Community Advisory Committee

Vanessa Ambtman-Smith, (Niizhobinesiik/Two Thunderbirds), PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Western University in Geography and Environment and Indigenous Studies. A member of the Thunderbird Clan of Nêhiyaw-Métis ancestry from Treaty 6 territory, she brings over 25 years of experience as an Indigenous health leader and systems strategic planner, including nearly two decades in direct health system leadership roles with health organizations across Ontario.

Her research focuses on Traditional Healing Spaces in healthcare institutions, employing Indigenous methodologies to understand how to create and protect “islands of Indigenous sovereignty” within colonial healthcare settings through specific spatial practices and governance structures. Ambtman-Smith’s recent publications include “They’re not just fire pits, they’re Sacred Fires: Traditional healing spaces as sites of anticolonial resistance in a Toronto hospital” in Social Science & Medicine (2025) and “Incorporating First Nations, Inuit and Métis Traditional Healing Spaces within a Hospital Context” (2024), and she has authored practical frameworks including the “Indigenous Cultural Safety Action Framework for Ontario Health Teams” (2024).

As a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholar, Vanier Scholar, and current Provincial Co-Chair of Ontario Health's Indigenous Cultural Safety Quality Standard Committee, she combines academic excellence with systems-level impact. Her practical healthcare experience includes Indigenous Health Lead positions with Toronto Central and South West LHINs, and extensive training in Indigenous Cultural Safety as both practitioner and trainer. Her vision is to create ethical spaces where Indigenous wholistic health can flourish within contemporary healthcare systems, contributing to meaningful reconciliation and improved outcomes for Indigenous communities.

Jonathan is a Senior Investment Advisor and Portfolio Manager with BMO Private Wealth. Starting with BMO Nesbitt Burns in 2002, he has built a successful practice providing investment management and financial planning services to a varied client base across Southwestern Ontario. In 2021 Jonathan was named one of Canada’s Top Wealth Advisors in the inaugural Globe and Mail’s Top Wealth Advisor ranking. Jonathan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with a BA in Psychology. Jonathan received his Certified International Wealth Manager (CIWM) designation in 2010, his Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation in 2012, and his Portfolio Manager designation in 2014.

In addition to day-to-day work with clients, Jonathan is Past-Chair of the IA Advisory Council at BMO Private Wealth. This national council of 16 advisors meets quarterly with senior leadership to collaboratively advance the strategic agenda of the firm and represent the 1,000+ advisors who work at BMO Private Wealth.

Recognizing that volunteering is integral to a vibrant community, Jonathan has been active with several organizations. He has volunteered with St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) since 2011, starting on the Finance / Resource Planning and Audit Committee (RPAC), eventually serving as Chair of that committee. He was appointed as a Director of St. Joseph’s Board of Directors (Board) in June 2014, and in 2021 Jonathan was elected Chair of the Board (2021-2023). Over the course of his term with St. Joseph’s, he has served as Chair of the Investment Subcommittee of RPAC and Chair of the Lawson Health Research Institute Finance and Investment Committee. He is currently the Chair of the Lawson Research Institute Board of St. Joseph’s. Jonathan also previously volunteered on the McCormick Home Foundation Board and was Chair from 2007-2009.

Jonathan and his wife Elizabeth are kept busy with their three daughters, one in university and two in high school. They spend as much time as possible being active, playing hockey and tennis, and whenever possible, enjoying the outdoors in Muskoka.

Jason Bates was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. Jason graduated from the University of Waterloo, where he obtained an Honours BA in Urban & Regional Planning. After graduation, Jason started working for Windsor Factory Supply (WFS), an industrial supply company.

He worked throughout Southeastern Michigan and Southern Ontario, providing maintenance, repair and operations support to many of the leading manufacturing companies in the region. Transferring to the WFS London office in the early '90s, he has lived in London for over 25 years.

With the experience, contacts and expertise he accumulated from his time at WFS, Jason founded JDB Consulting in 2007. JDB Consulting works with numerous clients in and around the manufacturing sector, including the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC), the London Region Manufacturing Council (LRMC, current Chair), the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), and hundreds of individual manufacturing companies. Facilitation of best practice sharing and benchmarking, fostering the growth and prosperity of the manufacturing sector, business development, and connecting clients with the resources they need are the main areas of focus for Jason.

Jason's entrepreneurial interests have also led to the successful co-founding of Factory Bucket Ltd. A London tech company with a focus on the manufacturing sector. Factory Bucket is leading the evolution of manufacturing software, scheduling, and ERP's by utilizing the power of AI. Jason lives with his wife and daughter. He has sat on numerous community boards & has been involved with minor sports for 30-plus years, coaching hockey, baseball, and soccer. The past six years, he has worked extensively with the Whitecaps London Soccer Club as Club Manager and is currently General Manager of Railway City FC in League1 Ontario Soccer Men’s and Women’s Pro-Am divisions.

Peter Bergmanis is the founder and longest serving Co-chair of the London Health Coalition. The London Health Coalition is a chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition, a 750,000 member strong nonpartisan public healthcare advocacy organization. It is at the forefront of the battle to halt for- profit healthcare within the province. With strong ties to the community and organized labour, Peter has served with the United Way, Neighbourhood Legal Services of London and Middlesex and is a former Vice President of Healthcare at Unifor Local 27. As primary spokesperson for the London Health Coalition, Peter brings to bear over 35 years of experience in the London healthcare system to his analysis of the current crisis facing Ontario.

Scott Courtice is the Executive Director of the London InterCommunity Health Centre, where he leads an organization committed to delivering healthcare and social services to some of London’s most marginalized community members.

In addition to his role at the Centre, Scott serves as Co-Chair of the Middlesex-London Primary Care Network (MLPCN), Co-Chair of the Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team’s (MLOHT) Community Health Model Action Team, and serves on the MLOHT Leadership Table.

Active in civic life, Scott also volunteers on the Board of Directors of the Old East Village Business Improvement Area. His past governance experience includes serving on the boards of the London Public Library, London Cares Homeless Response Service, Western Fair District, and the London Youth Advisory Council. 

Born in London, Ontario to Lebanese and Syrian community leaders, Mariam Hamou was London’s Ontario’s first Muslim female city councilor, Chief of Staff for a Member of Parliament, and served as the North American PR and Media Director for the UN led Syrian Coalition in Istanbul. She has been heavily involved in local and international NGOs and has led the Ontario Library’s Boards Association as the past-president. She currently sits on boards in London and internationally, has two teenage daughters and works in Tillsonburg as a children’s librarian.

Michelle is a graduate from Fanshawe College’s Developmental Service Worker program and the Human Resource Management program.  She has also completed the Queen’s University Executive Leadership Program and the Ontario Leadership Consortium on Developmental Services through the University of Delaware. 

Michelle has worked for Community Living London since 1983, in a variety of roles. In 2018 she became the founding Executive Director of Creative Team Solutions, a non-profit organization developed to provide shared back office supports to other non-profits.  In this role Michelle provides Executive Leadership and Governance support to multiple non-profit agencies, including Community Living London, Community Living Elgin, New Frontiers Support Services and Kids Country Club.

Michelle has held several past volunteer roles, including the Chair of the Ontario Association on Developmental Disabilities, Chair of the Southwest Executive Directors group, and Chair of the Provincial Network on Developmental Disabilities.

Grace was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, and serves as a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Department of Medical Biophysics, Medicine (Respirology), Medical Imaging, Oncology, and Biomedical Engineering at Western University. As an Associate Scientist at Lawson and London Health Sciences Research Institute (LHSCRI), and Scientist at Robarts Research Institute, she widely collaborates across the local health-research ecosystem.

Her research is focused on developing new imaging physics tools to gain a deep understanding of the lung pathologies that contribute to worsening asthma and COPD, and the role novel treatments may play in initiating clinical remission. Her research is funded by federal (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and provincial (Ministry of Health Ontario) agencies as well as industrial collaborators (Trudell Medical International, Astra Zeneca, and GlaxoSmithKline).

Grace is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a board member of CIHR, the Canadian Thoracic Society, and the German Centre for Lung Research.

Dorothy Pol is a compassionate caregiver who has advocated for her children, parents and others as they navigate healthcare systems. She has accompanied loved ones within multiple hospitals including: London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) – Children’s Hospital, Victoria Hospital and University Hospital. St. Joseph’s Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), Toronto General, Toronto Western, Royal University Hospital (Saskatoon, Canada) and Guys Hospital (London, United Kingdom).

Dorothy became a Patient Partner at LHSC in 2018 with the goal of making hospital experiences the best they can be for patients and their families. As a member the Clinical Service Group and Support Service Group from the Infection Prevention and Control Team she has evaluated medical device reprocessing and clutter management. She also helped promote hand hygiene awareness and signage for patients, staff and visitors at LHSC.

Dorothy has reviewed countless fact sheets, letters and corporate materials in consultation with the Communication team, ensuring they are accessible for patients and their families. As part of the COVID-19 Rapid Response Team she reviewed materials in a timely manner to make sure they were community friendly. She was selected as the Chair of the Patient Experience Advisory Council in 2023 and participated in wayfinding environmental scans aimed at making it easier for patients and families to find their way around the hospital. Dorothy has also participated in learning about Indigenous communities.

Dorothy believes that reducing stress in the hospital environment fosters collaborative partnerships between patients and their healthcare teams, ultimately contributing to better patient outcomes, increased healthcare provider satisfaction and a stronger hospital system.

In addition to her role at LHSC, she is an active member of the Family Council at McCormick Home (Advanced Long-term and Dementia Care) and is the Family Council representative on the home’s Quality Advisory Team. She is an accomplished fiber artist, who enjoys being with family, ballroom dancing, studying languages and travelling.

Nathan Smith serves as Manager of Communications at the Thames Valley District School Board. Among other responsibilities, Smith helps shape the Board’s strategic communications, media relations, crisis management, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring that TVDSB’s values, commitments, and priorities are clearly and consistently reflected across all platforms.

Prior to that, he served as Chief of Staff to London Mayor Josh Morgan from 2022 to 2025, and was previously Director of Communications for the entirety of Mayor Ed Holder’s term in office. In addition, Smith had a nearly 20-year career in news media, working as a reporter, anchor, news director, and program director with stops in London, Kitchener, and Toronto.

He’s proud to live and work in London, but even more proud to be the father of 15-year-old Cassius and 12-year-old Nyah.