Dr. Cheryl Holmes is Associate Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Clinical Professor and Head of the UBC Department of Medicine’s Division of Critical Care. Dr. Holmes is committed to cultivating respectful, compassionate, and health-promoting environments in academic medicine, where equity, decolonization, diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, belonging (EDDIAB) and social justice are prioritized. Dr. Holmes’ academic interests include promoting learner wellbeing, fostering inclusive and accessible learning environments, and social accountability of medical schools.

Dr. Marilyn Baetz is the Vice Dean of Faculty Engagement in the College of Medicine at USask where she oversees faculty collegial processes, academic advancement and medical faculty procedures. She meets with physicians across the province to encourage involvement in the College of Medicine, leadership development and exploring their career progress. Dr. Baetz is a USask alumnus and has worked as a psychiatrist since 1998. She served as the joint provincial academic/clinical department head of Psychiatry for close to a decade. She is a certified physician executive through the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders. Dr. Baetz’s research interests include mood and anxiety disorders with a special interest in maternal mental health. She was also among the first researchers in Canada to examine the role of spirituality in mental health.

Dr. Flett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a staff physician at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is an educator in Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Continuing Medical Education and has held roles in education leadership including the CAMH Postgraduate Site Director and Chair of the Departmental Safety Committee. She served as a Director of the Postgraduate Wellness Office at Temerty Medicine from January 2018 to September 2021. As the Temerty Professor of Learner Wellness the goal of her work is to support organizational strategies and resources at the departmental, program, supervisor and individual level to foster learner wellbeing and success. Dr. Flett has been recognized as an educator with awards locally and internationally. She has a passion for collaborating with leadership, teachers, staff and learners to foster conditions that enable wellbeing for learners and all who train and practice in our learning environments.

The wellness coordinator actively participates in the development and implementation of the health and wellness strategy within the faculty and promotes a culture focused on the health and well-being of teaching staff and the student community.
In collaboration with faculty administration, she participates in the development and maintenance of links between the faculty and its health and wellness, as well as with the Working Group for the Okanagan Charter Collaborative with the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC). She advises and supports the directors of health and wellness in the design, planning, and coordination of their programs, activities, or events.

Dr. Askari completed PM&R residency training and fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury at Dalhousie University in 2013. She is Assistant Professor in the department of PM&R at Queen’s University. Dr. Askari is Medical Director of Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation service and Medical Lead, SCI Implementation Evaluation Quality Care Consortium at Providence Care Hospital. She is also awarded certification in Lifestyle Medicine by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Askari is the chair of Healthy People, Healthy Planet Working Group in the School of Medicine at Queen’s University with focus in promoting the Okanagan Charter, Lifestyle Medicine and Planetary Health.

Dr. Melanie Lewis serves as the Chief Wellness Officer for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta since 2021. In 2024, she was appointed the Steering Committee Chair for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Wellbeing Taskforce, which has nation-wide recognition and impact. In addition to these roles, she also serves the AFMC as co-chair of the Wellbeing Committee and as an executive member of the AFMC Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMI) including the implementation of the Okanagan Charter.

Dr. Milone is a family and emergency physician with 21 years of clinical experience and a longstanding commitment to academic medicine. Passionate about wellness both personally and professionally, Dr. Milone is dedicated to fostering supportive environments for learners, currently serving as the Interim Assistant Dean of Learner Affairs at Toronto Metropolitan University School of Medicine. Thrilled to be part of the Okanagan Charter community, she brings a deep focus on health, fulfillment, and intentional living—values that extend beyond work to family life and personal growth.

Dr. Sundaresan is Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs at the Faculty of Medicine, uOttawa and is a Full Professor in the Department of Surgery, which prospered during his leadership as Chair from 2013 to 2024. Under his direction, the Department enjoyed considerable growth in academic productivity and promotions and in the number of research chairs. His aggressive recruitment led to a nearly 30% expansion of the Department and a doubling of the percentage of female surgeons. In 2021, he led a strategic retreat that resulted in departmental support for several new portfolios, including wellness, EDI, global surgery and mentorship, building on the Department’s close alignment with the Faculty’s Strategic Plan.

A leading expert in thoracic surgery and a 22-year veteran of the Faculty, Dr. Sundaresan’s academic surgical career has focused on thoracic oncology and continuous quality improvement. Since 2004 he has led Ontario’s evidence-informed move toward systematic regionalization of thoracic oncology surgery.
In 2024, Dr. Sundaresan was the recipient of The Ottawa Hospital’s Medical Staff Leadership Award. He has also contributed as a member of the Board of Directors of The Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Organization.

Since 2024 Sean has been the Okanagan Charter Collaborative Representative for NOSM University.
In addition, he is the Assistant Dean, Resident Affairs, working to help improve well-being and support for residents distributed across Northern Ontario.
He is a proud alumnus of NOSM U and is passionate about creating a health–promoting environment in our universities and faculties of medicine.
In his clinical work, Sean has a family practice and also runs a sexual health clinic specializing in 2SLGBTQ+ health and HIV prevention.

Dr. Jalil is a Calgary-based family physician and an associate professor with the Department of Family Medicine. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Regina and medical doctorate at the University of Saskatchewan. Her previous roles within the CSM include associate director of MD Admissions and medical director of the Alberta International Medical Graduate Program.

In her practice, Dr. Jalil primarily serves patients with complex medical and social needs with a focus on women’s and sexual health. She spearheaded the creation of the CSM’s Alberta Sexual Assault Course and Conference and currently serves as the course chair.

Dr. Jalil has a particular interest in understanding systemic and structural barriers and how they influence admission into medical education. She is dedicated to cultivating a diverse community of physicians and scholars to serve diverse populations and ensuring that medical spaces are collaborative and culturally competent. She has received many awards honouring her dedication to medical education, family practice and community service. Among those, she was recently awarded a Canadian Association for Medical Education Certificate of Merit award, recognizing her work to promote equitable admissions policies and innovations in teaching trauma-informed care.

France St-Hilaire is the Associate Vice-Dean for Sustainable Health and a Full Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke. Her expertise and research focus on psychological health at work and organizational health, addressing both the determinants and the design of high-potential organizational interventions. She also serves as an expert on several national and international committees.

As the faculty lead for the implementation of the Okanagan Charter, Dr. Girouard chairs a committee responsible for developing a strategic action plan for the Charter’s implementation, in addition to promoting its implementation. She also collaborates with her Canadian counterparts.

Dr. Andrea Lum has been a clinical academic physician leader for more than two decades and was awarded the Canadian Certified Physician Executive (CCPE) credential since 2012.

She has decades of diverse organizational, clinical and academic leadership and is currently the Vice Dean Clinical Faculty (Academic) Affairs, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. As Vice dean she leads seven decanal members including Faculty and Learner Wellbeing, Faculty Mentorship, and Continued Professional/Faculty Development. She is well experienced in providing mentorship, coaching and sponsorship for leaders especially onboarding and guidance of their roles, with expertise in the application of regulation and by-laws. Dr. Lum developed the inaugural Schulich Wellbeing Program Peers for Peers during Covid Pandemic. She has extensive human resources expertise in academic appointment/promotions of ~2500 clinical faculty. She has decades of experience on academic and clinical finance.

Dr. Katrina Hurley attended medical school at Memorial University of Newfoundland. During her postgraduate training in Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University, she completed a Master of Health Informatics and the Clinician Investigator Program. Early on she shifted her clinical focus to pediatrics and has been a staff physician in the IWK Emergency Department since 2009 and a trauma team leader. In 2017 she took a 6 month break from work to have an adventure. Alongside her husband, she experimented with home schooling their three children and travelling the world. This experience led to deeper family connections and kept the spark of curiosity and connection alive in her work. She stepped into an interim leadership role as medical director in 2018 and then as Chief of the IWK Emergency Department (2019-2024). This launched a journey of leadership development as she and her team navigated ED redesign, lean and COVID.

Her concern for burnout among health professionals and its impact on creativity and transformation led Katrina to learn more about self-compassion, grit, and embodiment. She completed a rigorous coaching certification program in 2023 with Co-Active Training Institute. She is currently serving as Assistant Dean, Faculty Wellness at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine.