Lana M. MacLean, Director of Community Health and Mental Health, brings a strategic vision to address the mental health needs of Black, Indigenous, Newcomers, Differently Abled, and 2LGBTQI++ communities. A seventh-generation Black Nova Scotian from Whitney Pier, Cape Breton, Lana has lived in Halifax for 30 years. She holds degrees in Community Studies and Social Work from Cape Breton University and Dalhousie University.

Lana is a passionate advocate for health equity and emotional justice, with over 30 years of experience developing culturally responsive, trauma-informed programs for Black women, girls, and their families. She has led initiatives like the IWK Child and Adolescent African Nova Scotian Mental Health Service and provides pro bono clinical supervision to new social workers.

Recognized with awards such as the 2023 Canadian Mental Health Advocate Award in Black Mental Health and named one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women in 2024, Lana embodies the principle of Ubuntu—"I am because we are.”

Veronica Marshall-Bernard, MSW, BSW, RSW, is a clinical therapist with Nova Scotia Health, founder of Mapping Minds Counseling (est. 2024), and a board member for Bereaved Families of Nova Scotia. With over 20 years of experience in mental wellness, she specializes in suicide prevention and life promotion, serving as co-vice president of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.

Rooted in her Mi’kmaw culture, Veronica integrates holistic healing into her work and develops wellness campaigns. She earned her Mi’kmaw Maliseet BSW from Saint Thomas University (2011) and her MSW from the University of New England (2021).

Inspired by her loved ones, Veronica enjoys volunteering, creating art, baking, and outdoor activities. She resides in Potlotek First Nation, Mi’kma’ki (Chapel Island), Nova Scotia.

Amy began her career as a frontline worker, providing critical support to vulnerable youth. Her dedication to community well-being has led her to take on key leadership roles as the Executive Director of Our House Youth Wellness Centre that includes the creation of the Barrington Community Care and Recovery Centre. This pioneering community initiative, built on the belief that healthy communities foster strong families and youth, reflects an innovative approach to community health.

With a Bachelor of Education and a Diploma in Child and Youth Care, Amy has a deep understanding of youth development and education. Her expertise allows her to design and implement programs that address the unique challenges facing young people and increases their support networks in Shelburne County.

In the fall of 2024, Amy was elected as a municipal councillor in District #2 in the Municipality of Barrington, furthering her commitment to public service. Beyond her professional work, she actively participates in community initiatives and mentors emerging professionals. Her passion for community service is evident in every aspect of her career.

Born and raised in Whitney Pier, Chester attended Eastmount Elementary, Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High and graduated from Sydney Academy 1983. He is a proud graduate of the Child and Youth Care Program, Holland College, PEI. 1995 and the first African Nova Scotian Student Support Worker hired by the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board in 1999. Chester has volunteered with the Children’s Aid Society as a mentor, foster parent and a respite parent. For the past 20 years, Chester has been the Executive Director of BGC Cape Breton, formerly known as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cape Breton and the Whitney Pier Youth Club. 

He has received the Jonathan Skeete Community Spirit Award in 2007, CBRM Tom Miller Human Rights Award and Carl “Campy” Crawford Leadership Award in 2014, Sydney Academy Alumni Honour Roll Inductee in 2015, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2024, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025. 

Chester is married to Bernadette and has three adult children. He enjoys all sports, having played baseball in the Canada Games in 1985 Saint John NB, and in the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League. Chester was named NSSBL MVP in 1993 and attended walk-on camps in 1982 in Florida with the Saint Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Chester stated “I have enjoyed working with children and youth over the last 44 years and giving back to a community that has given so much to me”. 

Matt spent 10 years in the Navy where he deployed to Libya with HMCS Charlottetown and then became a submariner until ‘retiring’ in 2018. In 2019 he completed his Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College. Matt is an almost award winning opinion writer and has been a city hall reporter covering Halifax's city hall since 2020 first with his own publication Committee Trawler and for The Coast since 2022.

Lars Osberg is currently McCulloch Professor of Economics at Dalhousie University, Halifax, but he began life in Ottawa, Ontario.  As an undergraduate, he attended Queen’s University, Kingston and the London School of Economics and Political Science. After two years working for the Tanzania Sisal Corporation as a CUSO volunteer, he went to Yale University for his Ph.D. He has had visiting positions at the economics departments of New York University and the Universities of Cambridge, Sydney, New South Wales, Essex and Queensland and at Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), Dar es Salaam, the Indira Ghandi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai, the Statistics Directorate, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris and the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford. 

His first book was Economic Inequality in Canada (1981). His 2018 book The Age of Increasing Inequality: the Astonishing Rise of Canada’s 1%   was awarded the 2019 Purvis Prize of the Canadian Economics Association. His most recent book is The Scandalous Rise of Inequality in Canada (2024). In between there have been nine others, four editions of an introductory economics textbook and numerous refereed articles in professional journals, book chapters, reviews, reports and miscellaneous publications. Among other professional responsibilities, he was President of the Canadian Economics Association in 1999-2000. His current research emphasizes the implications of increasing inequality and the measurement and determinants of poverty, economic insecurity, inequality of opportunity and economic well-being

Rebecca: Rebecca Cheff is a Knowledge Translation Specialist at the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health and is the project lead of the Mind the Disruption podcast. Before joining the NCCDH in 2021, she led a range of equity-focused policy research projects and networks, related to decent work, income security, and access to health and social services, for six years at the Wellesley Institute. Rebecca has a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto. 

Christine Saulnier is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy    Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia.