Meet the Board
As NB Social Pediatrics is continuously evolving, we formed a Board of Directors that work together to make informed decisions, provide direction, and offer support to our organization.
Our board members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise, allowing for diversity, collaboration and optimal decision making.
NB Social Pediatrics Board of Directors
DR. SARAH GANDER
Chair
Dr. Sarah Gander, Social Pediatrician, is living in Saint John, NB and with her family of two boys, Eddie and David with husband Steve. She has a busy clinical practice in the newly opened Pediatrics on Princess (POP) Centre and is faculty at both Dalhousie University and Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is involved with numerous organizations in the community aiming to better the care of families and children living in difficult living situations, particularly poverty. She is also the founder of NB Social Pediatrics Inc., a non-profit aimed advocating for child rights as per the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child using a medical-legal-social approach and empowering the voices of children and youth and the Parent Child Assistance Program, a 3 year advocacy and support program for women who use drugs and/or alcohol during pregnancy.
DR. ANNE MURPHY SAVOIE
Vice Chair
Dr. Anne M. Murphy Savoie is a Developmental Pediatrician who has been working with children and families from all areas of New Brunswick since 2004. She is an Assistant Professor with the
Department of Paediatrics at Dalhousie University, the Faculty of Medicine and also a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial University. Dr. Murphy Savoie has trained in Saint John, Ottawa, St. John’s and Toronto and is happy to be where she can work with her home community. Presently, she holds the position of Vice Chair on the NB Social Pediatrics Board.
MARIA K. POWELL
Secretary
Maria has been part of the New Brunswick Social Pediatrics team since its infancy and is currently the Secretary to the Board. She became involved because she is passionate about access to justice and ensuring the best possible outcomes for the children in her community. Maria works as a solicitor for the City of Saint John and is a proud alumnus of UPEI, UNB and Dalhousie University. Maria is also a long-serving board member of Avenue B harm Reduction Inc. In her spare time, Maria can usually be found outdoors – camping, hiking, or fishing – along the Fundy coast.
DONALD MITCHENER
Director & Treasurer
A graduate of the University of Toronto (1965) Don joined Deloitte in 1968 where he received his Chartered Accountant’s Designation –graduating in the top ten in Canada. Don received his FCA Designation in 1997 and CICA’s award for Excellence in Tax Practice and Education in 2003. In addition to many professional presentations, Don taught at York University and UNB. He was the editor-in-chief of Deloitte’s publication “GST The Final Countdown” and was a founding member and first chairperson of the Commodity Tax Symposium in 1980 (also chaired in1990 and 2000). Don transferred to Saint John NB in 1998. His community activities included/include: Member, Treasurer and President, Saint Mary’s Band; Director and Treasurer Hampton Golf and Country Club; Director and Treasurer Rocmaura Nursing Home Foundation; Treasurer and President, Imperial Theatre; Treasurer and President Imperial Theatre Foundation; Member Finance and Investment Committee NB Medical Education Foundation; Director Dr. V.A. Snow Centre Nursing Home.
ZIBA VAGHRI
Board Member
Dr. Ziba Vaghri is an Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John with over 25 years of experience in the global health field. Since 2016, she has been the Director and Principal Investigator of the GlobalChild Research Program. Prior to working with GlobalChild, in 2008, Dr. Vaghri co-founded the International Human Early Learning Partnership (I-HELP) program at the University of British Columbia and served as its first Director until 2014. She was also the lead scientist behind the Early Childhood Rights Indicators, also known as the General Comment 7 Indicators. From 2014-2015, Dr. Vaghri served as the Early Childhood Development Technical Officer at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva. Her current work focuses on facilitating the monitoring of state party compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Her program is undertaking an international pilot of GlobalChild: the world’s first comprehensive children’s rights monitoring platform in Belgium (BE-Pilot) and launching an international survey to identify good practices that fulfill children’s rights around the globe (InspiRights). In a broader sense, creating linkages between the fields of child development and child rights is the common thread in all the projects she undertakes. Dr. Vaghri is also the editor of the book "Monitoring State Compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: An Analysis of Attributes", which has received great attention.
MIKE ALBERT
Board Member
Mike moved to Saint John during the mid 90s to further his career and has greatly enjoyed living here ever since. The special little corner of New Brunswick has so much to offer in terms of outdoor activities, interesting history and has among the friendliest people he's met anywhere. Mike and his wife have three daughters who share a love for traveling, skiing, hiking and doing pretty much anything outdoors. They have a small business that’s been in operation for over 55 years and hope to keep it growing for many years to come.
INGRID MUNROE
Board Member
Ingrid Munroe is the Owner and Founder of Rising Tide Gifts, formerly known as The NB Box. Her company was created with the vision of making local products more accessible to consumers and providing an e-commerce platform to support local businesses. Ingrid’s passion for her community led to a successful business that started with her alone in her basement and now supports a full time staff, over 100 small businesses and operates out of an 8,000 sqft warehouse. The success of the business has allowed her to expand to carry locally made products from all of the Atlantic Provinces and ship worldwide; a rising tide lifts all boats! She is an entrepreneur born and bred in New Brunswick and has made a career out of supporting other local businesses and entrepreneurs. Her commitment to community, and passion as a mother of three young boys, fuels her support of NB Social Pediatrics, an important resource for the community.
ROXANE McCARTHY
Board Member
SUNNY KHOSLA
Board Member
Sunny Khosla, Regulated Canadian Immigration consultant and Certified Public Accountant, New Brunswick and New Hampshire.
I have more than 15 years of experience in the professional F&A, of which 10 plus years have been in different leadership positions within and outside North America. Before starting my Immigration practice, I was working as a commercial account manager with the Royal Bank of Canada for 4 years and left as a Branch Manager.
I was awarded as an emerging leader award by CPA New Brunswick in 2021. I and my wife moved here 5 years ago, and this is our home now. I served the board of our condominium corporation for 3 years as a treasurer.
MELISSA BUDD
Board Member
Melissa Budd currently resides in Saint John with her husband Mark and two children Kate and Max. She is presently the Operations Manager for the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick. She is responsible for collaborating with a team to implement best practices that support the delivery of the undergraduate medical education curriculum. Melissa has spent the last 20+ years working in the healthcare space in a variety of roles with the Horizon Health Network and Kennebec Manor Nursing Home. In this time she has always enjoyed helping deliver the best possible care for our community. Melissa is currently working on a Master’s degree in Public Administration Management through Dalhousie University to complement the Bachelor of Health Sciences degree held from University of Brunswick. Outside of work Melissa enjoys time invested in the Saint John community – organizing fundraisers for Bobby’s Hospice, serving as a committee member for Sophia Recovery Centre, practicing as a certified yoga instructor, and supporting her two young children involved with sport.