CNIB's team of senior leaders across the country are passionate about changing what it is to be blind today.
John M. Rafferty, President and CEO
CNIB’s eighth president and CEO, John M. Rafferty, joined the team in 2009 and has since been a catalyst for extraordinary change and for the modernization and growth of one of Canada’s oldest and most trusted charities. Under John’s leadership, CNIB has expanded by more than 50 per cent and unified its service offerings across the country, making them more accessible and available nationwide. He also spearheaded the landmark trifurcation of CNIB into three separate organizations, each providing vital and distinct services to Canadians who are blind, partially sighted, or Deafblind. At the same time, John was a driving force behind the implementation of many of CNIB’s most groundbreaking programs – including CNIB Guide Dogs and Come to Work – as well as a wide range of virtual programs. Under John’s leadership, CNIB has also led the charge on a number of landmark accessibility victories, including the launch of the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), among many other accessibility wins. Learn more about John…
Angela Bonfanti, Chief Operating Officer
Since joining the CNIB team in 2011, Angela Bonfanti has been a driving force behind many of our organization’s most transformational achievements – from launching CNIB Community Hubs across Canada to leading CNIB’s efforts in the development of An Act to Amend the Copyright Act (2018), the Accessible Canada Act (2019), and other landmark public policy changes at both federal and provincial levels. Angela also led the development of our virtual programs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic so we could continue serving participants, whilst maintaining the health of CNIB’s overall operations. In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Angela provides strategic and operational oversight over the delivery of CNIB’s mandate and mission across Canada. Learn more about Angela...
Diane Bergeron, President, CNIB Guide Dogs
Diane is the president of CNIB Guide Dogs, and plays a pivotal role on global blindness issues as treasurer of the World Blind Union. Diane is partnered with her own CNIB Guide Dog, Carla, and together they advocate for the rights of people who are blind or have sight loss. Before Diane joined CNIB in 2012, she held senior roles with the Government of Alberta and City of Edmonton.
Garry Nenson, Chief Revenue Officer
Garry joined CNIB in 1989 as part of our philanthropy team based in Manitoba. Since then, he has held several senior leadership roles, including Executive Director, Regional Director, and National Director of Training and Advancement. Garry has now come full circle and landed back in our philanthropy team as Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing all philanthropic revenue generation for CNIB. He leads a team of professionals who thrive on raising funds to support the important programs and services of CNIB across Canada.
Kathy Rabideau, Chief Financial Officer
As the CFO of CNIB, Kathy provides executive transformational leadership in finance, strategy, IT, system implementation, data governance and enterprise risk. She is also the CFO of our two affiliate organizations, Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada and CNIB Deafblind Community Services. Prior to working at CNIB, Kathy held head of finance and executive roles in organizations that leverage proprietary technology to deliver services to government health, supply chain, retail as well as global monetary services.
Dr. Mahadeo A. Sukhai, Ph.D., Vice President, Research and International Affairs & Chief Accessibility Officer
Mahadeo is Canada's first blind biomedical research scientist, with more than 20 years' experience as an academic researcher and educator. He leads the research program for CNIB and our two affiliate organizations, Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada and CNIB Deafblind Community Services, and is the principal investigator for research projects to understand the lived experience of persons who are blind, Deafblind, and partially sighted in Canada. Mahadeo also leads CNIB's international affairs work. As CNIB's Chief Accessibility Officer, he oversees all three organizations' cultural change efforts on accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities and intersecting social identities.