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Thursday, November 12, 2020
12:00 PM
 - 1:00 PM

Making Winter Awesome

Rosie MacLennan (Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist), Mark Henick (Mark Henick Mental Health Media) and Paula Allen (Morneau Shepell)
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How Leaders Can Better Manage their Mental Health this Year

Many of us have already decided that 2020 is a write-off. Pandemic, confusing political landscapes, and overall uncertainty about the future make it easy to accept our fate: that winter, like the rest of 2020, is going to suck.  What can we do to escape the dark and cold of the impending season mentally and physically to not only make this winter tolerable but to make it awesome?

Join Canadian Club Toronto on November 12 as we bring together mental health experts and leaders to help you get into the right mindset to make your winter awesome! This expert panel will be moderated by Bruce Sellery, Personal Finance Journalist, and will feature:

  • Paula Allen – Senior Vice-President, Research, Analytics and Innovation, Morneau Shepell
  • Mark Henick – Principal and CEO, Mark Henick Mental Health Media
  • Rosie MacLennan – Olympic Gold Medalist

This event is free of charge. In lieu of a ticket purchase, if you’re able, please consider a donation to Jack.org.

Please note: you will receive the access link on the morning of the event.

Rosie MacLennan
Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist

Rosie MacLennan made history at Rio 2016 when she became the first trampolinist to ever win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. She also became the first Canadian athlete to successfully defend an Olympic title at the summer Games and the first Canadian woman to win two gold medals in an individual event at the summer Games. Four years earlier, MacLennan had won Canada’s only gold medal at London 2012 where she performed the most difficult routine of the competition to earn a career-high score of 57.305 for Canada’s first-ever Olympic trampoline gold medal. She had first gained multi-sport experience at the 2007 Pan Am Games where she won silver before stepping up to win gold at Guadalajara 2011. She successfully defended that gold medal at home at Toronto 2015, sharing the podium with teammate Karen Cockburn, after coming back from a concussion. MacLennan made her world championship debut in 2005 and won her first medal, a bronze, in 2007. She added another bronze in 2010 before winning silver in 2011. After her first Olympic triumph, MacLennan maintained her top international ranking, winning her first world title in 2013. She added another silver in 2014. After suffering her second concussion of the year when she was accidentally hit on the head by a car trunk, MacLennan was happy just to be able to compete at the 2015 World Championships. Choosing to lower the technical difficulty in her routine, she trained it for one week and finished just off the podium in fourth place.

Mark Henick
Principal and CEO, Mark Henick Mental Health Media

Informed by his direct experience with stigma and the mental health care system, Mark Henick dedicated his life from an early age to opening minds and creating change.

Mark is the principal and CEO of Strategic Mental Health Solutions, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations and individuals to move strategically from basic mental health awareness toward meaningful, measurable action.

He has previously served as the youngest president of a provincial Canadian Mental Health Association division in history, the youngest member of the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and a national spokesperson for the Faces of Mental Illness campaign. He has worked as a front line mental health counsellor, and the manager of a national workplace mental health training program. Prior to his present role, Mark oversaw the Fund Development and Marketing & Communications portfolios for the Canadian Mental Health Association as National Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Mark holds a Master of Science in child development, a Bachelor of Arts with interdisciplinary honours focusing on psychology and philosophy, and certificates in trauma counselling, suicide intervention, mental health first aid, and knowledge exchange.

Today, Mark is sought after public speaker and active media commentator on issues related to mental illness and mental health.

Mark has appeared in more than a hundred television segments, and countless more radio, print, and online features about mental health. His work has frequently appeared across Canada by media such as CTV National News, Entertainment Tonight, and The Globe and Mail; in the United States by CNN, the Chicago Tribune, and The New York Daily News; and in the UK by The Independent, The Daily Mail, and The Sun. He has also appeared around the world in, AsiaOne (Singapore), Trud (Bulgaria), The Epoch Times (China), Reader’s Digest, Buzzfeed, and The Huffington Post, among many others.

Mark’s TEDx talk, Why We Choose Suicide, is among the most watched in the world with over 6 million views. His story of searching for “the man in the light brown jacket” who saved his life from a teenage suicide attempt went viral around world. When Mark learned of products being sold on Amazon that promoted suicide, his successful online petition to have them removed garnered tens of thousands of signatures and again gained global media attention. The worldwide rights to Mark’s first book have been acquired by HarperCollins.

Mark brings a diverse and unique perspective of someone who has been a patient, a professional, and a policy influencer in the mental health system. He lives with his family in Toronto, Canada.

Paula Allen
Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics and Innovation, Morneau Shepell

Paula Allen is the Senior Vice President of Research, Analytics and Innovation for Morneau Shepell. In this role, manages the continuum of integrated analytics, predictive modelling and data-centric products and services that support the organization and its clients. Paula’s focus is on the current, emerging and most complex issues that have the greatest impact on workplace health, cost and productivity. She is also a well-recognized expert in workplace mental health, disability management, and drug plan management. Paula designed and led the most comprehensive employer response to the H1N1 pandemic, and is currently Morneau Shepell’s business response and resource lead for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paula works directly with many of Canada’s leading organizations, is a member of the Women’s College Hospital’s Board of Directors, was co-chair of Civic Action’s Champions Council on workplace mental health, , was part of the Income Security Working Group providing advice to the Ontario Government on issues relating to disability and income support, and sits on several research and strategy advisory boards that address issues ranging from e-mental health solutions to substance abuse in the workplace.

Paula completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Toronto in psychological research and neuropsychological testing and clinical intervention. She has more than 20 years of experience relating to workplace research, product development and operational leadership that spans the range of EFAP, Attendance and Disability Management and Health and Benefits Consulting.

Paula frequently speaks at major conferences, and is often sought out by the national media for her knowledge and expertise in current issues and the future direction of workplace health, productivity and related risk management.

Bruce Selley
Personal Finance Expert on Cityline and CBC Radio, Bestselling Author of Moolala

Bruce Sellery is a personal finance expert and the author of the Globe & Mail bestseller, Moolala: Why smart people do dumb things with money (and what you can do about it).

He is the Money columnist for CBC Radio and the national lifestyle TV show Cityline, and hosts Moolala: Money Made Simple, a weekly radio show on SiriusXM. Bruce was the host of Million Dollar Neighbourhood on the Oprah Winfrey Network and spent a decade as an anchor and New York Bureau Chief for BNN Bloomberg.

Bruce is a graduate of the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and sits on the school’s Advisory Board. He is also an alumnus of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.