Nick Foligno is the Honorary Chair of NEO Kids Foundation. Nick currently plays for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, serving as the team captain. Previously he played for the Ottawa Senators and the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. Nick is director of the Janis Foligno Foundation, which was created in honour of his mother and seeks to provide support to local charities who are committed to finding a cure for cancer. In 2013, his daughter Milana was born with a rare heart condition and understands the stress and fear of having a sick child, and the impact it has on a family. Having dealt with NEO Kids first-hand, Nick believes that there is a need to better serve children and young patients in the North. Nick and his wife Janelle have two children – Milana and Landon and are expecting a third child this spring.

Julie DeSimone is the owner of DeSimone Foot & Ankle Centre. She has a Bachelor of Science in Podiatric Medicine and was a former Director of the Chiropody Department at Laurentian Hospital for 9 years. Due to her dedication to promoting health care in the North, Julie has recently been appointed as a director of the inaugural NEO Kids Foundation Board and has been chosen as chair of their NEO Kids Foundation Fundraising Committee. She was also the Chair of Meals on Wheels Sudbury, Director of the Ontario Society of Chiropodists, as well as many other local charities.

Dominic Giroux joined HSN and HSNRI on October 2nd, 2017. With over 4,250 employees in 24 locations in Greater Sudbury and across Northeastern Ontario, 500 physicians, 2,100 learners, 700 volunteers and 446 beds, HSN is one of Northern Ontario’s largest employers, its largest hospital, and ranks among Canada’s Top 40 research hospitals.

Prior to joining HSN and HSNRI, Mr. Giroux was Laurentian University’s longest-serving President and Vice-Chancellor from 2009 to 2017.  Under his leadership, Laurentian successfully completed a multi-million dollar campus renovation, secured private and public investments in research and infrastructure, and rose to Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities on Maclean’s rankings.

Mr. Giroux has 19 years of senior executive experience in the public sector and policy setting having served as Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, and as a senior executive in two Ontario school boards. He was one of four members of the 2012 Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services that made over 100 health-related recommendations. He chaired the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and co-chaired the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS).

Mr. Giroux currently serves on the Executive of Universities Canada, on Ontario’s Economic Advisory Panel, the Mowat Centre’s Advisory Board, the Board of the Greater Sudbury Food Bank and volunteers as a mentor in the Northern Leadership Program. He is a regular keynote speaker on strategic planning, leadership, organizational development and governance.​

Dr. Janis Goldie is a professor and Chair of the Communications Department at Huntington University. She has an extensive background in research, communications, and leadership roles. Janis brings substantial board and governance experience, and also feels very passionately about NEO Kids. She is a mother of two young children and has experienced the monetary, time, and emotional strains that traveling out of town for children’s care can have on a child and their family.

Rick has a degree in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University, and has been involved in the family business since 1995. Rick is the co-owner of O C P Construction Supplies Inc.  Most important in Rick’s life are his wife and children, and it is this love for family that drives him to serve with NEO Kids Foundation.  He fully believes that keeping families at home (or at least closer to home) will make their children’s health challenges that much more manageable.

Jennifer Twigg is president of Twiggs Coffee Roasters. Roasting single origin coffees since 1995, Twiggs has grown to 4 locations and a distribution Centre and is currently expanding. After years of managing the day to day operations which allowed Jennifer to bond with people in the community and to focus on continual improvement, Jennifer now focuses on business development, branding, expansion and Twiggs charitable efforts.

Jennifer shares her business and life experiences and various venues including speaking at the Governor General of Canada’s leadership conference, keynote speaker to the Women in Business group, Nipissing University and Canadore College Business Programs, and the First Nations Nbising School Business Program.  One of Jennifer’s greatest pleasures is hosting coffee roasting demonstrations for young children and groups of students for the opportunity to interact  with them and to address all of their curiosities about the roasting process and the coffee industry.