National Executive

our health promotion leaders across Canada

HPC’s National Executive meets every two weeks. HPC members are invited to participate as guests anytime.

More information is available upon request.

Lesley Dyck

Lesley Dyck

British Columbia Representative

Lesley is a health promotion and community development consultant with over 25 years of experience in Canada and internationally.

Before leaving to start her own consulting company, Lesley was a Knowledge Translation Specialist with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH). She has also worked as a public health program manager (population health, tobacco reduction, injury prevention), international volunteer (Public Health, Indonesia), a communication coordinator (well-being/active living) and community developer/programmer (fitness, recreation, women’s health). Lesley earned her BA in Mass Communication at Carleton University and her MA in Health Promotion at the University of British Columbia.

You can find Lesley working and volunteering on projects wherever people and organizations are collaborating to build healthy and inclusive communities. She lives in the Okanagan Valley with her partner John, where they can be found working in their garden or planning their next kayak, ski or travel adventure.

Irving Rootman

Irving Rootman

British Columbia Representative

Irving holds a PhD and is a global pioneer and a leader in health promotion research and practice in Canada for over thirty years.

Some of Irving’s accomplishments include: the first Director of the Centre for Health Promotion at the University of Toronto, stimulated the establishment of the Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research, and developed a national program of research in literacy and health. He has published many articles related to health promotion in professional journals and books.

Currently, Irving is officially retired but is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria and is still active in the field of health promotion. In addition to his participation with HPC, he is the Lead Editor of a recently published text-book entitled "Promoting the Health of Older Adults: The Canadian Experience" and is currently active in promoting the book a series of webinars sponsored by The United Way of B.C., the National Collaborating Centre on the Determinants of Health and Health Promotion Canada.

Teree Hokanson

Teree Hokanson

Alberta Representative

Teree holds a Master of Science in Health Promotion from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Saskatchewan. Working in an applied research innovation team with Alberta Health Services, Teree utilizes her extensive healthy communities experience to walk beside rural communities as they chart their own path to wellness. Teree is also the Health Promotion Lead with Highland Primary Care Network, supporting the integration of primary care and community.

Teree believes in a strengths-based approach, the power of impartial facilitation, and strong connections and networks when working with communities and collaborators. She is a member of the International Association of Facilitators and IAP2 Canada.

Beyond work, Teree goes back to her childhood roots, growing a way-too-big garden on the family farm with her husband, two adult children (and a son-in-law to be) and two gopher crazy Westies.

Nancy McPherson

Nancy McPherson

Manitoba Representative

Nancy is a Population Health Analyst with Prairie Mountain Health; responsible for integrating a population health approach to the planning and delivery of programs and services. She is a registered nurse and holds a Master of Science in Health Promotion from the University of Alberta. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Studies at Brandon University. Her experience in acute care, community health, and health planning and evaluation has spanned diverse communities in Canada, the West Indies and Northeastern Siberia.

Kevin Churchill

Kevin Churchill

Ontario Representative

Kevin has been working in public health since 1997, and currently as the Manager of Family Health at Lambton Public Health. Previously, Kevin held the position of Manager, Health Promotion for 15 years. His particular interests in health promotion include community engagement, tobacco control, cancer prevention, healthy public policy, and health promoter competencies. As an adult learner, Kevin completed a BA from Western University in 1997, and graduated from the University of Waterloo’s Master of Public Health Program in 2010.

Away from work Kevin enjoys spending time with his family, camping and enjoying the outdoors. In his spare time, Kevin also enjoys music as a listener and a player, he plays electric and acoustic guitar and enjoys live music from blues to folk and classic rock.

Josée Lapalme

Josée Lapalme

Quebec Representative

Josée is a postdoctoral researcher with Myriagone, McConnell-Université de Montréal Chair in youth knowledge mobilization and with the School of Psychoeducation at the Université de Montreal. She has a Bachelor of Social Work from Laurentian University, a Master of Arts in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University, and a PhD, in Public Health, specializing in Health Promotion, from the Université de Montréal.

Josée’s research interests involve exploring the ways in which health and social policies affect social inequalities in health, using qualitative methods.

Aside from research, Josée loves a good adventure in the wilderness, may it be camping, kayaking, swimming, or hiking, but always with good friends and family.

Patsy Beattie-Huggan

Patsy Beattie-Huggan

Prince Edward Island Representative

Patsy is the founder and President of The Quaich Inc., a PEI based health promotion and consulting company. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of New Brunswick and MSc in Nursing and Health Studies from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Patsy has a broad background in nursing education and health system redesign, and has served as consultant to provincial, national and international projects, and instrumental in the founding and ongoing delivery of the Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities. In 2016 she coordinated the 6th Global Forum on Health Promotion. Her creative work in health promotion, including leadership to the development of the Circle of Health, has been widely recognized.

Patsy’s commitment to caring, compassionate communities has led her to explore innovative and collaborative approaches to working for social change. In 2020 she was awarded the UNB Alumni Award of Distinction and from 2020-2022 served on the National Scientific Committee of the IUHPE Conference.

Patsy also loves to bake, makes pizza every Friday evening, and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.

Pamela Fonseca

Pamela Fonseca

Nova Scotia Representative

Pamela has a Master of Science in Aging and Health from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University. Pam has experience working both in Ontario and Nova Scotia as a Health Promoter, specifically in the non-profit health sector and government.

Pam is passionate about healthy public policy and community engagement, and she has been recognized for her leadership, communication and facilitation skills, and always encouraging an equity lens.

When Pam is not working or volunteering, she can be found exploring Canada’s ocean playground (Nova Scotia), attending a bootcamp class, cooking for family/friends, or endlessly diving into renovation projects with her husband!