Biographies
Aleem Bhanji
Digital Health Technology Leader
AlayaCare
Aleem Bhanji is a digital health executive with a speciality in the home and community care sector. Currently, as the Market Leader in the Canadian and Global markets at AlayaCare, Aleem has over 20 years of experience in a range of areas in healthcare including advancing strategic priorities in home health, accelerating population-based, system transformation nationally as well as leading the development and implementation of large-scale software and other solutions across the provincial, regional as well as in acute, primary and home care. Aleem is an award-winning researcher and has presented at numerous conferences and symposia around the world.
Aleem has earned an Honours Bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics & Biology from the University of Waterloo, as well as a Master’s degree in Health Sciences from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Aleem is a professional a member of the Canadian College of Health Executives and an adjunct faculty at the University of Toronto.
Raelynne Douglas
CEO
Raesoleil Consulting
Raelynne Douglas is the CEO of Raesoleil Consulting, a consulting company that focusses on building resilience in individuals and teams. Her programs train leaders in unique competencies that can be a differentiator in their career development; enabling leadership teams to make the smartest investments with high return on their investment and allowing organizations to thrive, innovate and grow. Her programs are designed for maximum impact, that can be scaled efficiently across organizations, so we retain our important workforce, and save scarce resources.
Raelynn’s career started in the Saskatchewan Ministry of Finance, where she led teams in budget analysis, strategic planning, performance management, program evaluation and transformational change. Working in the Ontario healthcare sector from 2012-2022, she developed expertise in service provider relations, innovation, digital health, and ignited a deep passion for the health human resource (HHR) shortage. This curiosity led her to pursue an MBA with a specific focus on the HHR crisis, and to design a consulting company with the specific intent - to help organizations create great cultures where people love to work. She returned to her home province of Saskatchewan in the summer of 2022 to take on the role of Executive Director, Drug Plan in the Ministry of Health and is excited to be applying her leadership skills to this important part of our health care system.
Raelynn has a BA in Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and a Global MBA in Health and Life Sciences from the Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto. She is a member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) and earned her Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation in 2020. Raelynn is also a Facilitator with CCHL and with the National Institutes of Health Informatics. She serves on the Board of Resilient Kids Canada and is the Vice President, Membership for Guelph Public Speakers, an accomplished Toastmasters club.
James Smith
Sales Director
Caring Support
As a seasoned professional from the IT/technology sector, James has worked in customer service, sales, account management, and community building. An advocate of emotional intelligence, James absolutely loves to network, be active in the community, and build genuine relationships by truly understanding how people think, feel, and operate.
James enjoys bringing amazing people and organizations together so that everyone will benefit from the resulting opportunities.
The Caring Support Platform is the brainchild of a handful of individuals who believed that they could help the healthcare system by providing a platform that matches healthcare workers (including PSWs, DSWs, RNs, RPNs, CSAs, and volunteers) to healthcare employers
Karen Pietrangelo
Director Community Health Worker Program
Bayshore Home Health
Karen is a strong and passionate healthcare leader with a proven track record in both acute care and post-secondary education. She is a graduate from the Master of Health Science program at Brock University and holds an Undergraduate Degree in Health Science / Business along with a Canadian designation of Certified Health Information Management Professional. Karen is the Provincial Director of the Community Health Worker Program at Bayshore and is excited to support this dynamic initiative to support job seekers and clients across the province of Ontario. Love what you do…the rest will follow.
James Rice
Vice-President
IBT College
James Rice has spent over 25 years in both domestic and international education. He worked in conjunction with Nurse Educators to create IBT College's Community Healthcare Worker program being utilized by Bayshore and the Home Support Worker Diploma. Mr. Rice has launched international efforts to bring in Healthcare Workers from Vietnam, Philippines, Nigeria, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
In the Fall, Mr. Rice has been invited by the largest nursing university in the Caribbean to recruit Nurses, PSWs and Home Support Workers for Ontario. Mr. Rice has been instrumental in securing funding for a variety of healthcare projects for training and education including the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality tools on display today.
Don Fenn
President & CEO
Caregiver Omnimedia
Don Fenn has spent a lifetime as business owner, social entrepreneur, innovator, and leader in sales and marketing. He is a leading authority on the burgeoning Aging in Place phenomena that is transforming the way we live and house our citizens in the future.
Don formed Caregiver Omnimedia in 2003 as a result of caring for his parents while also serving as power-of-attorney for his cousin in supportive living. The information gaps between the healthcare system and the consumer led to several national and regional initiatives including the launching of media products: The Family Caregiver Newsmagazine, Home Modification Guide for Family Caregivers; Going Home, a hospital-based informative guide for consumers transitioning from hospital to home; and has run seminars, national research projects, conferences, content marketing programmes, and participated in countless expert panels, trade shows, all in the home care, family caregiving and aging sectors. He is the founder of Home Modification Canada which in 2017 becomes a National Council under the Canadian Home Builders Association.
Don has served on multiple boards, advisory committees. In 2012, he was awarded the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contribution in Canada to Family Caregiving. In 2021, he was awarded the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapist’s Award of Merit for contributions to the field by someone who isn’t actually an OT.
Don believes that the most effective way to cope with change is to help create it