Our Board

Kayla Stephenson became a board member for North Peel Dufferin Community Legal Services clinic in 2018, after a year of being a non-voting board member in 2017. Kayla was elected as Board President of NPDCLS in 2020. Kayla has a Paralegal educational background and is a certified Mediator and Arbitrator with a specialty in Family Law. Kayla has Certificates from Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development in Provincial Offences Court Practice and Adjudication for Administrative Agencies, Boards & Tribunals. As well as Judicial and Administrative Tribunal Competencies from the Ontario Bar Association.

Kayla has over 16 years of experience in the legal field, and of those years, 8 of them Kayla was employed by the Ministry of Attorney General, in various roles. Kayla is currently employed with the City of Brampton in the POA court. Kayla is also a part-time Adjudicator with the City of Toronto, and Kayla was also appointed in 2021 by Order in Council to the Health Services Appeals and Review Board as a part-time Adjudicator. Kayla is an Executive Member of the Community Legal Clinics of Ontario (ACLCO). Kayla is also Co-Chair of the Race Equity and Advisory Committee of the ACLCO. Kayla has a passion for equity, social justice, advocacy, and access to justice. Kayla values the hard work of NPDCLS and all other legal clinics and the positive effect each clinic has on assisting all communities with having access to justice.

Nayan Thaker is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), and currently the Finance Manager at WellFort, a community health centre in Brampton. Nayan has a long history in volunteer director roles for a variety of professional and community organizations.

Sukhbir joined our Board of Directors in 2017.  Sukhbir has worked with various social service organizations serving the needs of new immigrants, homelessness, addictions, mental health and domestic violence issues. She has also participated in outreach and research projects with Ryerson and York universities on developing a comprehensive understanding of elder abuse prevention in immigrant communities.

Sukhbir has a BSW (Honours) in Social Work from Ryerson University and Master of Social Work from the University of Windsor.  She has completed a myriad of trainings to build her skills and knowledge as a clinician. Currently, she is working as a registered social worker at the Canadian Mental Health Association. She also teaches courses at Sheridan College.

Kate graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Criminology and Socio-legal studies. Kate is a member of the Youth Justice Committee for the Associated Youth Services of Peel. She is passionate about social justice and making a difference in her community

Shaneil Stewart joined our board of directors in 2020. Shaneil has a B.A. in Sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University and also a post graduate certificate from Humber College in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is trained as a mediator and in conflict resolution management. She has volunteered for labour unions and has interests in empowering workers to participate and engage in workers’ rights.

Marjorie joined our Board of Directors in 2020. Marjorie has a B.A (Hons) in Political Science as well as a Masters of Public Policy, Administration, and Law from York University. Currently, she works with RBC in Toronto.

Amandeep Kaur is the Chief Operating Officer of the Punjabi Community Health Services (PCHS) www.pchs4u.com. She is starting the role of PCHS CEO on July 5, 2023. PCHS provides culturally responsive mental health, addiction, geriatric, newcomer settlement, and social services to the local communities, including Brampton, Caledon and Dufferin County.

Her role includes leadership, strategic visioning, media relations, fiscal and statistical management, supervision and other management responsibilities and she has been active in the non-profit sector for the last 33 years. She co-founded the Integrated Holistic Service Delivery Model that caters to addressing human health challenges faced by the South Asian

She led one of the COVID-19 Voluntary Isolation and Recovery Centres in the Peel Region to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Amandeep is an active member of the Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, Ontario Health Central – South Mental Health and Addictions Local Planning Table; Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Provincial Advisory Table; High Priority Communities Strategy (Peel); Regional Community Response Table (Peel); Mississauga and Central West OHT; Peel/Halton/Dufferin/ Settlement Partnerships Executive Council Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and a Board of Director for the South Asian Health Alliance.

In addition, Amandeep brings a wealth of knowledge and lived experience as a domestic violence and cancer survivor who supports innovation and looks forward to continuing to work for the betterment of the community.

Rishika became a full Board member in 2023, after spending some time as a non-voting member in 2021. 

Rishika is a patient-focused leader with over 15 years of healthcare leadership experience in both management consulting and acute care. Rishika has expertise in defining and executing strategy, managing operations, promoting innovation and leading large-scale transformation. Rishika has held several leadership roles at William Osler Health System including Director, Corporate Strategy, Director Clinical Strategy and Design, and currently as the Director, Integrated Health Systems, as well as Executive Lead for the Central West Ontario Health Team. Rishika also held leadership roles in health care management consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Rishika holds a Master of Business Administration in Health Services Management from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Life Sciences from the University of Toronto.

As a resident of the communities served by Osler and NPDCLS, Rishika is committed to community success, access and equity, and health justice.

A Halifax native, Emily attended Dalhousie Law School where she volunteered at the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association, helping new Canadians navigate the process of applying for permanent resident or refugee status.  Since moving to Toronto in 2010 she has worked exclusively in the field of criminal law, initially as a defence attorney.  Since 2013 she has been employed as an Assistant Crown Attorney in Peel where she prides herself on advocating for fair, no-nonsense resolutions that take into account the needs and circumstances of all of those touched by the criminal justice system. She is excited and honoured to be joining the Board and hopes to bring a unique perspective.