Recommended Board Additions – 2017/18

The 519 presents the recommended Board additions for 2017/18. These candidates have successfully passed the application and nomination requirements, and the evaluation process.

David Morris

David Morris originally joined the Ontario Public Service (OPS) in September 2011 and currently serves as a Senior Policy Advisor supporting the Ontario Dementia Strategy on behalf of theMinistry of Health and Long-Term Care. David has served in a number of capacities across the public service as a leader, communication strategist and now policy-maker.

David is also very active in the LGBTQ community in a number of initiatives including volunteering with the InsideOut Film Festival, the People with Aids Foundation and the Ontario Public Service Pride Network. David also worked with Toronto Sisters of Joy and The 519 to organize the Orlando Memorial Vigil in 2016.

Nichola (Nicki) Ward

"Prior to transitioning, I was a senior executive in the financial services sector reporting directly to c-level. Responsible for a budget of $13 million+ and a sales force of approx. 900 people. Subsequent to coming out as Trans (and prior to legislative protection) I was dismissed, lost access to my family lost access to community support, lost my home and worse.

Unemployed, unhoused and (not coincidentally) rendered disabled – It's quite likely that my life could have ended the way many trans women's do.

Instead, I've managed to build a new life. And, over the course of 2 decades, the 519 has helped me to find new family, new community and new purpose. I'm committed to making sure that the 519 is there for others as it was for me."

Tom Warner

Tom Warner has been an activist and advocate for LGBTQ rights for over 45 years, and helped to found and was active in several LGBTQ community groups over that time. He is best known as an organizer and spokesperson of the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario from 1975 to 2009, during which time he was a leader of political action campaigns to have sexual orientation included as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code and to have Ontario laws amended to extend legal recognition to same-sex spousal relationships. Tom's public service includes having served as a Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (1993 – 1996) and from 2005 to 2013 on the Board of Directors of Canadian Blood Services (serving as Vice Chair of the Board from 2009 – 2013).

Tom is the author of two books: Losing Control, Canada's Social Conservatives in the Age of Rights (2010) and Never Going Back, A History of Queer Activism in Canada (2002). Tom was employed with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario from 1980 until his retirement in 2016. He held a number of administrative and senior executive positions, including most recently Vice President and Registrar and Vice President, Regulatory and Standards.

Members from the non-catchment area are:

Biko Beauttah

Biko Beauttah is a human rights activist currently attending George Brown College majoring in Jewellery Arts. Born and raised in Kenya, Biko moved to Canada in 2006 to seek asylum because being LGBTQ* is considered a crime in her home country.

A champion of refugee and sexual minority rights, she has spread her message of tolerance and equality through various platforms such as the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Refugee Pride Convention, where she was a discussant on panels. Biko was also the first person to give a lecture on gender studies upon the inception of such a course at a high school in Canada.

At George Brown, Biko also served as the Women and Trans Persons representative, bridging the gap between her constituents, the college administration and the Student Association. Through the Student Union, Biko was also part of a panel which included the founders of Black Lives Matter US, to discuss issues faced by racialized students, and sexual minorities on college campuses at The Canadian Federation of Students Convention. She was also the first queer person of African descent to open the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Biko is currently working on Trans Workforce, the world’s first job fair geared towards people who identify as Trans and Gender Nonconforming. An initiative she is determined to launch so as to get transgender people out of underground economies like sex-work. Like most trans women of colour, due to societies stigma, even she, with all her brilliance, cannot find a job.
In addition to being featured on The Tyra Banks show, Biko Beauttah has also worked as an Image Consultant, Art Director and Wardrobe Stylist.

Pam Hrick

Pam Hrick is a lawyer at a small litigation firm in Toronto. She received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Ottawa and a law degree from Queen’s University. She has completed judicial clerkships at the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal. Pam provides pro bono legal advice and representation to individuals through Pro Bono Ontario and also serves on the national Board of Directors for Equal Voice.

Pam is actively involved in work dedicated to ending violence against women. She served as Vice-Chair of the Board of the Sexual Assault Centre Kingston and was a member of the University of Ottawa’s Task Force on Respect and Equality, which conducted extensive consultations and provided recommendations to the President about preventing and responding to sexual violence in the university community. She has also acted as pro bono counsel for the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic in appeals before the Ontario Superior Court. 

Paul Noble

Paul Noble is Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel at BMO Capital Markets. Paul is accountable for leading the Capital Markets legal team globally, providing legal advice, guidance and direction on a range of issues, transactions and initiatives across the Capital Markets businesses. Paul joined BMO in 2003 and has been in executive chief legal officer roles for BMO's different businesses since 2008. Paul is a member of BMO’s Leadership Committee for Inclusion and Diversity, a cross-enterprise group of executives whose mandate is to guide BMO’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Paul is also the Executive Sponsor for BMO Pride, BMO’s enterprise-wide affinity group for LGBTQ employees.

Before joining BMO, Paul was with Torys LLP, an international law firm. Paul received his Bachelor of Law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada.

Paul is a Board member of The 519, an Executive Committee member of Legal Leaders for Diversity and Inclusion and a Dinner Committee member of the Mosaic Institute.

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