Barb Willet
Barb has a Masters in Health Sciences with a specialty in Health Promotion. During her 20+ years with Health Nexus, she’s held several different positions, primarily in management, and most recently as Program Director. Barb has provided strategic leadership to the effective planning and delivery of a range of programs to public health, community health, social service agencies and health care.
Wendy McAllister
Wendy is currently the Manager of the Best Start Resource Centre. In her previous capacity as a Health Promotion Consultant with Best Start, Wendy worked extensively on teen pregnancy, advanced maternal age, reproductive health risks in the workplace, health before pregnancy and the effects of tobacco smoke and alcohol during pregnancy. She assisted communities across the province by providing presentations, consultations and designing new provincial resources. Wendy has presented at many conferences including Missouri Healthy Start, Guelph Conference on Human Sexuality, the Ontario Public Health Association Conference, Maternal Newborn Network and has provided on-site consultations to most Ontario Health Units.
Alison Benedict
Alison Benedict, MSW is a member of the Mohawk Nation from Akwesasne, Wolf Clan. Her Mohawk name is Kiawenniserathe, meaning Bright Day. The roots and inspiration of her life work come from the teachings of the Peacemaker.
She received her Masters degree from the University of Michigan with a focus in clinical practice with children and youth, including school social work and specialized training in child abuse and neglect.
Alison has been a professor and frontline social worker. The focus of her teaching has been work in First Nations/Aboriginal communities and creating culturally specific curriculum. Her specialization is working with people who have experienced trauma, either as survivors or as witnesses. This includes work with physically and/or sexually abused and neglected children, women and men who have experienced or perpetrated violence, residential school survivors and people of various ages experiencing other life challenges.
Marie Brisson
Marie Brisson is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant. She graduated from the University of Ottawa in nursing; she then completed a second cycle diploma in Andragogy and a diploma in Health and Safety in the workplace. She worked in Public Health in numerous health programs and worked a few years in the private sector which makes her field of expertise very wide.
She is committed to find strategies, approaches, and activities to respond to individuals, families or communities’ needs/requirements. She is proficient in training development and delivery, facilitation and presentations.
Louise Choquette
Louise Choquette is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant. Her formal education is in Communications and Educational Technology. Over the past few years, she has been involved in a variety of health promotion initiatives in public health and for not-for-profit organizations in the areas of heart health, physical activity, tobacco use prevention and substance abuse prevention. Her portfolio with the Best Start Resource Centre has included services to francophones, prenatal education, cultural diversity issues, tobacco, attachment and physical activity.
Hiltrud Dawson
Hiltrud has ext.ensive experience in the maternal newborn field as a nurse, midwife, and lactation consultant. Before joining the team at the Best Start Resource Centre, Hiltrud worked in the postpartum and neonatal units and the breastfeeding clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare. During that time, she pulled together a multidisciplinary team that implemented the Baby-Friendly Initiative. St Joseph's Healthcare became Ontario's first Baby-Friendly Hospital. Hiltrud has taught workshops on breastfeeding, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and other reproductive health topics to audiences from various health and social service disciplines including physicians and medical students. She is currently expanding her portfolio into child health and development. Her passions include breastfeeding, the adjustment of mothers and families after the birth of their baby, and the impact of mother's physical, social and mental issues on infants and children.
Lao Gueye
Lao Gueye is the new bilingual administrative assistant and her job focuses mainly on filing orders for resources, reporting directly to the Health Promotion Manager as well as other administrative duties. She is originally from Dakar, Senegal and lived in Chicago for eight years where she earned her Bachelor degree in Human Resource Management and years of experiences as a customer service and as an administrative assistant. She moved to Toronto just two years ago to join her family.
Roshni Juttun
Roshni Juttun integrated the Best Start team since beginning of January 2009 as Bilingual Administrative Assistant and will be providing full support in both English and French to the team, reporting directly to the Health Promotion Manager. Backed with 6 years experience in Administrative and Human Resources acquired through numerous and reputable French companies in Mauritius, she recently moved to Canada with her family.
Penny Scott
Penny Scott earned her BA Honours from York University with a Double Major in Sociology and Health & Society. Penny`s previous work experience included positions with many projects at Health Nexus as well as a background in corporate training and facilitation for various employers in the private sector. Most recently she worked with the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance providing information and support to families and their primary care providers and organizing an international conference with a focus on best practices and current research in the field.
Our Staff 
