Evelyn Wilson - President

In 1996, Evelyn Wilson co-founded Open Arms to International Adoption, a non-profit federally registered adoption agency facilitating adoptions from The Peoples Republic of China. She served as President for 10 years and oversaw the expansion of Open Arms in terms of both numbers of families served and a host of supportive services and programs for adopted children and their families such as festive children's parties, family picnics, newsletters, baby care seminars, parent in-waiting events, grandparent teas and dragon boat teams.

In 2005 Evelyn worked with a group of adoptive parents who had a heart for the Chinese children who would never be adopted and faced a bleak future with extremely limited opportunities for education and the social-emotional supports of a family. Open Arms Children's Foundation grew out of their combined hearts.

Professionally, Evelyn is an educator with an Honours Physical and Health Education degree and a Masters in Arts Degree. After retiring from the position of Superintendent from the Toronto District School Board, she worked as an independent consultant for The Ministry of Education, The Council of Ontario Directors of Education and small businesses. Evelyn is currently a Co-ordinator of Leadership Programs in the Faculty of Education at York University.

Over the years, Evelyn has worked as a volunteer in her community. She and her husband John are blessed with two wonderful adopted Chinese daughters who fill their days with joy and "keep them young".

Deborah Maw - Vice-President

Deborah Maw has been the Executive Director of Open Arms to International Adoption, a licensed adoption agency that specializes in adoptions from the People's Republic of China, for 10 years. She has also been actively involved in the formation of the Open Arms Children's Foundation and its fundraising activities.

Deborah has participated in a wide range of volunteer and board positions with numerous non-profit organizations, and has served as president of the Rosedale-Moore Park Association, the Junior League of Toronto and the University Women's Club of Toronto. She has a professional background in history and museum studies, having graduated from the University of Toronto with both a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Master's Degree in Museum Studies. However, after adopting two children from China, she changed her professional and volunteer focus in order to help other families to adopt children from China.

Ellen Pekilis - Secretary

Ellen Pekilis joined the Board of Open Arms Children's Foundation in 2005 as Secretary. Previously, she participated on the Fundraising Committee of the Open Arms to International Adoption agency and speaks on adoption matters for the Adoption Council of Ontario. Ellen and her husband are the proud parents of a wonderful daughter from China.

Ellen is also a member of the Board of the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA). She has co-chaired the CCCA's session numerous times at the Ontario Bar Association's Annual Institute, the premiere annual continuing legal education event for the Ontario legal profession. Ellen is Director of Corporate Legal Affaires with Canadian Standards Association, a private not-for-profit organization with a goal of making standards work foe people and business.

Jean-Philippe Cadot - Treasurer

Jean-Philippe Cadot is the Treasurer of Open Arms Children's Foundation and a founding Director of OACF. Jean-Philippe has also served as Treasurer of Open Arms to International Adoption for the past four years. Jean-Philippe and his wife Janet adopted a little girl from China in 2003.

Professionally, Jean-Philippe is an international banker. He is the Past President of the French Chamber of Commerce in Canada (Toronto section) and a trade advisor to the French government.

MaryAnn Crichton - Board Member

MaryAnn Crichton has had a life-long fascination and interest in China. She has seen the country develop, beginning with one of the first individual visas issued in 1981 and has visited many times since then. In 1996, MaryAnn joined the first Board of Directors of Open Arms to International Adoption, a non-profit federally registered adoption agency facilitating adoptions from The Peoples Republic of China.

Professionally, MaryAnn is the Global Head of a Management Consulting Practice within Hatch, a Global engineering and construction firm with 20 years of project experience in China. Mary Ann has B.Sc. Chemical Engineering and a M.B.A. She has 30 years of international business experience in strategy, new business development, marketing, finance and public policy development. She has worked on a broad range projects for financial institutions, companies, potential investors and government agencies. She is a former merchant banker.

MaryAnn is currently on the Board of the Ontario Mining Association and Chairs the newly established Education and Outreach Committee. She volunteers with a number of groups in her community. MaryAnn has been active in the Canadian Women's Foundation and Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO). In 2006, she was awarded the Ontario Public Service Award for her co-founding the Women in Engineering Advisory Committee, updating the Engineering Awards and other PEO committee work.

MaryAnn is a single mother and is blessed with two wonderful adopted Chinese daughters.

Daniel C. Chan

Daniel C. Chan is Executive Director of Nextimpact Inc.

Daniel is a seasoned veteran in the high tech industry. During the past 20 years, Daniel has been focusing on China market encompassing all aspects of business development; from developing relationships, creating strategy alliances, negotiating contracts to managing technology transfer programs.

Daniel held senior management positions in International Marketing, Operation Management, Project Management and License Management at Nortel. His proven track record includes managing technology transfer to global partners, managing Export Development Corporation (EDC) customer financing, and managing Joint Venture projects in China. His work has allowed him to gain a unique perspective of the China market and an in-depth understanding of the art of facilitating business deals between Western and Chinese companies.

Daniel holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Julia Ouellette

As a newly appointed Board member, Julia Ouellette brings experience in fundraising for not-for-profit organizations. She has been actively involved in the visual arts and the disabled community.

Julia is parent to 3 children. The youngest is adopted from China.

Kathyrn Soden joined the OACF board in 2008. She is the mother of three amazing children. Her youngest, a wonderful daughter, was adopted from China. Prior to taking on parenting full time, Kathy was the Director of Corporate Finance at the Ontario Securities Commission. Since then, she has spent time volunteering for various organizations such as the Adoption Council of Ontario and serveral schools.

Though not currently practising, Kathy is a Chartered Accountant.