WRHA Board Members
Dr. Marcia Anderson – Board Chair
Dr. Marcia Anderson is Cree-Anishinaabe and grew up in the North End of Winnipeg with roots in Peguis First Nation and Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. She practices Internal Medicine, and serves as the Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health, Social Justice and Anti-Racism in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. Dr. Anderson serves on multiple national Indigenous health and medical education committees and is a member of Health Workforce Canada's Board of Directors.
Dr. Anderson has won multiple awards, including the 2022 Doctors Manitoba Physician of the Year award, the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Excellence in Public Administration, and has been twice named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women's Executive Network. Dr. Anderson was invested in to the Order of Manitoba in 2024.
Mary Jane Brownscombe – Vice-Chair
Mary Jane Brownscombe is the founder and chief executive officer of SHEanalytics, an enterprise that advances Indigenous reconciliation and advocates for women in leadership. She previously held executive positions at IBM Canada, the Women's Enterprise Centre of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba. Brownscombe serves as executive-in-residence for Indigenous Business Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business and is a director for a number of privately held companies. She is a member of the audit committee for Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada, a member of the advisory board for James W. Burns Institute of Leadership and a member of the advisory board for Manitoba and Saskatchewan Women's Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. Brownscombe is a designated certified public accountant and has her master of arts in Native Studies and bachelor of commerce with honours from University of Manitoba.
Adekunle Ajisebutu
Adekunle Ajisebutu has over 30 years of audit and accounting experience and a clear understanding of business risk assessment and management. With audit experience came an understanding of business process review with the aim of understanding business exposure to risk and a need for collaboration with management to manage risk, and collaboratively ensure organization attainment of goals and objectives.
Currently an entrepreneur with interest in retail and real estate rental, Adekunle brings years of business management to the board, and will be of great service in ensuring the achievement of provincial goal of administering and delivering health services to Manitobans. Adekunle is a CMA, CPA with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (with Distinction) from University of New Brunswick, NB, Canada.
Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud
Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud is the chief executive officer of Siloam Mission Inc. Blaikie Whitecloud's former roles include executive director at 1JustCity and sociology instructor at the University of Winnipeg. She previously served on the board of directors with Casera Credit Union and a variety of charities and was previously on the College of Physician and Surgeons of Manitoba's committee to develop a standard of practice to reduce anti-Indigenous racism in health care. She has a master of arts in Political Economy from Carleton University and bachelor of arts degree in Sociology from the University of Winnipeg.
Dr. Netha Dyck
Dr. Netha Dyck has enjoyed a dynamic and diverse nursing career, providing strategic leadership in senior nursing service and academic leadership positions, as well as on provincial and national professional associations, boards, and committees.
Currently, Netha is providing leadership as the Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Manitoba. Her prior academic leadership role was at Saskatchewan Polytechnic where she served as the Dean of the School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences. Her leadership roles in nursing service have spanned urban and rural settings including the WRHA Personal Care Home Program, Concordia Hospital, Bethesda Health and Social Services District and Bethel Hospital. Netha also provided leadership as the President of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses.
A registered nurse, Netha holds a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Calgary. She is an Inaugural Fellow of the Canadian Nurse Educator Institute in recognition of her sustained contribution to nursing education, as well as the Inaugural Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nurses for her contribution to the profession of nursing.
Brenda McInnes
Brenda McInnes is a retired finance executive with Bell MTS Inc. As VP Finance with Bell MTS, Brenda led the finance team overseeing budgeting, reporting, capital investments and financial operations. Previously, as VP & Treasurer of MTS, her span of control included capital markets, pension investments and administration, investor relations, corporate taxation and insurance. Brenda also focused on business strategy.
Brenda is currently serving on the board of directors with Alberta Pension Services Corp. where she is Vice-Chair and Chair of the Technology and Innovation Committee. Brenda is also a long-time member of the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC) where she has held a number of board and committee positions.
Brenda is a CPA CA and has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba.
Jeff Neufeld
Jeff Neufeld is a seasoned financial professional and actuary with over 30 years of financial management and analysis experience. Prior to his retirement in 2022, Jeff was the VP of Financial Management for the Canadian Group division at Canada Life. He was accountable for financial reporting, budgeting, scenario testing, and financial analysis for the Canadian Group Health, Life, and Wealth Management business. He has also been responsible for pricing and optimizing health and disability insurance solutions.
Jeff was previously a board member of QDIPC and subsequently CDIPC (Quebec and Canadian Drug Insurance Pooling Corporations respectively), and has served on various Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) professional standards committees.
Jeff is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (Retired), and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (Retired). He also has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba.
Patti Ramage
Patti Ramage was a practicing lawyer for over 31 years, including 23 years leading Manitoba Hydro's Legal Services Division where she retired as Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in 2020. Her legal practice focused on administrative law. She is well versed in the principles governing boards and tribunals and is knowledgeable in corporate governance and compliance matters. Patti has extensive experience working on multi-disciplinary teams tasked with addressing complex issues requiring the balancing of diverse stakeholder interests.
Patti holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees, both from the University of Manitoba. She was a member of the Canadian and Manitoba Bar Associations (1988 - 2020) and served as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Electric Association's Legal Committee (2017 - 2020). Her community involvement has focused on supporting those with developmental or physical challenges and children's health. She is also experienced at navigating the health care system from a patient support perspective.
Mala Sachdeva
Mala Sachdeva, CPA is the managing consultant for MS Consulting which provides advisory services in the areas of financial management, financial reporting and enterprise risk management to organizations in the not for profit sector and broader public sector.
Prior to her work with MS Consulting Mala worked for the Province of Manitoba for over 25 years in a variety of senior leadership roles. These roles include Deputy Minister of Housing and Community Development, Deputy Minister of Sports Culture and Heritage, Chief Financial Officer for the Manitoba Housing Renewal Corporation and Deputy Auditor General with the Office of the Auditor General.
Mala holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from the University of Manitoba and is trained as a Chartered Accountant. Mala has served on the boards of several non profit organizations whose focus was the delivery of affordable housing, poverty reduction and social services. She currently serves as the Board Chair for UWCRC 2.0 a community development and non profit housing organization
Mala is an Immigrant Canadian, born in Nairobi Kenya, but Winnipeg has been home for over 50 years!
Mark Stewart
Mark Stewart is a lived experience leader working in the shelter sector with 20 years' experience in social services. He is currently the Executive Director of The Salvation Army's Winnipeg Centre of Hope, but has served the community for 16 years with The Salvation Army, including 3 years as the Executive Director at the Ridge Meadows shelter in BC. Mark is passionate about working with marginalized, vulnerable community members to create positive outcomes. He believes in the indelible link between homelessness, addiction and mental health which create disadvantages in the form of health and housing. Mark has degrees in conflict resolution from the University of Winnipeg, non-profit management from Booth University College, and a diploma in applied counseling from Red River Polytechnic. He is currently working on a post-graduate degree in leadership from Trinity Western University. Outside of work and volunteering, he enjoys spending time with this family including his grandchildren, cheering on the Jets and hitting the open road on his motorcycle.
Carole Urias
For over thirty years, Carole Urias has provided financial advice to Canadians and their families. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts she entered the Financial Services industry, earning her Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation through FP Canada. An ardent volunteer, Carole is a transformational thinker who supports organizations that which promote Financial Literacy and Advocacy for Women, Seniors, and First Nations Peoples. In her spare time, she has served on several boards including Seven Oaks General Hospital Board and Seven Oaks Foundation Council, the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation and two terms with the Insurance Council of Manitoba. When not working or volunteering, Carole enjoys spending time with her family camping and restoring her new vintage Airstream.