Webinar MC
eMHIC
CANADA
Nicole Waldron is a dynamic speaker, mental health advocate, and storyteller with lived experience as a family mental health caregiver. She speaks with authenticity, compassion, and purpose—sparking conversations that challenge stigma and inspire hope.
Nicole delivers impactful keynotes, panels, and workshops on:
- The journey of family mental health caregivers
- Building a Victory Mindset through adversity
- Community wellness, co-operative housing, and advocacy
- Empowering women, youth, and marginalized communities
As the host of the Victory Speaks Podcast & Show, she encourages audiences to live with intention and resilience. Her talks combine vulnerability with practical tools to cultivate wellness and purpose.
Nicole is a respected voice in mental health policy, serving as a Family Advisor with CAMH, Stella’s Place, and OFCAN. She collaborates on several mental health initiatives, including CIHR-funded research and the MHA Provincial Coordinated Access Working Group.
Recognized for her leadership, she is a recipient of the Brian Burch Community Service Award, named among the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women, and honoured by HERstory in Black.
Nicole serves on the boards of The Co-operators, the Ontario Caregiver Organization, and CHFT Charitable Fund. Her mission remains clear: speak life, ignite victory, and amplify voices that matter.
Deputy CEO and Executive Vice President
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
CANADA
MaryAnn Notarianni (she/her) is the Deputy CEO and Executive Vice President, Knowledge Mobilization at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families. In this role, MaryAnn provides strategic leadership to Atlas initiatives designed to make evidence more accessible to improve Veteran and Family mental health.
Before Atlas, MaryAnn had progressive leadership roles in national and provincial mental health intermediary organizations, such as the Knowledge Institute for Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. MaryAnn has also worked in policy roles for the federal government, as well as with national non-profit organizations and as a sessional instructor at the School of Social Work with Carleton University.
MaryAnn has a master’s degree in social work, a bachelor’s degree in public affairs and policy management, with a specialization in social policy, and she is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders.
Medical Advisor
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
CANADA
Dr. J. Don Richardson is Medical Advisor to the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and a psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Operational Stress Injury Clinic.
He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and the Tanna Schulich Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Western University, Director of the MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research.
With more than 25 years of experience as a clinician-researcher, Dr. Richardson has made significant contributions to advancing the mental health and well-being of military members, Veterans, and their families.
National Strategic Advisor, Families
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
CANADA
Laryssa Lamrock is the National Strategic Advisor-Families, at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families. With more than 20 years of experience supporting military, Veteran and first responder families , and as a military family member herself, she combines professional and lived expertise to advance mental health and wellness supports for Families across Canada. Her work is grounded in the belief that stronger support for families leads to stronger outcomes for all.
Drawing on her experience supporting a loved one living with an operational stress injury (OSI), as well as her own journey with depression, Laryssa is a passionate advocate for family education, engagement and support. She has spoken nationally on OSIs and peer support, contributes to advisory committees across the sector and has co-authored publications exploring the family impacts of moral injury and post-traumatic stress. She is committed to ensuring that families are recognized not only as important partners in recovery, but also as individuals whose own experiences and well-being matter.
Chief Medical Officer
Veterans Affairs Canada
CANADA
Dr. Cyd Courchesne is Chief Medical Officer at Veterans Affairs Canada, where she leads VAC’s health professional workforce, oversees mental health supports and services for Veterans, and provides executive oversight of the Atlas Institute and the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Veterans and their families.
She joined VAC following a 30-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces, during which she held senior national leadership roles in primary care delivery and medical policy.
Special Advisor
Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
CANADA
Brian McKenna served for 19 years in the Canadian Army, retiring as a Warrant Officer in the infantry. In that time, Brian served in Bosnia twice, and Afghanistan twice with the Canadian Forces and as instructor with NATO.
Brian works at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and provides advice both on veterans themselves, and also on the realities of being a person with lived experience with PTSD, and Brain Injury.
Post service, Brian also had to navigate the realities of dealing with cancer during the covid period along with post-chemo effects on the body, and this forced some changes into how he accessed health care at the time and continues to access it now.