Board of Directors

Our board of directors is governed by self-nominating volunteers who generously give us their time and share our passion for change in Nova Scotia. Working with our executive director, they provide invaluable practical experience and knowledge to help set overall policy and strategic direction for the organization.

Sylvia Parris-Drummond

Chairperson

Sylvia is currently the CEO of the Delmore “Buddy” Daye Learning Institute. Sylvia provides leadership to the organization through the identification of opportunities, awareness and capacity building, and the implementation of initiatives designed to improve the education environment and well-being for African Nova Scotian learners, educators and communities.

Sylvia has more than two decades of experience in the field of education, strategic engagement, and policy planning and execution. She has extensive public-sector involvement through which Sylvia has gained a deep understanding for what it takes to conduct meaningful policy analysis, and strengthen citizen engagement.

Her passion and commitment to Nova Scotian communities is evident through community volunteering and give-back via her SVPARRIS CONSULTING private business. She believes in lifelong learning, holding multiple master level degrees in the social science and education disciplines.

Photo credit: Nicola Davison

Mohammad Ali Raza

Vice Chairperson

Mohammad Ali Raza immigrated to Canada to reunite with his family in 2014. He practices corporate law with Cox & Palmer supporting businesses in a wide variety of sectors. From drafting complex contracts to advising on consumer protection laws, Mohammad Ali is keen to provide practical solutions to the challenges his clients face at every stage and aspect of their business operations. He is currently the chair of the firm’s Ocean Innovation group.
Mohammad Ali joined the Feed Nova Scotia board in 2019. In addition to his work with Feed Nova Scotia, he is also Vice-President & Director of the Pakistani Canadian Association of Nova Scotia.

Max Lessard

Treasurer

Max is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He has over 11 years of experience providing assurance services to public and private companies operating in various industries. Max graduated from Dalhousie University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and went on to obtain his Chartered Accountant designation in 2009.

Max joined the Feed Nova Scotia Board in 2018 and also serves on the Audit Committee. Aside from his work with Feed Nova Scotia, Max is involved with a number of other local organizations, from donating his time through the Economics for Success program put on by Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia, to participating in fundraising activities for Heart & Stroke of Nova Scotia and the Make a Wish Foundation.

Roddy Macdonald

Secretary

Roddy provides human resource and governance consulting services to clients in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. He brings more than 30 years of leadership experience gained across multiple industries including manufacturing, transportation, municipal government, and commercial crown corporations.

In addition to his consulting role, Roddy serves on the board for Symphony Nova Scotia, where he chairs the HR Committee. He has also served on the board of directors for a national retail chain, where he chaired the Governance Committee.

Roddy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. He has a Certificate in Negotiation & Conflict Management from Dalhousie University, Halifax. He holds a Chartered Professional in Human Resources designation (CPHR), as well as the governance designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).

Joining the board in 2021, Roddy says he’s excited to be part of the Feed Nova Scotia team seeking to understand and address the root causes of food insecurity in Nova Scotia.

Kristen Hollery

Member Agency Representative

Patricia Bradshaw, PhD, ICD.D

Pat Bradshaw completed her term as Dean of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in May of 2018 and is currently a Professor of Management at the University. Before joining Saint Mary’s University Pat was an Organizational Behaviour Professor at the Schulich School of Business, York University where her research interests included governance of non-profit organizations, change management and organizational power and politics from a feminist and social justice lens.

Pat is currently Chair of the Board of the Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia and recently stepped down from her role as one of the co-chairs of the Nova Scotia Nonprofit COVID-19 Coalition. She is also active as a consultant and facilitator in the areas of women’s leadership, strategic planning and nonprofit governance.

Jeff Hillyard

Jeff is Senior Vice-President & Head, Commercial Banking for Bank of Montreal for the Atlantic provinces, having oversight for all aspects of performance for the region. He has held various progressive leadership roles within Bank of Montreal since joining the bank in 2010.

Jeff has a wealth of banking, accounting and finance experience attained over a 20+ year career including experiences at Deloitte Incorporated managing a private company and public sector book of business that consisted of high profile departments, agencies and crowns, in the Ottawa region. In the early 2000’s, Jeff also served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Director of Finance for Allbritton New Media of Washington, DC where he was responsible for accounting and administration, and where he led the finance team through various technology company acquisitions. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Dalhousie University), Bachelor Arts (Economics) (Dalhousie University), a Masters of Business Administration (Finance) (Saint Mary’s University), and is a Certified Professional Accountant.

Jeff joined the Feed Nova Scotia Board in late 2020. He is passionate about helping families and kids in need, and has been involved in supporting a number of local and national charities, including United Way, Kids Help Phone, Nelson Youth Centres, and Women in Need Society.

Miranda Mavhunga

Miranda is a Senior Associate in the Financial Advisory team for a Big 4 advisory firm. The focus of her role is enabling clients to achieve their fiscal and operational objectives. Miranda has experience in providing consulting services and financial restructuring strategy to a diverse range of individual and corporate clients.

Miranda holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Memorial University. Miranda is a Chartered Professional Accountant and is currently an Articling Associate of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals.

As a member of the BIPOC community in Nova Scotia, development issues, particularly those affecting minority groups, is something that is close to her heart, which is why she is rallying behind Feed Nova Scotia’s mandate.

Miranda also served as a board member for the Black Business Community Investment Fund Limited.

Robert Strang

Dr. Robert Strang is Chief Medical Officer of Health in Nova Scotia appointed in August 2007. He received his medical degree from University of British Columbia and completed Family Practice and Public Health and Preventive Medicine residencies at UBC.

As Chief MOH, he has provided leadership around the renewal of public health in Nova Scotia as well as raising awareness around the importance of creating policies and environments that support better health for Nova Scotian families and communities. He is passionate about public health and has worked with non-government organizations such as Smoke Free Nova Scotia, Heart and Stroke Foundation and Public Health Association of Nova Scotia.

"Being on the board of Feed Nova Scotia is a wonderful opportunity to merge my belief in community service with key public health issues of food and economic insecurity."

Ahmad Hussein

Ahmad is a three time alumni of Dalhousie University. His first 2 degrees were a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in MicroBiology and Immunology. He honed his efforts in applied medical research with a focus on infectious diseases by creating novel vaccines. Ahmad has worked for the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology at the IWK followed by working at ImmunoVaccine developing the pandemic flu vaccine for H1N1. Ahmad has published his research in the top journal of his field as well as presented in national and international conferences.

Looking for new challenges, Ahmad pursued a degree in Doctor of Dental Surgery and runs a successful practise in downtown Halifax. In addition he is the founder and CEO of Nile Fiber Atlantic Canada, Inc. An agricultural biotech company that supplies alternative renewable biomass to the fiber industry as a replacement to trees.

Ahmad is also the Chairman of the board for the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre as well as a director of the Ummah Society. These two organizations have a membership of over 10,000 people representing over 60 countries. He is also a proud director for The One North End (O.N.E.) Community Economic Development Society and a member of the Dalhousie Dentistry Alumni Committee. Ahmad is married to a Haligonian and has 3 children where they reside in Halifax. Ahmad looks forward to serving his fellow Nova Scotians by tackling the serious issue of food insecurity.

Lisa Haydon

Lisa W. Haydon is the President and Founder of Pivotal Growth Inc. She left her comfortable corporate career to follow her passion of helping people realize their potential and companies realize high performance. Lisa and Pivotal Coaching are known for differentiated programs and results in leadership development and sales effectiveness.

Lisa joined Feed Nova Scotia's board knowing that people can't realize their potential if they don't have enough food. She also wanted to be part of the team tackling the tough and very important issue of addressing food insecurity!