Co-Founders

Paola Ardiles Gamboa PhD, Founder & President of Board

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Paola Ardiles Gamboa PhD is a public health champion, educator and social entrepreneur. Her work is rooted in community engaged scholarship, participatory practice and social innovation.

As a practitioner scholar, she has published and contributed to work ranging from health equity issues to system approaches towards wellbeing in higher ed. In 2012, Paola was awarded Dr. Nancy Hall Public Policy Leadership Award of Distinction, for her local, provincial and national work to advance mental health in Canada.

In 2013, Paola founded Bridge for Health, a local & global network focused on citizen and youth engagement to promote health & wellbeing. Bridge for Health became an incubator for social innovation and was established as a co-op association, receiving the 2017 Coast Capital Savings Venture Award for Social Impact for its efforts to advance wellbeing in the workplace.

Since 2013, Paola has been teaching and mentoring at Simon Fraser University. She has developed new undergraduate and graduate experiential courses in Health Promotion & Social Innovation. In 2016, in collaboration with academic & community partners, Paola co-designed the new Health Change Lab, an experiential program to help students identify community health challenges in the city of Surrey and design innovative & entrepreneurial solutions. She received the 2017 Surrey Board of Trade-Women in Business, Social Trailblazer award.

Paola has 15 + years of leadership and facilitation experience, plus a passion for creating and leading innovative, collaborative and multi-sectoral initiatives. She received the inaugural 2017 Health Promotion Canada’s Mid Career national award and was recognized as one of TD Bank’s 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians.

Paola serves as the immediate Past President of the Public Health Association of British Columbia, a non-for-profit organization.

Bilingual: Spanish/English, advanced French

 

 

Rebecca Zappelli BASc MHM, Founding member

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Rebecca Zappelli

Rebecca Zappelli

Rebecca has 10 years of experience working in the health sector in health policy and health promotion roles for government, community and research organizations in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. Her skills in management, policy development, implementation, health promotion programming, research and community engagement have seen her contribute to a number of successful health programs and policy initiatives in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Whether it’s been backpacking across Egypt, volunteering in Peru, living in a Ger in Mongolia or travelling in an overland truck across East Africa, Rebecca has cultivated a passion for developing relationships that contribute to community development and global partnership. This passion has led her to work with Bridge for Health’s co-founders and network members to lead the cooperatives global engagement agenda, building its international network towards co-producing socially innovative solutions to complex health issues.

In addition to being a founding member and Bridge for Health’s International Partnerships Lead, Rebecca is the Director of Operations at the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA) at Simon Fraser University. It is in this role that Rebecca is responsible for managing CARMHA’s resources, developing and managing organizational and program budgets, supporting the planning and organization of research projects and the execution of research operations.

Rebecca has also held senior policy roles within the Western Australian (WA) government, including working for the WA Mental Health Commission: a government agency charged with state-wide mental health reform. Whilst at the WA Mental Health Commission, Rebecca was a part of the project team working with State and Federal governments to plan for the delivery of a comprehensive youth early psychosis service across WA. She also project managed a number of youth mental health initiatives and co-developed the ‘WA Mental Health Prevention and Anti-Stigma Framework 2011-13’ to guide the state governments strategic investment in the area.

Rebecca’s expertise in health have seen her present at a number of national and international conferences on health related topics such as; youth engagement, social marketing, collective impact, sexual and mental health and social inclusion.

Rebecca has completed a Masters in Health Management from the University of New South Wales and also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Science (Health Promotion) Deakin University. Rebecca is also a member of a number of professional groups in public health and health promotion.

 

Natasha Moore, Co-founder

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Natasha has over 10 years experience in the technology, health supports and market research sectors. Her work spans project management, community engagement, research and evaluation in Australia and Canada.

A growing interest in disrupters in the health and wellbeing space led to a connection with Bridge for Health’s co-founders and the opportunity to play a key role in the creation of the cooperatives business structure. 

Natasha is a founding member and co-Chair of Bridge for Health, as well as Research Analyst for Wellbeing at UBC. At UBC Natasha provides strategic and evaluation support for programs and projects that focus on wellbeing of community members. 

In the technology space Natasha contributed to the development Tyze Personal Networks, a care coordination platform. With a focus on research, community engagement and product management Natasha played a key role engaging users, developing resources and making strategic product improvements.

Natasha has a Bachelor of Social Science (RMIT University, Australia) and Graduate Certificate in International Management (Capilano University, Canada).

Shannon Turner PhD (c), Co-Founder & Treasurer

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Shannon Turner, B.A., BSc., MSc., PhD(c)., is a well-respected senior public health administrator, researcher and advocate. Her lifelong commitment to social justice is reflected in Shannon’s nearly continuous volunteer and advocacy efforts over the last twenty years. Shannon served as President, Past President and chair of governance committee of the Public Health Association of British Columbia (PHABC) and currents serves as the Executive Director of PHABC.  Currently, Shannon is the National Co-Chair of Prevention of Violence Canada and an elected board member of the Canadian Public Health Association. Shannon is also committed member of the Global Violence Prevention Alliance, and has served on the Working Group for the Assets Database and participated in numerous VPA meetings and conferences.

Prior to undertaking full time Doctoral studies Shannon was Director of Public Health for the Vancouver Island Health Authority. In both her professional and personal life Shannon has been dedicated to the promotion of healthy communities, and social justice. For more than 25 years she has supported quality improvement activities across the health care continuum from local to international levels of governance. Shannon has provided decision support, health promotion, program management, information management, risk management, quality improvement and strategic planning consultant services. As a health promotion and health informatics consultant, Shannon has worked in multiple cross-cultural settings and has had a commitment to reducing health inequities particularly for indigenous people. Shannon served as a keynote in an international Speaking Tour in Sweden and Latvia in 1994 and 1996 and in 2008, she facilitated a thirteen country meeting in Uganda on behalf of the East, Central and South African Public Health Associations.

The University of Hawaii has named Shannon to the Delta Omega Society for outstanding contribution to public health. In 2008, she was awarded the James M. Robinson Award (UBC Public Health) for her significant contributions to public health. In 2009, she was presented with the President’s Award by the Public Health Association of BC for her work in rebuilding and renewing the association. Shannon Turner, has served as a foster parent, and is an honorary life member of the Vancouver Island Cooperative Preschool Association.