Brampton Alumni Reception and Fireside Chat

Dr. Adam Kassam

Executive Director of Health Innovation and Strategy
Toronto Metropolitan University

Dr. Adam Kassam is founding Executive Director of Health Innovation & Strategy at Toronto Metropolitan University and the immediate past president of the Ontario Medical Association.

He was elected as the youngest President in the 140 year history of the organization, while also being the first Ismaili Muslim and the first physiatrist in the role. Dr. Kassam is an award winning physician who serves on the board of the Ontario Medical Association, the Canadian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and as an adjunct professor in the department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He has previously served on the boards of the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Telus Health and the Medical Post.

Dr. Kassam graduated with a BA from Cornell University, and MD from Dartmouth Medical School and an MPH from Columbia University.

Dr. Tanya (Toni) De Mello

Vice President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Toronto Metropolitan University

With a background comprising finance, management consulting and law, Tanya (Toni) De Mello has spent much of her career focusing on and researching equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). She is a human rights lawyer and a certified coach and mediator. She has taught at University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and several Colleges. She worked at TMU as the Director of Human Rights and then Lincoln Alexander School of Law, (opens in new window)  which is Canada's newest law school that opened in 2019. She is currently the Vice President, Equity and Community Inclusion (opens in new window) . She has worked with over 100 organizations in training, consulting and supporting them in their EDI journey.

In addition to founding two NGOs, Toni has served in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the World Food Programme in Geneva (Switzerland), Senegal (West Africa) and Columbia (South America). Toni holds a dual Bachelor of Economics and Political Science from the University of Waterloo; a double Master in Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning from Princeton University; a dual law degree from McGill University and a Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Toronto. She also completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto, where she researched bias in hiring in Canada.