Question 1

Who are the current board members and committee members?

Accepted Answer

As of November 2023

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1.     President, Ashley Veldkamp
2.     (ON LEAVE)  1st V. P.,  Mike Gatopoulos
3.     2nd V. P., Jennifer Steffler
4.     Treasurer, Justin Wareham
5.     Secretary, Anne Noyes
6.     Past President, Lloyd St. Amand
7.     Holly Clark
8.     Kathy Straus
9.     Jamie Toner
10.   Jason Lickers
11.   Joe Persia
12.   Rick Rozak
13.   Vicky Smith
14.   Vincent Villaca
15.   Will Bucholtz

Dr. Benjamin Klein, Medical Director Ex Officio
Rita-Marie Hadley, Executive Director Ex Officio

Professional Advisory Committee [PAC] 
(ON LEAVE) Mike Gatopoulos, Chair** 
Jamie Toner* Vice Chair 
Patricia Gonzalez* 
Casidy Guzar* 
Dr. Ben Klein 
Anne Noyes 
Joe Persia 
Rick Rozak 
Vicky Smith**  
Rita Stratford* 
Kathy Strauss 
Vincent Villaca 
Jacqueline Willson* 
Tamie Aubin* 
Sarah Consoli *

Governance Committee 
Rick Rozak, Chair 
Vicky Smith, Vice-Chair 
(ON LEAVE) Mike Gatopoulos 
Lloyd St. Amand 
Ashley Veldkamp

Long Range Planning Committee 
Ashley Veldkamp, Chair 
Will Bucholtz  
John Bradford* 
(ON LEAVE) Mike Gatopoulos 
Lloyd St. Amand  
Tamie Aubin * 
Sarah Consoli * 
Cindy Rock* 
Lorraine DeJong*

Diversity Equity & Inclusion SubCommittee  
Vicky Smith, Chair 
Patricia Gonzalez* 
Jason Lickers 
Joe Persia 
Sarah Consoli* 
Alissa Shuker*

Finance/Personnel Committee [F&P] 
Justin Wareham, Chair 
Skylar Turkiewicz, Vice Chair 
Will Bucholtz 
Holly Clark 
(ON LEAVE) Mike Gatopoulos 
Jason Lickers 
Lloyd St. Amand 
Jennifer Steffler 
Sarah Consoli * 
Cindy Rock*

Capital Steering Committee [CSC] 
(ON LEAVE) Mike Gatopoulos, Co-Chair 
Holly Clark, Co- Chair 
John Bradford* 
Will Bucholtz  
Mike DeBruyn* 
Marc Lazenby* 
Jason Lickers 
Scott Lyons* 
(ON LEAVE)  Dee Perera* 
Lloyd St. Amand 
Justin Wareham 
Jacqueline Willson* 
Cindy Rock*

* Non-Director Committee Member 
** liaisons to Quality Mgt. Council 
***Also Committee chairs                Italics=staff

E.D. RM Hadley is Ex-Officio member of all bodies

updated January 2026

Question 2

What are the roles and responsibilities of Board members?

Accepted Answer

an excerpt from the Board Manual, Policy B1-100, Role of Committees and Directors

Board Committees provide a forum for broad discussion of issues in order to develop recommendations for board action. The Board is the final decision-making body.

Standing Committees of the Board are:
•	Finance/Personnel Committee [which serves as the Audit Committee]
•	Professional Advisory Committee
•	Governance Committee
•	Long Range Planning Committee
•	Executive Committee

Directors:
As stewards of Lansdowne Children’s Centre, Directors are responsible to perform the duties of the Board stipulated by Centre bylaws.

Selected to bring individual expertise and a collective skills mix established by the Nominating Committee, Directors have a primary responsibility for the best interests of Lansdowne, representing the children and youth and their families.

A Director’s ethical obligation is to support the Mission, Vision and Values in pursuing the strategic direction of the Centre.  In addition to personally signing a Code of Ethics and consenting to background checks, Directors collectively ensure adherence to legal standards stipulated by the Corporations Act, and to ethical norms by establishing policies and adherence to Centre by-laws and Letters Patent.

Question 3

What are the guidelines for Board member duties and responsibilities?

Accepted Answer

an excerpt from the Board Manual, Policy B3-20, Board Code of Ethics

Recognizing its legal and ethical responsibility for the direction and operations of Lansdowne Children’s Centre, the Board of Directors will keep the following uppermost in all its decision making:
a)	the health and well being of children and their families;
b)	the delivery of high-quality services; and 
c)	the welfare of staff.

1.0	Ethical Duties and Obligations
1.1	Directors will exercise reasonable care (care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise in a like position and under similar circumstances) when making decisions as stewards of Lansdowne Children’s Centre.
1.2	Directors will be faithful to Lansdowne’s mission and will not act in a way that is inconsistent with the agency’s central goals.
1.3	Directors will protect the confidentiality of all information acquired in their role as a Board member.
1.4	Directors will avoid conflict of interest (a conflict of interest arises when a director has a personal interest in the result of a decision made by the Board of Directors).  Directors will consider the interests of Lansdowne first, and will not use information obtained as a director for personal gain.  Directors with a financial conflict of interest will not participate in discussions or vote on matters that affect decisions made by the Board of Directors.
1.5	A Director with a conflict of interest will be responsible for declaring such conflict.
1.6	Directors will present consolidated support for decisions made by the Board of Directors, so as to demonstrate the integrity of the Board.

2.0 	Primary Organizational Responsibilities
2.1	The Board of Directors will be responsible for the creation of the mission and purpose of Lansdowne Children’s Centre and review them periodically for accuracy and validity.  Each Director will understand the mission and support it.
2.2	The Board of Directors selects and supports the Executive Director through regular performance reviews.  The Board of Directors will ensure that the Executive Director has the moral and professional support needed to further the goals of Lansdowne Children’s Centre.
2.3	As stewards of Lansdowne Children’s Centre, the Board of Directors will actively participate with staff in an overall planning process to assist in implementing the agency’s goals.
2.4	One of the Board of Directors foremost responsibilities is to ensure adequate resources for Lansdowne Children’s Centre to fulfill its mission. 
2.5	The Board of Directors review and approve Lansdowne’s annual budgets and ensure that proper financial controls are in place.
2.6	The Board of Directors will ensure that programs are consistent with Lansdowne’s mission and monitor their effectiveness.
2.7	As the primary link to the community, the Board of Directors must clearly articulate Lansdowne’s mission, accomplishments and goals to the public, and garner support from relevant members of the community.
2.8	The Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.  The Board of Directors will establish pertinent policies and adhere to the provisions of Lansdowne’s Bylaws and Letters Patent.
2.9	The Board of Directors will articulate and make known its needs in terms of its members’ experience and skill to ensure a balanced Board composition.  The Board of Directors will help orient new Directors to their responsibilities and to Lansdowne’s history, needs and challenges.  The Board of Directors will evaluate its performance and identify and act on areas of improvement needed to fulfill its responsibilities.

Question 4

Who holds Board members accountable? How is their performance evaluated?

Accepted Answer

an excerpt from the Board Manual, Policy B3-40, Board Evaluation

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the collective operations of the Board of Directors, a Board Evaluation will be completed annually.  The Board Evaluation will be comprised of the following to also evaluate performance of individual board members and of the President:

1.	All members of the Board of Directors will complete the Board Effectiveness Evaluation Survey in June of each year except when accreditation is completed in that year.

2.	To cultivate a sense of group and individual responsibility for effective Board functioning, the Board will support assessment of Directors’ “fiduciary duty”, namely the Director’s active concerted effort beyond meeting attendance, to be knowledgeable and prepared to provide informed advice and make informed decisions.

Individual performance will be assessed by provision of attendance reports and self-monitoring tools to compare activity and discipline to policies in the Board Manual.  All Directors except the President will also annually conduct self-assessment by using the Individual Board Member Self-Evaluation Form and offer feedback on colleagues by completing the Self-Evaluation Form for each of their colleagues, as submitted to the President; the President will consolidate results and share them with each Director to support identification of actions to enhance their work

3.	President Performance is assessed by the President completing a Self-Assessment annually as well as each Board member completing a President Assessment to be submitted to the Vice-President. The 1st Vice-President consolidates the President Assessments and shares results with the President to support the President to identify actions to enhance their work.

4.	A survey of each Board member’s linkages in the community: all Board members will be asked to outline other volunteer or service clubs that they are members of.

The above information is presented at the October Meeting of the Board of Directors.  This information provides a basis for developing Board development goals for the upcoming planning year.

Within the accreditation cycle, governance functioning self-assessment tools will be completed by each member of the Board.

Question 5

How does the Board evaluate the performance of the Executive Director?

Accepted Answer

an excerpt from the Board Manual, Policy B4-60, Executive Director: Performance Appraisal and Salary Review

The Chair and two other members of the Board shall conduct in the first year of the Executive Director’s employment a performance appraisal at six (6) months and at twelve (12) months. Thereafter, performance appraisals will be conducted on or about the anniversary of the Executive Director’s commencement date, in accordance with the Centre’s policies for performance appraisals.

Question 6

How does a Board member get started?

Accepted Answer

Each Board member upon acceptance of their position will complete a Onboarding Process.
This process includes an Orientation Manual, that includes materials to help a new Board member get more familiar with items including Lansdowne operations, policies, procedures, history and strategic planning.

New Board member onboarding also includes instruction on how to gain access to shared board resources using a private website portal.

Question 7

Where can I view the Lansdowne Strategic Plan?

Accepted Answer

The four strategies of the Lansdowne Children's Centre multi-year Strategic Plan are:

Culture of Excellence 
Strengthen workplace culture so it attracts and retains the very best and right fit employees and volunteers

State of Art Environment
Having the best possible space to provide our changing services in all our locations as well as the other resources needed to support our work

Innovation to Enhance Service 
Engage needed tools and solutions to improve quality, safety and efficiencies.

Tell Our Story 
Clarify, magnify and celebrate our story for greater understanding of what Lansdowne does and its significance

Download our 2023 Staregic Plan overview PDF for more information, as shared at our June 2023 Annual General Meeting

Question 8

Where can I view the Lansdowne Communications Plan?

Accepted Answer

The most recent Communications Plan for Lansdowne Children's Centre includes Strategies and desired Outcomes targeting four audiences: 
 • Clients and Families
 • Employees 
 • Media
 • Stakeholders

View the full PDF document here.

Board of Directors

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Growing with you...

Ashley Veldkamp

Anne Noyes

Jason Lickers

Skylar Turkiewicz-DaBreo-

Lloyd St Amand

Dr. Benjamin Klein, Ex Officio

Joe Persia

Vicky Smith

Jennifer Steffler

Holly Clark

Kathy Straus

Vincent Vilaca

Justin Wareham

Jamie Toner

Rick Rozak

Will Bucholtz

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