Board of Directors
The school is operated by a not-for-profit corporation and registered charity known as the Joan of Arc Academic Society of Ottawa. The Society is governed by a Board of Directors composed of talented, committed volunteers. The Board is made of both parents/guardians and external members, and at least one-third is voted in annually.

Chair

Patricia Chafe
Patricia Chafe is an internal member on the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors, serving as chair of the strategic planning committee. Her daughter has attended the academy since junior kindergarten and will a member of the Class of 2024. Patricia brings more than 20 years of management experience and leadership to the board. She is director of winter sport at Own the Podium and leads a Canadian winter sport technical guidance and leadership team. Patricia holds a PhD in mathematics and worked previously as a university mathematics professor.

Vice-Chair

Meghan MacSween
Meghan MacSween currently serves as an external member of the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors. She has a Bachelor’s in Engineering (Civil) from the University of Western Ontario and a Master’s in Engineering (Civil) from Carleton University. Meghan works as a Professional Engineer at Parsons providing consulting engineering services to both public and private sector clients. She focuses on drinking water distribution, wastewater collection, asset management, stormwater management and land development working on all phases of projects from planning through design and construction.

Secretary

Guy Giorno
Guy Giorno is a lawyer, author and head of the Political Law practice of Fasken. He advises clients on government accountability and ethics, public-sector conflict of interest, government procurement and lobbyist registration. He serves as the integrity commissioner (responsible for administering government ethics rules) for more than 30 Ontario municipalities.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, and a Fellow of the Carleton University Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management, where he also teaches a graduate course. Guy is Chair of the Law of Lobbying and Ethics Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and an Executive Member of the CBA National Administrative Law Section. He is actively involved in the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, North America’s pre-eminent organization devoted to government ethics.
Guy previously served as Chief of Staff to the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and before that was Chief of Staff to the 22nd Premier of Ontario. Guy lives in Nepean with his family. His daughter has been a Joan of Arc student since 2015. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2016 and has been Secretary of the corporation since 2017.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, and a Fellow of the Carleton University Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management, where he also teaches a graduate course. Guy is Chair of the Law of Lobbying and Ethics Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and an Executive Member of the CBA National Administrative Law Section. He is actively involved in the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, North America’s pre-eminent organization devoted to government ethics.
Guy previously served as Chief of Staff to the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and before that was Chief of Staff to the 22nd Premier of Ontario. Guy lives in Nepean with his family. His daughter has been a Joan of Arc student since 2015. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2016 and has been Secretary of the corporation since 2017.

Treasurer

Dr Judy Van Stralen
Dr. Judy van Stralen is an internal member on the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors. Her daughter has attended the academy since kindergarten and is currently a Grade 5 student. Dr. van Stralen is an internationally recognized expert in pediatric ADHD and one of Ottawa’s leading pediatric mental health professionals. She is the founder and medical director of the Centre for Pediatric Excellence, a multi-disciplinary clinic focused on mental health and neuro-developmental disorders. Dr. van Stralen is also a consultant at Children’s Mental Health of Leeds and Grenville, an assistant professor at Queen’s University, and a staff pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Past-Chair

Atul Aggarwal
Atul Aggarwal is the current Chair of the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors. He is married with three daughters, all of whom attended the Academy from 2004–2016. Atul has had an active career in the healthcare industry. Currently, he serves as president and CEO of Marcan Pharmaceuticals Inc., a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer that he co-founded in Ottawa. Before working at Marcan, Atul co-founded A & A Pharmachem Inc., and remains its president. This company is a leading Canadian supplier of healthcare ingredients used to manufacture both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.


Gurvinder Basi
Gurvinder Basi is an internal member on the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors, serving on the finance and strategic planning committees. He has a daughter who is currently a Grade 3 student at the Academy. Gurvinder has a degree in in Information Technology and Finance, which he used to manage his family’s investment portfolio. Recently, Gurvinder earned his insurance brokers license and opened an office in Ottawa.


Wing-Leung Chan
Wing-Leung is a Senior Solutions Delivery Manager at MindBridge Ai applying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to analyze financial data. He has over 25 years in the software industry and has a passion for all STEM areas. Prior to MindBridge, Wing-Leung had been delivering enterprise social networking software that fosters leadership and employee engagement. He has 2 daughters at Joan of Arc.


Joseph Kuriakose
Joseph Kuriakose is a Senior Channel Sales Executive with Solarwinds MSP, with over 20 years’ experience in Sales, Marketing and Customer Service within the Telecommunications and Information Technology sectors. He enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf, basketball, and baseball. Joseph has a daughter in grade 3 who is thriving in the uniquely bilingual all-girls environment that is Joan of Arc Academy. The school is an inclusive community and is indeed an extended family. Joseph is honoured to be a parent member of the Board that plays an integral role in helping shape the culture and direction of the school.


Eric McKeown
Eric McKeown currently serves as an external member of the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors. Eric, an Ottawa native, is the owner of the Science of Hearing Group, a group of independent hearing clinics in Eastern Ontario and the Maritimes. He also serves as President / Chairman of the Board for the Friends for Life International charity that ships Canadian medicine, funds medical services and fits hearing aids in the small town of Yamasa in the Dominican Republic. Eric has been married for over 20 years and has two children in undergrad studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland.


Catherine Munier
Catherine is a new parent at Joan of Arc, with a daughter in grade 4. She has worked both in the private sector as well as for both provincial and federal government. Catherine currently works in Communications for the federal government and focuses professionally on public opinion research, strategic communications and data analysis and interpretation.


Ethan Piotrowski
Ethan Piotrowski is a CPA, CA and partner of Connelly & Koshy, Chartered Professional Accountants. He focuses on providing professional services for owner-managed businesses, such as personal and corporate tax planning and compliance as well as assisting in the management of the firm's tax practice. Ethan serves a wide range of clients from professionals, like doctors, dentists and lawyers, to restaurants, consultants and manufacturing companies. He is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, completed the CICA in-depth tax course (parts I and II) in October 2011 and is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.


Alicia Ross
Alicia Ross is an internal director on the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors.
Alicia holds a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from Acadia University and has over 20 years of professional experience in Information Technology. She is currently a member of the IT management team at Statistics Canada, where she is responsible for the evolution, operations and maintenance of data registers and metadata products along with all corporate systems.
Alicia has one daughter who joined Joan of Arc in 2020. A competitive athlete for most of her life, she now has to listen to the aches and pains of her body so in her spare time she enjoys cycling, skiing, running and reading.


Natalie Sabourin
Natalie Sabourin joined the Joan of Arc Academy board of directors as an external member in 2018. She specializes in privacy, information management, marketing, facilities management and vendor management. Natalie currently acts as the manager for information management and privacy at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. In this role, she manages quality control, improves the efficiency of corporate and operational information, and ensures the completion of work in accordance with relevant legislation, such as Canada’s Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.


Dave Singh
Dave has a daughter in Grade 2 and is a first year member of the Board of Directors. He has had two careers, first at the Canadian International Development Agency funding projects around the world and now as a lawyer, specializing in Aboriginal law and legal policy for the Department of Justice Canada. Dave currently works on responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action as well as negotiating justice agreements with First Nations’ communities. Dave currently sits on two Board of Directors’ committees at Joan of Arc – Governance and Strategic planning.
Society Documents
Joan of Arc Academic Society By-laws
Board Documents
Interested in
joining our
team?
We are always seeking strong external candidates with skills in business management, education, marketing, sales, technology, accounting, or human resources. Not-for-profit governance experience is a plus. If you have something to offer, please email info@joanofarcacademy.com