Our Board of Directors

Learn about our dedicated Board of Directors - a strong team of individuals united by their passion for advancing Keep Your Head Up’s mission. Each member brings unique expertise and leadership to help drive our vision forward.

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  • Treasurer

    Eric has several years experience working with a variety of organizations in the not-for-profit space during his time as an accounting and audit specialist at BDO Canada LLP. Eric has advised not-for-profits of all sizes from nationally recognized organizations to niche grassroots movements. Eric is excited to apply that financial knowledge to Keep Your Head Up. Eric is passionate about seeing ideas being brought to fruition and making a positive lasting impact in communities.

    Currently, Eric works at Smile.io a start up in Kitchener, Ontario as a Finance Manager. Eric is also a former board member of the Grand River Hospital Volunteer Association.

    Eric attended University of Waterloo where he completed his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Financial Management and a Master of Accounting and has obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA,CA) designation.

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  • Board Chair

    During her varsity soccer career at Wilfrid Laurier University Women’s Soccer team Tristin endured two concussions that ultimately ended her competitive sports careers. She transitioned to a coaching position while completing her Master’s at the University of Waterloo to be able to stay apart of sport. While in the middle of her studies, Tristin suffered another concussion that forced her into a lengthy recovery.

    As she took some time off from school, she was able to turn her loss into a positive and use her free time to explore her passion for inclusion and diversity in sport. As a member of the LGBTQI2S community, she felt it was her responsibility to ensure future generations feel included and safe participating in the sports they love. This led her to become one of the founding members of the Canadian LGBTQI2S Sport Inclusion Task Force and onto the Canada East Board of the You Can Play Project.

    Although Tristin still suffers from post-concussion symptoms today, she credits much of her success to her support and recovery teams. She is excited to join the board for KYHU to bridge her passion for community organizing with community-based concussion recovery.

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  • Director

    Tom Hunter is a partner in Gowling WLG's Waterloo Region office and practises in the areas of corporate, commercial and technology law. He is the former co-chair of the firm's national Technology Law Group and a past department head of the Waterloo Region Business Law Group.

    Tom has been recognized as a leading practitioner in his field by Best Lawyers in Canada and the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. In the 2021 edition of Best Lawyers in Canada, Tom was named “Lawyer of the Year” for corporate law.

    His particular areas of focus include assisting entrepreneurs and owner operators with startup and growth-oriented companies, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and all aspects of technology commercialization. Tom has acted on over $1.5 billion of successful founder monetization and exit transactions. Tom serves as a director on the boards of numerous technology companies headquartered in the Waterloo Region technology cluster.

    Tom is a member of the Board of Directors of Parents for Community Living, and the past chair of the Board of Governors of St. Mary's General Hospital, the Waterloo Region Catholic Schools Foundation and the Resurrection Catholic Secondary School Parent Council. Tom is a member of the Advisory Council for the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship & Business at the University of Waterloo.

    Tom's community service also includes board, volunteer and pro bono activity with many other local organizations, including St. Paul's United College at the University of Waterloo, the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship at Wilfrid Laurier University, K-W Counselling Inc., K-W Oktoberfest, United Way, University of Guelph, Numus Inc., Waterloo Minor Hockey and Soccer, Kidslink, K-W Symphony, Waterloo Community Arts Centre, Waterloo Recreation Complex and the John M. Harper District Library.

  • Board Chair

    Jayme has worked in developmental services for 5 years now at Extend-A-Family Waterloo region. She currently works with folks with disabilities and neurodivergence to learn job readiness skills and as an agency trainer for Mental Health First Aid! Jayme was drawn to the Keep Your Head Up Foundation because she felt that the work being done was invaluable. As a teen Jayme had a few minor concussions and her sister had several major ones as well. Jayme feels that if they had access to the kind of support that Keep Your Head Up offers, they would have benefitted immensely. Jayme is so excited to be a part of the team and to lend her skills where she can! 

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  • Secretary

    Thomas is an associate in the Business Law Practice Group.

    After receiving his undergraduate degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, Thomas obtained his Juris Doctor from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. While at law school, Thomas worked with the Lakehead University Community Legal Services Clinic on a pro bono basis and provided legal services to low-income residents of Northwestern Ontario.

    Prior to joining SV Law, Thomas summered and articled at a national firm in Kitchener where he completed rotations in two major practice areas, business law and advocacy. Thomas was involved in a number of high-profile transactions with young, dynamic companies before he was called to the Ontario Bar in 2022.Thomas has a passion for advocacy, which led him to Keep Your Head Up. Thomas helps review the organizations strategic long-term plans, records the minutes of Board of Directors meetings, and has been a guest speaker in the Keep Your Head Up podcast.

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  • Director

    Allie is a founder of Keep Your Head Up and the Director of Health and Wellness for the Keep Your Head Up Foundation.

    Allie sustained a sports-related concussion in high school which resulted in a long and uncertain recovery process. While Allie always had an interest in the health field, this experience inspired her passion for helping others develop skills that allow them to feel more in control over their health and well-being. This passion is what fuelled Allie to join her co-founder in creating Keep Your Head Up so that those impacted by brain injury feel more supported through their recovery process.

    Allie completed her Bachelor of Science in Health Studies at the University of Waterloo

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  • Director

    Felicia is a founder and CEO of the Keep Your Head Up Foundation.

    Felicia has helped the organization grow over the last three years from a team of two to a dedicated and hardworking group of twenty volunteers that carry out the organization’s mission and vision. Today, Keep Your Head Up supports thousands of people impacted by brain injury across Canada and around the world. 

    After her own personal experience with navigating brain injury recovery, Felicia has become an advocate for the cause. Felicia’s passion for helping others battling brain injury recovery led her to pursue a Bachelor’s of Public Health at the University of Waterloo and her Master’s of Public Health from Brock University. She cannot wait to see what the future holds for the Keep Your Head Up Foundation!