Our Board of Directors
Ayala Hanen ManolsonFounder and Lifetime Member
Ayala founded First Three Years in 2001 in memory of her husband William Benjamin Manolson.
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Christian BarberRead more...
Chair
Christian has worked in the charitable/nonprofit sector for seven years, including five years at Imagine Canada, a national charity working to build and strengthen the charitable/nonprofit sector. Christian is currently working at the Bruce Trail Conservancy and is responsible for building their membership program.
Christian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management.
Richard Adamson, C.A.Christian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management.
Treasurer
Richard is a Chartered Accountant and graduate of Trinity College, University of Toronto with a B.A. (Hrs) in Commerce & Finance (1972). Richard has 36 years’ experience in industry, recently retiring as President of Coinamatic Canada. Richard is Past Chairman and Advisor to The Advanced Card Technology Association of Canada, and serves on the Board of Advanced Reproductive Care, America’s largest network of reproductive endocrinologists.
Nora Adamson, BA (Hon), D.S.P.A.Past Chair
Nora, a founding board member of First Three Years, is a speech-language pathologist and graduate of the University of Toronto. As a speech therapist at Bloorview Kids Rehab for over 20 years, she delivered many parent language programs and introduced an innovative, total communication curriculum at the Easter Seal Society’s Preschool Programs. Board Chair from 2006-2009, Nora’s initiative, support and commitment to fundraising events and organizational development have been vital to the growth and stability of the charity. As past chair, Nora continues to play a key role in donor development and strategic planning.
Members
Alexandra Dean, M.S.W., R.S.W.Member
Alexandra has worked in diverse fields of social work since 1998 including Child Welfare, Children’s Mental Health, Perinatal Social Work, and School Social Work.
Alexandra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Bachelor of Social Work, and Masters of Social Work and is a registered member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Victoria LazierMember
Victoria has been active on community boards and with community work over the past twenty–five years. Activities include fund raising, community research, project development, and management. Victoria is a co-founder of “Kids Have Stress Too!”, a primary prevention program for parents which has reached over 2000 facilitators in Ontario and is now being rolled our nationally. Victoria has a life coaching practice in Toronto.
Maureen ReillyRRT Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Chair of Masquerade Madness Fundraising Event
Chair of Masquerade Madness Fundraising Event
Maureen is a Registered Respiratory Therapist in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Maureen provides bedside care and is also involved in resuscitation research and Family Centred Care. Maureen also attends Ryerson University as a part time student.
Jane SomervilleMember
Jane is a retired children's book publisher and toy inventor. She is focussed on Programme and Market Development at First Three Years. Jane also heads up DataBase Management and Communications for the Lawrence Park Ratepayers, is a former board member of YES, Youth Employment Services, and runs Sat AM Tree Planting in her neighbourhood.
Andrew Wicken, B.Comm. Member
Andrew is the General Manager of InsuranceHotline.com, a business owned by Torstar Corporation. Prior to this role, Andrew worked as Manager, Corporate Development at Torstar Corporation, working closely with the company’s Board of Directors. Andrew has been an active volunteer for many years with a number of organizations, including the United Way of Greater Toronto, Future Possibilities, and Camp Oochigeas.
Advisory Board
Dr. Susan BradleyDr. Susan Bradley is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, formerly Head of the Division of Child Psychiatry, and formerly Psychiatrist-in-Chief at The Hospital for Sick Children. Her interests in prevention have led to the development of the Infant Mental Health Promotion Project, a coalition aimed at facilitating the work of front-line care providers with parents of young children as well as The Parenting Alliance, created to develop, evaluate and disseminate information about effective parenting interventions. Dr. Bradley has played a leadership role in the restructuring of services for children’s mental health in Toronto and was the Community Champion for Toronto in the planning for and choosing of the Early Years Centres.
Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain
Margaret N. McCain has played a major role in many early child development policy and program initiatives in Canada. She was co-chair with Dr. Fraser Mustard of The Early Years Study: Reversing the Real Brain Drain (1999) and was the Children's Champion of the Voices for Children initiative. In 2002, she co-chaired a Commission on Early Learning and Child Development for the city
of Toronto. In addition to this, she has involved herself in many educational and youth-oriented pursuits such as Ontario's Promise, a non-partisan initiative for children and youth. Margaret is a passionate and acclaimed advocate for quality early childhood education.

Pat MacKay has served on volunteer Boards of not-for-profit and charitable organizations for over fifty years. Her prime concern has been the healthy growth and development of children and she is a strong believer in the vital importance of the first three years of a child's life. She has chaired the Canadian Council on Children and Youth, the Alliance for Children and Easter Seals Ontario. In addition,
she was a Trustee of the Hospital for Sick Children for fifteen years and a Founding Member of the C.M. Hincks Centre for Mental Health. Her contribution was recognized by her appointment to the Order of Canada.

Wendy Thompson is a lawyer who is a former partner of Gowling Lafleur Henderson, LLP, where she practised business law, emphasizing business acquisitions, private equity and venture capital financing and structuring of joint ventures, partnerships and shareholder relationships. She has served in a volunteer capacity with many not-for-profit organizations, in particular, Toronto’s Havergal College,
where she was Chair of the Board of Governors for four years. On her retirement from the Board, Havergal honoured Wendy’s achievements by establishing “The Wendy Thompson Entrance Scholarships” that are awarded annually to ten top students entering Havergal at Grade Seven.




