Sande retired in 2018 from her position as a Medical Officer of Health serving the population of the Winnipeg Health Region. She has a passion for public health and throughout her career she has worked in a variety of areas.

Nicole Herpai is pursuing a PhD in Community Health Sciences while working as a research assistant. She applies a feminist political economy lens to examine how broader social, political and economic factors shape public health issues and what can be done about it.

Geoffrey Thompson is an occupational health nurse and has worked the past 20 years at the intersection of cross-cultural health, community development and organizational change management. He specializes in promoting positive workplace mental health through joint worker and management training focused on how to identify and control on-the-job psychosocial hazards.

From her humble beginnings as a Public Health Nurse working with Winnipeg’s inner city communities, to Program and Policy development with the Manitoba government and finally. Program Management in the Winnipeg Health Region (plus a few other gigs in between), Darlene’s 35 year career has afforded her a breadth and depth of public health knowledge and experience. Social justice and health equity are nestled deeply in Darlene’s heart along side her love of family, gardening, her bike, and more recently fermented foods! Newly retired, Darlene is excited to work with the MPHA and its partners, to continue the pursuit of healthier people and communities.

Lea has a Master of Nursing Degree from the University of Manitoba. Using Western and Indigenous ways of knowing, Lea’s focus is on improving the health and well being of Indigenous peoples.

Born and raised in Egypt, Muhammad moved to Winnipeg in 2019 to pursue an MSc degree in Physiology and Pathophysiology, where he studied some of the neuronal circuits controlling behaviour at the brain level. Muhammad worked as the Policy and Health Information Manager at the Manitoba Métis Federation, where he advocated for the health and well-being of Red River Métis Citizens. Presently, Muhammad is the System Performance Specialist at CancerCare Manitoba, working to measure and develop performance indicators to maximize the efficiency of care for all Manitobans. Muhammad is a dentist by training, an avid reader of health research publications, and a botany hobbyist!

Uyiosa has a master’s in public health, Peacebuilding and Collaborative Development, and business administration. She has passionately worked in the public health sector for over twenty years. She majorly worked with women and kids and is an advocate for building the health of a community.

Dr. Zeeshan Qadar is an Implementation Scientist/Knowledge Translation Specialist in Infectious Diseases Public Health with more than a decade experience. He has published over a dozen articles on various topics in public health, and evidence-based medicine. He has been a Winnipegger for more than a decade and loves fishing and hiking.

Julianne Sanguins practiced for many years with indigenous peoples and communities, most recently for almost 20 years in the Health and Wellness Department at the Manitoba Métis Federation. She holds a nil appointment as an Assistant Professor in the University of Manitoba’s Department of Community Health Sciences and is an Adjunct Scientist with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Having graduated from the University of Toronto 40 years ago with her BScN., Julianne is an RN and holds a PhD (Nursing) which she obtained from the University of Calgary. Having spent many years of her life in small towns and remote communities, she is especially interested in issues of equity, access, and the impact of the environment on people’s lives.

Joanna a Chinese settler who holds a Masters of Public Health from the University of Waterloo and is trained as a registered dietitian. She envisions a future where equity deserving groups achieve social liberation through anti-racist and anti-oppressive systems change.

Margaret Fast is a retired public health physician with several decades of experience in public health and healthcare. She has a specific interest in child health and infectious diseases. Margaret looks forward to being part of MPHA’s advocacy work, focusing on being strategic and opportunistic about the question: What matters most now? Margaret enjoys travel and writing and dabbles in genealogy.

Amanda Younka has worked in Winnipeg for the last 30 years in the field of Community Health & health promotion.  She holds a Bachelor of Physical Education-University of Manitoba with a Speciality in Aging.  Additionally, Amanda has a Master in Public Health- University of Liverpool, UK and dedicated her dissertation to the TRC calls to action #19 to address the inequities of health services for remote Indigenous communities.  Amanda is passionate about health equity for all and is experienced in using the community development framework when engaging communities. She loves her family & dogs, running and peanut butter.