Liv Mendelsohn, MA, MEd, is the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, a program of the Azrieli Foundation, where she leads innovation, research, policy and program initiatives to support Canada’s caregivers and care providers.
 
A visionary leader with more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Liv has a been a lifelong caregiver and has lived experience of disability. Her experiences as a member of the ‘sandwich generation’ fuel her passion to build a caregiver movement in Canada to change the way that caregiving is seen, valued, and supported.
 
Over the course of her career, Liv has founded and helmed several organizations in the disability and caregiving space, including the Wagner Green Centre for Accessibility and Inclusion and the ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival.
 
Liv serves as the chair of the City of Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee. She has received the City of Toronto Equity Award, and has been recognized by University College, University of Toronto, Empowered Kids Ontario, and the Jewish Community Centres of North America for her leadership.
 
Liv is a senior fellow at Massey College and a graduate of the Mandel Institute for Non-Profit Leadership and the Civic Action Leadership Foundation Diversity Fellowship program.

With over 25 years of experience as a senior healthcare leader, Christa Haanstra is the Founder and Managing Director of 4C Strategy group, a company dedicated to advancing meaningful change in healthcare by partnering with organizations to ensure lived experience of patients, residents, clients and caregivers are central to decision making. She thrives when bringing together groups of people with a shared purpose to achieve a common goal.
 
In this capacity, Christa is the lead for the Working Caregiver initiative at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving (CCCE) – a program of the Azrieli Foundation - and is the immediate past co-chair of CCCE’s Caregivers Canadian Advisory Network.
 
Christa is a caregiver to her father who has late-stage dementia. Through constant service navigation and advocacy, she strives to create a supportive environment that allows him to live and thrive. When not at work, Christa loves to walk, travel and is an avid hobby photographer. She currently lives in Guelph, Ontario with her family.
 
Christa holds a degree from the University of Ottawa, a from Seneca College and is an Executive Scholar in Non-Profit Management from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Christa has won numerous awards and recognition for her strategic communication, branding, social media and patient and caregiver engagement work.