural Corinne Boyer Chair in Ovarian Cancer Research at the University of Ottawa, the first Chair in ovarian cancer in Canada. She has acted with enormous leadership to change the landscape in Canada surrounding both research and awareness of this disease. In 2002, she organized the first Canadian Conference on Ovarian Cancer Research, which brought together clinicians and scientists involved in ovarian cancer research for the first time. This conference has continued every two years with attendance now including trainees and international speakers, and has facilitated much collaborative research across the country.

As Chair of the Ovarian Cancer Canada Research Committee, Dr. Vanderhyden has galvanized a diverse group around a dynamic research funding program that has supported a national ovarian cancer tissue bank, pilot projects in early detection, and trainee scholarships. She has also made concerted efforts to promote awareness of the Chair position and ovarian cancer, frequently speaking at educational and fundraising events across Canada.

A strong advocate for science education, Dr. Vanderhyden established two successful outreach programs in her spare time. In Let’s Talk Science, 350 volunteers make science fun for students in local schools. Science Travels sends graduate students to the far north to deliver science workshops in First Nations and Inuit communities.

Rowena is a proud member of the West Moberly First Nations which is located in the Peace River Country in northern British Columbia. She looks forward to continuing to work with the Ovarian Cancer Canada team to better engage, understand and integrate the perspectives of Indigenous people.

By day Rowena is a senior fundraising professional with a wealth of experience in the nonprofit sector in general and the health charitable sector in particular. She is currently the founder and lead instructor of The New School of Fundraising, an online fundraising school. As a seasoned fundraising professional, Rowena brings extensive experience in fundraising campaigns, governance, strategy and planning.

In 2020, Rowena lost her best friend to ovarian cancer and has since then been an active supporter of Ovarian Cancer Canada. She looks forward to a future without ovarian cancer and is proud to advance the mission of the organization, along with her husband and daughter.