Gisele worked in social services for over 30 years within the Simcoe County and Toronto regions. She attended the University of Waterloo and completed a BA in Social Development Studies; She also completed her Masters of Education through Nipissing University.

She worked at Catulpa Community Support Services as a children’s case coordinator and manager of children services for 15 years. During her time there she had an opportunity to network and partner with Simcoe County agencies to create programs and services for children, youth and families. Presently, she is the Director of Complex Special Needs Programs at Lumenus Community Services in Toronto.

She has been a Board member of Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions for 2.5 years and currently serve as Vice Chair.

Kenny grew up in Wasaga Beach where he lived until moving to Toronto in 2010 to study Justice Studies at the University of Guelph-Humber. Since 2012 he has worked for the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Criminal Law Division, spending the majority of his career working on Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Prosecutions for the Downtown Toronto Crown Attorney’s Office.

Since 2021 he has worked as the Case Management Coordinator of the Toronto Downtown East Justice Centre, a hybrid justice-and-health-centre that accelerates access to justice and critical wraparound services to prevent high-needs individuals at the intersection of poverty, homelessness, mental health and addictions from cycling through the criminal justice system by addressing criminogenic risk factors with on-site psychiatric, primary care, addictions medicine and developmental disability supports.

He also sits on the Board of Directors for My Friend’s House, a non-profit agency that offers shelter and support for abused women and children living in the Georgian Triangle.

Kenny recently moved back to Wasaga Beach and joined the Board of Directors of Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions in June of 2024.

Lynda is currently in the role as an Indigenous Early Intervention Services Coordinator where she supports and advocates for Early Intervention supports, and creates frameworks that are family centered and assists children in reaching developmental milestones while gaining access to meaningful services. She currently supports First Nations and Urban Indigenous communities throughout the County of Simcoe.

Prior to moving into this role, she worked within Indigenous organizations as well as mainstream organizations for the last 9 years and continues to work in the field of Early Intervention. She worked with Clh Developmental Support Services as a Resource Consultant, and as a Resource Consultant Supervisor. She worked for an Indigenous organization as a Cultural Preschool Program Coordinator. Spending time with the children and working with families within the Community has always been positive and fulfilling. However, there came a time when she wanted to provide extended supports to Indigenous families who were navigating the Early Intervention system and to support families and fellow service providers when addressing barriers.

In addition to having achieved her Early Childhood Education Diploma and registry with the College of Early Childhood Educators, she also attended the University of Guelph-Humber and completed her B.A. of Applied Science honours program in Early Childhood Studies. In September 2024, she will begin her graduate studies working towards a Master of Education in Early Childhood Studies.

Melissa has worked in health care for 19 years, first as a Registered Nurse and then as a Nurse Practitioner.  Melissa completed her BScN at Western University in 2006.  She completed her Master of Nursing and Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate at Western University in 2011.

Melissa has worked for the Algonquin Family Health Team in Huntsville since 2011.  She has worked with children as their primary care provider.  She has a strong knowledge of the health care landscape and has the opportunity through her current role to partner with other services and programs in the area to improve care.  Melissa is passionate about supporting children and their families to build strong communities.

Hans appreciates the service that SMFC brings to the wellbeing and success of our shared community here in Simcoe Muskoka. It is the goodness of services like these that shape strong and healthy communities. He desires to see all children prosper and find meaning in their souls, families and communities.

As a husband, father, grandfather and engineer, he brings wisdom, experience, and skills to the SMFC Board.

Hans has served dozens of Ontario municipalities and several developing countries with leadership, performance management, organizational and operational capacity building. He was corporate administrator of a multinational federation of community development organizations focused on education health and welfare.