Board Members

Board members are an integral part of Neighbour to Neighbour, their support, guidance and drive help staff make informed decisions and plan future programs and events.

Dan Holstein

President

Dan is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of business experience, and currently owns Kaizen Performance Improvement Corp. Dan and his team help business owners scale up and improve the value of their businesses.

Despite being an electronics technologist by training, Dan’s passion is for serving people. He is a long-time fund raiser and rider in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, and has served on the Neighbour to Neighbour board since 2015.

Dan lives in Beamsville with his wife and two children. He is also an aviation geek and pilot. Dan is super excited for the opportunity to serve on the Neighbour to Neighbour board, and help lead the Hamilton Mountain community to an improved quality of life!

Nick Davies

Vice-President

Nick Davies is a recent graduate from McMaster University’s DeGroote school of Business. He has an MBA with a Process Management focus and Bachelor of Commerce (summa cum laude) with a minor in Economics.

Dedicated to raising awareness about the issues of poverty and food security in Hamilton, Nick conceptualized and brought to fruition his first Stuff the Bus food drive in support of Neighbour to Neighbour’s Emergency Food program more than nine years ago, while he was a student at Westmount Secondary School. Since then Stuff the Bus has become a monthly event for Nick and his volunteer team, collecting more than half a million dollars worth of food donations to date.

Nick is excited about his first year on the Neighbour to Neighbour Board and looks forward to bringing a fresh, young perspective to the leadership of Neighbour to Neighbour.

Natalie Shearer

Secretary

Natalie Shearer is the Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Mohawk College, where she works with the Centre for Community Partnerships and Experiential Learning on a wide range of projects and programs focused on engaging Mohawk College with the Hamilton community. She has served the College in several roles related to community engagement, project management and research since 2015.

Natalie has also worked in the post-secondary sector in British Columbia with Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Association for Cooperative Education & Work Integrated Learning. She holds a Master’s degree in Adult Education & Community Development from the University of Toronto, and degrees in Education and English Language & Literature from Queen’s University.

Natalie is thrilled to bring her expertise in public-private partnerships, research and evaluation, education, and community engagement to Neighbour to Neighbour. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys hiking, reading and spending time with her husband, one-year-old son, and yellow lab.

Joti Vallabh

Treasurer

Joti Vallabh is an Award Winning Entrepreneur, International Speaker and Leading Expert in Paperless Bookkeeping, Accounting and Tax. Joti is the founder of Positive Accounting. She calls herself an “Accountant WITH a Personality”, so that business owners see her as a person too, since her strength lies in building and fostering these relationships.

Joti brings with her 20 plus years of international business experience. 11 of those years she was with the biggest of the big 4 accounting firms, PriceWaterhouseCoopers. At PwC she completed her articles and received her Certified Public Accountants License, South Africa. She also holds the Certified Professional Bookkeeper (CPB) designation from IPBC and is an affirmed member of the Association of Tax & Accounting Professionals (ATAP).

Joti feels privileged to be a part of the Neighbour to Neighbour board. She values the incredible work being done at Neighbour to Neighbour which fuels her spirit with a deeper connection to the community by giving back.

Andrew Brown

Director

After being born and raised in Northwestern Ontario, Andrew is a resident of Flamborough where he lives with his spouse and three children.  Andrew and his spouse, Karen, operate a legal services business in Waterdown that focusses on helping folks use the law and other social tools to be kind to themselves, their family and community.

Andrew brings lived experience as an entrepreneur and a practicing lawyer to the Board. Mostly though, he is curious about all lives in our shared communities and is eager to contribute to improving the experience of all living creatures. 

Andrew enjoys wilderness canoeing, silence, card games with the kids and buddies, cooking and golf. 

Lorraine A. Hoult

Director

Lorraine retired in January 2020, after a varied career in research at McMaster University and clinical practice at Hamilton Health Sciences. She spent her first 26 years in the Faculty of Health Sciences collaborating on both local and international research projects in Neonatology, Pediatrics, Child Psychiatry (Autism), Family Medicine (Palliative Care), Obstetrics, and Policy and Health Economics (Health Related Quality of Life).

In June 2006, she joined the Clinical Staff at Hamilton Health Sciences as a Clinical Psychometrist in McMaster Children’s Hospital Autism Program supporting families and children as a member of the psychology team.

Currently, she remains part of the McMaster Autism Research Team where her interests are Clinical Practice, Epidemiology and Statistical Modeling, Knowledge Translation & Exchange, and Social Science Research. She continues to volunteer in the children’s programs at Wellwood Resource Centre of Hamilton. She coordinates The Kyle Hoult Memorial Food Drive each year to benefit Neighbour to Neighbour.

Lorraine looks forward to supporting the incredible work being done at Neighbour to Neighbour as a Board Member.

George Kalacherry

Director

George retired from GE water and Process Tech where he worked as a Project Engineer for 18 years in various engineering positions. Prior to his immigration to Canada, he headed the Quality Assurance department of a private Telecom company in India. George is a veteran who served the Indian Navy for more than two decades.

George is an electrical engineer with a postgraduate degree in System Engineering and a post graduate diploma in Operations Management. He is passionate about community service and spear headed fundraising events for the United Way as well as Sunnyshines Foundation, an organization where he is the founding Chair.

George is excited to be nominated to the Neighbour to Neighbour board and hopes to bring diversity with his years of experience in several demographics.

Joan Nelson

Director

Joan retired in 2018 with over forty years of experience in health and human service provision and as a consultant to not-for-profit organizations. Joan is familiar with and experienced in not-for-profit governance, policies and procedures, fund development, and program and service management.

Joan graduated from McMaster University with a Master’s degree in Social Welfare Policy that supported her passion for not-for-profit service provision. Joan lives in the Hamilton area with her husband and has two adult children.

Joan is looking forward to contributing her skills to Neighbour to Neighbour as a Board Member to improve quality of life through preventative measures and strategies to alleviate the consequences of living with poverty in Hamilton.

Victoria Walzak

Director

Victoria Walzak brings over 25 years of financial expertise and deep community commitment to the Board of Neighbour to Neighbour. As a Portfolio Manager and Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities, Victoria has guided clients through comprehensive wealth management strategies, advising on both personal and business financial matters.

Victoria holds an MBA from McMaster University, a BA (Laws) from Carleton University, and a Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies from Brock University—a diverse educational foundation that informs her holistic approach to wealth management and community service.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Victoria is a dedicated board member with extensive governance experience. She served 12 years on the Hamilton Children’s Aid Board, including time as Board Chair, and has contributed to the YWCA Hamilton. Her financial acumen has been valuable in specialized roles, including service on the Investment Committee for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. She spent 10 years on the Youth Justice Committee with the John Howard Society.

Victoria is married to Dean and is a proud parent to two sons and two stepchildren. Together, they enjoy an active lifestyle that includes golf and skiing, travel, and quality time at home. A lifelong reader with a passion for continuous learning, Victoria brings both professional rigor and genuine care for community wellbeing to her work with Neighbour to Neighbour.

Chris White

Director

Chris White has spent his career as a manufacturer and employer in the Hamilton area for most of his life. Chris has been in the equipment manufacturing industry for many years and currently owns and operates Fruitland Manufacturing in Stoney Creek. He continues to be an advocate for the development of technical trades at his company and is working with various groups to create opportunities for employment through educational programs in the Hamilton area.

Chris has served on boards for The Hamilton All Star Jazz Band, Hillfield Strathallan College, as well as advisor and fundraiser for The Good Shepherd Centre and Neighbour 2 Neighbour Centre. He is also an aviator and musician and can be found performing at various venues in the area.

Chris hopes to bring his business acumen and analytical skills to assist in the development of key goals and objectives for Neighbour to Neighbour.