Board Member Biographies

Adrian is a finance executive with over 20 years of progressive experience in accounting and finance in the Aviation, Banking and Non-profit sectors. He has a BCOM from Ryerson University and is a member of the Association of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada holding the designation of CPA, CMA.

Adrian joined Helping Hands to participate in a wonderful organization whose focus is assisting seniors and adults with physical disabilities.

Andrea is a Chartered Professional Accountant who has worked in public accounting for the past 14 years.

A native of Chester, Nova Scotia, Andrea graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Mount Saint Vincent University in 2003 before moving to Ontario to pursue her career in public accounting.

Andrea is a Manager of Accounting and Assurance with BDO Canada in Barrie. Her focus is on financial statement audits for clients in the not-for-profit sector, with a focus on health-care organizations. She also currently serves on the Barrie Terry Fox Run Committee.

Jennifer Biggar is a lawyer practicing at the firm of Russell, Christie, LLP in Orillia, ON, in areas including real estate, wills and estates, and municipal law. After being called to the bar in 2013, she returned to her hometown of Orillia and joined the firm of Russell, Christie, LLP in the same year.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Queen’s University, and a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School. She also obtained a Certificate of Completion with First Class Honours in International Business Law from the Bader International Study Centre (Queen’s University), which is located at Herstmonceux Castle in England.

Jennifer became involved with Helping Hands Orillia to make a meaningful impact in the lives of seniors and adults living with disabilities in her community.

Joe is retired and leads an active lifestyle in Orillia.

His over 3 decades of work in social services occurred in BC, NWT and ON.  His practice fields include mental health, native communities, juvenile corrections, child welfare, social assistance, day care, nursing homes, family violence and developmental disabilities. His work experiences ranged from front line, management, community development, senior administration and board governance.

He has a BSc from UBC and a MSW from U of T.  He has leadership experience in social work with his professional membership organization and the provincial regulatory college.

He has municipal council experience in Orillia and Haliburton County. Currently, he chairs the Orillia Committee of Adjustment.

His lifestyle includes winter activities of curling and skiing and summer activities of motorcycling and sailing.  He is President of the Orillia Curling Club and Commodore of the Champlain Sailing Club.

He is a current director on the Helping Hands Board of Directors.  His affiliation with Helping Hands began in 2015 as a volunteer Transportation driver.

Olwen has worked in the health care field for more than 25 years. She has held both front-line and management positions in hospital, long-term care, and community settings.  Most recently she worked at CBI as the National Senior Manager of Clinical Practice and was an innovator who helped design and implement a remote monitoring program in conjunction with Southlake Regional Health Centre and Alayacare.  Her wide and varied experience has given her thorough awareness of clinical and community resources and how various health care services function and interact.  She is a proponent of the Home First Model of Care, recognizing the value of devoting health care resources to community support systems.

Olwen is a mother of four who has lived in Orillia most of her life and enjoys many deep personal and professional connections in the community.

Olwen completed her Bachelor in Science and Nursing at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Patricia is a strategic marketing and communications professional with over 20+ years of experience across diverse industries.  Most recently she worked in the telecommunications industry holding progressively senior positions in communications, marketing and government relations.  Previous experience includes working for the Canadian Red Cross, Toronto Region and for a Toronto-based public relations agency developing and implementing communications strategies for health/pharmaceutical, government and corporate clients.

Prior to joining Helping Hands, Patricia served on the Board of Directors of the Swedish-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Patricia graduated with an Honours Bachelors of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Public Relations from Humber College and has studied Strategic Business Marketing at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Richard has over 15 years experience in Business Development with Canada’s largest Communications company, BCE.
Approximately 10 years ago Richard and his family decided they wanted to live in a more rural setting.
Part of the move was to make a difference within their community.
As an active volunteer in his local community he felt he needed to increase his volunteer time even further.
Richard decided Helping Hands was an obvious means of making a more direct impact on people’s lives.

Ryan is a senior executive in strategic operations leadership, construction and project management. Most recently Ryan became President of Antamex Industries in Concord, Ontario. Ryan leads a boutique privately held 50-year-old custom façade company with $100M in annual revenues in Canada & USA. He leads 250+ professionals across design, engineering, human relations, operations, manufacturing and installation on some of the largest ICI construction projects in North America.

Prior to Antamex, Ryan held progressively senior P&L responsible leadership and operations roles in a multi-national Irish based building products company & a family ran entrepreneurial contractor in Barrie, Ontario. Ryan has an MBA from Ivey Business School (University of Western Ontario) and a BBA (Hons.) from Laurentian University.

Ryan was raised, and continues to raise his own family in Orillia and area.

Tara is a Chartered Professional Accountant, having achieved her designation through the Certified General Accountant’s Association in 2001.  She has over twenty years experience in accounting, analysis, audit and strategic planning in a variety of industries, including both profit and not-for-profit industries.

Working as the Director of Finance at a Long Term Care Home, Tara felt that joining Helping Hands, a wonderful organization helping seniors in a different capacity, would be the perfect fit.