Item - 2026.CA33.5

Appointees' Biographies

Charna Gord

Charna Gord is a lifelong public health practitioner, educator, and advocate. She has decades of health promotion experience working at Toronto Public Health and at the University of Toronto. She began her work at Toronto Public Health as a community facing Healthiest Babies Possible Dietitian and moved into education, planning and policy, and professional practice positions at a senior staff level. She was Acting Project Coordinator of the Toronto Food Policy Council at Toronto Public Health, and Associate Program Director and Lecturer in the University of Toronto Master of Public Health Community Nutrition program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She holds a Masters of Education in Health Professions Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. Charna is dedicated to public health values and health equity principles. She especially enjoys mentoring the next generation of practitioners.

Rebecca Mador

Rebecca Mador is a Métis citizen and the Director of Strategy and Planning at Shkaabe Makwa, an Indigenous-led centre for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis wellness innovation at the Centre for Addication and Mental Health. She holds a Master's degree in public health and brings extensive experience advancing health equity, Indigenous health, and public health systems change. Her work focuses on health system planning, policy development, and building cross-sector partnerships to improve population health outcomes. Rebecca also serves as a Board Member of Across Boundaries and is an active member of the Toronto–York Region Métis community. She brings a strong commitment to advancing equitable, community-informed public health policy and governance.

The Civic Appointments Committee recommends that:

1. City Council appoint the following candidates to the Board of Health, at pleasure of Council, for a term of office ending on November 14, 2026, and until successors are appointed:

Charna Gord; and

Rebecca Mador. 

2. City Council direct that Confidential Attachments 1a, 1b, and 2 to 4 to the report (February 18, 2026) from the City Clerk remain confidential in their entirety as they relate to personal matters about identifiable individuals being considered for appointment to the Board of Health.

Candidates' Biographies

Charna Gord

Charna Gord is a lifelong public health practitioner, educator, and advocate. She has decades of health promotion experience working at Toronto Public Health and at the University of Toronto. She began her work at Toronto Public Health as a community facing Healthiest Babies Possible Dietitian and moved into education, planning and policy, and professional practice positions at a senior staff level. She was Acting Project Coordinator of the Toronto Food Policy Council at Toronto Public Health, and Associate Program Director and Lecturer in the University of Toronto Master of Public Health Community Nutrition program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She holds a Masters of Education in Health Professions Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. Charna is dedicated to public health values and health equity principles. She especially enjoys mentoring the next generation of practitioners.

Rebecca Mador

Rebecca Mador is a Métis citizen and the Director of Strategy and Planning at Shkaabe Makwa, an Indigenous-led centre for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis wellness innovation at the Centre for Addication and Mental Health. She holds a Master's degree in public health and brings extensive experience advancing health equity, Indigenous health, and public health systems change. Her work focuses on health system planning, policy development, and building cross-sector partnerships to improve population health outcomes. Rebecca also serves as a Board Member of Across Boundaries and is an active member of the Toronto–York Region Métis community. She brings a strong commitment to advancing equitable, community-informed public health policy and governance.

The Civic Appointments Committee will conduct interviews and recommend two candidates to City Council for appointment to the Board of Health.