Sustain Ontario Welcomes New Director
Posted: June 8, 2015
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
Philip Groff brings 12 years leadership experience to Ontario’s Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming
Toronto ON, June 8, 2015 – Sustain Ontario, the Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming, a project on Tides Canada’s shared platform, introduces Philip Groff as its new Director.
Since 2008 Sustain Ontario has played a key role in bringing together many of Ontario’s diverse food and agricultural organizations to influence the direction of food system development in this province. The Director of Sustain Ontario is tasked with implementing the recently developed three-year Strategic Plan and continuing to innovate and support actors within the food system in Ontario.
With experience in organizational transformations, Groff successfully stewarded the amalgamation of four smaller organizations into a new corporate identity. At Sustain, Phil will focus on increasing our impact by building on Sustain’s existing strength in collaborative action. He states, “With this strategic plan, we will be further developing the team to engage with the wealth of expertise and innovative thinking that has grown Ontario’s reputation as an international leader in sustainable food systems policy and practice. Although Ontario is a leader in this field, there is a ways to go to make local and healthy food accessible and viable in all of Ontario’s communities.”
“We’re excited about Phil’s ability to bring a fresh perspective along with an impressive resume of skills and experience to the position,” says Bryan Gilvesy, Chair of Sustain Ontario’s Advisory Council. He adds, “As we embark on this next stage in Sustain Ontario’s life-cycle, we feel encouraged that Phil’s team building, collaboration and change management experience will help transform not only Sustain, but the way the sustainable food and agriculture sector connects in Ontario.”
To get in touch with Phil, please contact Philip Groff, Director, Sustain Ontario at (647) 588-2336 or phil@sustainontario.ca.
About Philip Groff, Ph.D.
Phil has a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toronto with a specialty in Human Problem Solving, Neuropsychology and Cognition. He has been a course instructor in the psychology departments of the University of Toronto, York University and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Phil is also a credentialed evaluator with the Canadian Evaluation Society.
From 2001 through 2010, Phil served as Director of Research & Evaluation for SMARTRISK, a national not for profit dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives. After more than nine years in that role, Phil was appointed President and CEO, responsible for overseeing all of SMARTRISK’s operations. After leading the amalgamation of SMARTRISK with three other national NGOs into Parachute, July 1, 2012, Phil stayed on as Vice President, Programs of the new organization. He left to launch his own consulting firm Creative Development Unlimited in November 2013, in which capacity he has helped many not for profit organizations with issues in leadership development, governance, strategic and operational planning, and program evaluation.
Previous research appointments involved work on Urban Health, and on a Conceptual Analysis of Risk Management, Safety and Injury Prevention at both the Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit and Health and Everything. He also worked on a multi-year project on the History and Future of Canadian Health Policy and the Concept of Health with the Health Network at Canadian Policy Research Networks.