There’s a new CAO for the District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board.
The board announced Friday that it was welcoming experience health and social services leader Tammy MacKenzie to the organization.
MacKenzie began work at the DSSAB on August 24 and she arrives with a strong career background as an innovative and empowering leader who brings over 20 years of experience in the public sector to the position.
“The Board, staff and I are so pleased to welcome Tammy as our new CAO. Our five-year plan to modernize our management level is now complete,” Board Chair Rick Zanussi said. “Our new management team is pleased to begin the final leg of transitioning from our retiring group of directors into our new senior group who will take our organization into the future. Tammy brings her senior leadership skills, along with the inherent benefit of her health care sector experience, which is so important to the many clients in all our programs. I look forward to working with Tammy as we pursue a continuing and successful pathway for our organization.”
MacKenzie joins the DSSAB having held leadership and front-line positions in two Toronto organizations with long histories of providing services and support to vulnerable populations.
She says for the past five years, she’s been working locally in Home and Community Care and has developed a comprehensive understanding of local needs while engaging directly with clients, care providers, and other community organizations.
“I believe in partnerships that put people first and working to dismantle structural boundaries that can limit access to needed services,” MacKenzie said. “I look forward to being a part of community-based solutions and working together with all DSSAB partners.
MacKenzie is a Registered Psychotherapist and she has been actively involved in the local community as Co-Chair of the West Parry Sound Hospice Palliative Care Resource Team and Co-Chair of the steering committee for the Inter-Agency Mobilization of Partners Achieving Collaboration Table.
She is also a member of the Parry Sound Health and Social Services Support Network and has contributed to various publications and research documents while at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
MacKenzie has a strong track record for prioritizing and valuing collaborative, strengths-based leadership approaches while fostering a values-based workplace culture of respect, inclusion and innovation.
“It is an incredible honour for me to have the opportunity to lead and serve this great organization. The staff, leadership team and the Board’s commitment to excellence have ensured this organization is sustainable and ready to face the challenges ahead,” she added. “As I step in as CAO, I couldn’t ask for a better foundation and I am very optimistic about the future we will build together”.