Kate Hagerman is co-Executive Director of People for Education.

Formerly PFE’s General Manager, Kate has been with the organization for 6 years, and has led operational, planning, and strategic efforts. She has collaborated on many of the organization’s flagship initiatives including The New Basics, The Future of Public Education Initiative, and most recently, the creation of The Education Promise. She has also held roles focused on evaluation, project management, and event coordination.

Previously, Kate was a researcher at the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario where she predominantly focused on issues related to access, retention, skills, and lifelong learning opportunities in post-secondary education. She has also held roles at the Evaluation Centre for Complex Health Interventions at St. Michael’s Hospital and George Brown College, centred on programs supporting access to healthcare and education for underrepresented groups.

Kate holds a Master’s degree from Western University where her research explored the educational transitions of d/Deaf youth in Ontario.

Kate is Mom to Lucas and Liam (and Nessie, her dog) and lives in Barrie, ON – just a stones throw north of where she and her husband Craig, grew up. She is a figure skating enthusiast and loves all things old and full of history.

Paris Semansky is co-Executive Director of People for Education.

Most recently, Paris was PFE’s Director of Systems Change, and joined the organization after six years as the Director of Communications and Public Affairs at CAMH – Canada’s largest mental health hospital and world leading mental health research centre.

Previously, Paris served as a senior policy advisor to former Premier Kathleen Wynne on K-12 education, early years and child care, community hubs, post-secondary, and Indigenous relations files, and also as chief of staff to Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. In addition, Paris advised corporate clients at FleishmanHillard and also held senior advisor roles working for Ministers of Education, Health, and Children and Youth Services in Ontario.

A born and raised Londoner (Ontario), Paris studied social justice and peace at King’s University College at Western University and obtained her Master of Communications Management (MCM) at McMaster University.

Her biggest accomplishment is as mother to her daughters, Anna and Mira. Paris, her girls, and her husband, Mike, live in Toronto’s east end.

Lana Durst held her Chartered Professional Accountant designation from 2004 to 2024. For sixteen years she worked in progressively challenging roles in corporate finance leading global operations units with a focus on data quality and integrity, and employee satisfaction. She fostered motivated and engaged teams by recognizing both individual strengths and contributions as well as collaborative results in the pursuit of clearly defined goals.

In 2008 she moved from corporate finance into education and taught college level accounting for eight years which aligned with her strong belief that a foundation of accounting helps people in any field to contribute to the effectiveness of an organization. She further pursued her passion for financial literacy by offering free financial literacy workshops in her community. Her volunteer board work ranges from pure governance to operational roles and reflects her passion for financial literacy, public health, and public education. She sees these fields as complimentary and key to an equitable and prosperous society

Lisa Rae is the Director of Systems Change at Prosper Canada, responsible for advancing policy and advocacy efforts to catalyse “upstream” policy, regulatory, and institutional changes. Lisa has worked in public policy, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and communications for fifteen years. She has held roles in membership organizations, the postsecondary education and health sectors, and in government. Lisa served as a senior advisor to the Ontario Minister for Advanced Education and Skills Development and served as the Minister’s lead on the co-creation and introduction of legislation recognizing Indigenous Institutes and on the transformation of OSAP. Lisa holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Toronto.

Alexi White is the Director of Systems Change at Maytree, leading Maytree’s efforts to change social systems so that they respect, protect, and fulfill everyone’s economic and social rights. He brings experience in the intersection of human rights and public policy from his previous role leading the policy team at B.C.’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. He has also held multiple policy positions in the Ontario government, culminating in the role of Director of Policy to the Minister of Education. Alexi holds a master in public policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Queen’s University.

Steve is a policy advisor with the Government of Canada. He has over twenty years experience working in federal departments and central agencies on a range of social and economic issues, including education and cultural policy. Steve is the Director of Competition and Strategic Issues with the Department of Finance Canada and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Carleton University.

Michelle Mak is currently Director, Western Communities Foundation, for Western Financial Group, leading the company’s community investments and employee engagement efforts. Prior to this role, she managed the operations and employee giving campaigns for BMO. Michelle also has experience working for national charities such as Community Food Centres Canada, where she served as their corporate fundraising lead, and Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations as their Director of Stakeholder Experience.

Michelle is an educator and an experienced social impact professional with 18 years of global experience working across the public, private, and social sectors. Her work experience features roles in corporate philanthropy and partnerships, nonprofit management, community outreach, donor stewardship, and impact reporting.

She has a Master of Education in Comparative and International Education and Development, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Corporate Communications and Public Relations from the University of Hong Kong. Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Arts and a TESOL Certificate from York University. Currently, she is pursuing her Certified Professional Impact Analysis (CPIA-I) designation from Queen’s University.

Michelle was born in Hong Kong, China, and grew up in Toronto, Canada. She spent over a decade in Asia from 2006 to 2017 before returning to Canada where she now resides with her fiancé and three cats. Michelle is a regular volunteer and currently dedicates her time to Abbey Cat Adoptions as a volunteer Adoption Screener.

Jared Forman is a communications and public policy professional with a wide breadth of experience in the climate space and in federal politics. He currently serves as the Speechwriter for the Prime Minister of Canada, working to translate government policy and actions into clear language that resonates with the broader public in Canada and around the globe. He has previously worked as a Policy Advisor and Speechwriter with Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and at various think tanks including the Canadian Climate Institute and the Canadian International Council.

Raised by a proud public school teacher, Jared has always been passionate about public education and has fought for the interests of students during his time in campus politics at his alma mater, Western University, the institution where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. Jared additionally holds a Master of Public Policy from the Paris Institute of Political Affairs, better known as Sciences Po, and a Master of Global Affairs from the Munk School at the University of Toronto.

Fiona is a seasoned specialist with over 25 years of experience in education and higher education policy, research and initiatives.  She is the Principal at Fiona Deller and Associates, working primarily with cause driven organizations focusing on education research, strategic planning, program design and operational infrastructure.  Fiona has held senior management positions with the Future Skills Centre, the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and has worked for the Ontario and Federal governments. Additionally, Fiona teaches program evaluation and research design at Toronto Metropolitan University. Fiona is passionate about practical solutions that meet students’ needs, and creating an accessible, user-friendly educational eco-system. Fiona has bachelor’s and master’s Degrees from McGill in History, and a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto in the field of higher education theory and policy.  

Diavin is a people leader with over 20 years of experience in the networking, telecom and financial services industries. He is passionate about finding inclusive ways to deliver profitable growth. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer for BPTN, where his focus is on creating opportunities for their 60,000+ Black tech and professional members across North America via networking, skill building and barrier elimination. His consulting teams also work with BPTN’s corporate partners to embed inclusive practices into their organizations and help them deliver on their DEI commitments.  

Diavin is most proud of the work he does volunteering and advocating for his communities. He is the coordinating chair and OHTN primary investigator for the Black Gay Men’s Network of Ontario. He is also a board member of HQ, Canada’s first community health centre focussed on the holistic health needs of queer men and trans people. Diavin is also the board vice-chair and a volunteer mentor with Stepstones for Youth, a non-profit focussed on improving success rates for young people exiting foster care in Ontario. He has also previously served as the co-chair of the Rogers LGBTQ+ employee resource group.

Alicia Cameron is Anishinaabe from Saugeen First Nation, but currently resides in Sturgeon Falls, ON with her husband and four daughters.

She has a background focused strongly in Indigenous education and holds a BA/BEd from Lakehead University, and a Master of Education from OISE/University of Toronto. Professionally, she has considerable experience in public education, First Nations education, elementary, secondary and post-secondary teaching and learning, student success, curriculum writing, and education policy.

At the current time, she is employed as the Executive Director of the Ontario Native Education Counselling Association (ONECA).  She also works with the Indigenous Trustees’ Council (ITC) of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA), on a consultant basis.

She truly believes that every student is unique with their own set of strengths and gifts. She has always admired the work that People for Education has engaged in, that contributes to making it possible for all students to be successful in an ever-changing society. She is committed to contributing her skills and experience to an endeavor that advocates for the well-being and success of all students in public education.

William Awad is a Managing Director at Deloitte, where he leads the national Human Capital leadership team and helps to develop innovative HR strategies for a range of sectors including education. He is also a board member at SPCA Montreal. William holds a Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from McGill University, an MBA from Lebanese American University, and a BS in Finance.