Our Board

Benjamin Thorek
Board Chair

Ben Thorek joined BFO-Toronto in 2022. His mother received grief counselling after the death of his twin brother and went on to become a board member herself. Ben was inspired to join after seeing the positive impact the organization had on his mother’s life and others in our community.

Ben is currently Senior Vice-President and a Portfolio Manager at Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd.

Allan Cole
Director

Allan was originally on the Board of BFO-Toronto in the 90’s when Marg McGovern was the Executive Director. Allan rejoined the Board in 2015 and has served as a Board Chair. He is the recipient of the BFO-Toronto Founders Award.

Allan has been a Funeral Director for over 40 years and operates MacKinnon & Bowes in Toronto. He and his company have been supportive of BFO and the assistance it provides families in need for over 30 years.

Aimee Bruner
Director

Aimee joined the BFO-Toronto Board in the fall of 2021, in honour of her firstborn daughter, Stella. Aimee’s life changed forever in 2012 when she lost her daughter to a fatal brain tumour. She understands the weight of unimaginable grief and jumped at the opportunity to join forces with BFO–Toronto to help support families like hers, who are trying to find a way forward in the face of the death of a loved one.

Aimee is proud to play a role on this team and is committed to helping the organization continue to provide crucial peer to peer support and services to families. Aimee is currently the Director of Special Projects at Campfire Circle, and brings with her experience in project management, operations and strategic planning. She currently sits on the Fundraising Committee and looks forward to supporting BFO–Toronto wherever there’s a need.

With Stella in her heart, Aimee is happiest when she’s spending time with her kids – Sam, Hugo and Adele.

Judy Fantham

Judy Fantham is a consultant for the Osborne Group specializing in interim leadership and strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. She is a former Executive Director of two nonprofit agencies supporting immigrants, and played a senior role supporting the board of the Ontario Nurses’ Association. A longtime journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Judy was a TV reporter, producer, director of CBC Television in Alberta and Saskatchewan and ultimately led the training department of English Services.

Judy has served on a half dozen nonprofit boards. She joined the BFO family seeking support after the unexpected death of her youngest son Stefan in 2017. Wanting to offer other grieving parents the same compassion, she became one of our faithful facilitators in 2018 and continues to lead at least two groups a year.

Shelina Akter

Shelina Akter is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) with over 25 years of experience in non-profit financial management, including many years in senior leadership roles. Her career has been dedicated to strengthening financial stewardship, enhancing accountability, and supporting mission-driven organizations in delivering meaningful community impact.

Beyond her professional life, Shelina is a proud mother of two adult children and enjoys travelling. She has a special love for soup and salad, her appetite for both is endless, and she loves discovering new flavours wherever she goes.

Shelina has been aware of BFO-Toronto over the years and is looking forward to contributing to the Board and Finance Committee to help further its mission.

Catherine Ince

Catherine has rejoined the board after previously serving for nine years. She was first introduced to BFO-Toronto by Lesley Parrott to assist with a fundraising event, and since then, the charity’s fundraising efforts, financial stability, and long-term resilience have remained areas of strong interest for her.

Catherine is currently the Chief Administrative Officer at Canada’s leading data analytics company, where she oversees Finance, HR, Legal, Project Management, QA, and Sales Operations. Her focus is on operational performance and financial management, ensuring the organization runs as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Jane Smart

Jane has volunteered with BFO-Toronto for over 20 years, serving first as a facilitator for child loss groups and then as a board member, holding various roles on the board. After an absence of a couple of years Jane is excited to once again serve our community.

Dan Jerred

As CEO of a financial conference company for many years, Dan served as its chief Marketing & Communications Officer, among a host of other responsibilities. He has been a fundraiser for Kids Help Phone, Sunnybrook Foundation, the Canadian Mental Health Association (2025) and his alma mater, Wilfrid Laurier University. Dan is a bereaved parent and has experienced first-hand our groups and peer support and is looking to give back to our community.

Christina Lisinska

Christina Lisinska is thrilled to be joining the BFO board after a year of facilitating -55 partner loss groups. Her husband, Brent, died from cancer in 2021 and she credits her BFO support group with helping her to parent her two young daughters through the early days of grief and financial instability under lockdown conditions. She has a background in communications and recently completed OISE’s Grief Education certificate. She is passionate about building a supportive grief community and promoting grief literacy.