Meet our team and volunteers

Originally from Calgary, Monica moved to Ottawa in 2008 while completing the final year of her law degree at Queen’s University. Following several years of professional experience as a regulatory lawyer and public policy advisor, she decided to change gears in 2016 so that she could work with people and organizations seeking to make the world a better place. For the next five years, Monica funneled her longstanding dedication to the safety and well-being of girls into a role as Co-Executive Director of Dandelion Dance. She also began building an independent facilitation, consulting and legal practice.

Today, Monica works full-time with diverse clients from across Canada. She is very excited to join the board of directors at Impact Hub Ottawa and to help steward the next stages of its evolution during the pandemic and beyond.
To learn more about Monica and her work, visit her website at wilbrodhouse.com. You can also reach out to her on LinkedIn.

Brian Toller is the President of Tolcor Investments Ltd., a private investment firm. During his career, he has been an entrepreneur and investor in publishing, renewable energy, commercial real estate, venture capital and mental health training. Brian has had a couple of decades of experience as a board member of various charities.

He is currently Co-Chair of the Ottawa Climate Action Fund, an investment fund intent on creating a low-carbon, equitable future in Ottawa, part of the Low Carbon Cities Canada network. He also is involved in the creation of PAL Place, an 82-unit, net-zero affordable housing project for older arts workers opening in Ottawa in 2025.

He was on the Board of the Ottawa Community Foundation for ten years, three as Board Chair, where he led the foundation’s move into Responsible Investing and Impact Investing. He also served for six years on the board of Community Foundations of Canada representing the 191 community foundations across Canada.

He was awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and a Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award for his work in the community.

Jesse has a background in community management and stakeholder relations. She is a founder and Board Member of JustChange Canada, a not for profit that supports the development of giving circles and sits on the board of their local chapter in Ottawa. She gets excited about new models of philanthropy, experimenting with new forms of public engagement, creating quality public spaces for people of all ages and abilities and working with local organizations to address community challenges.

JP is Vice President of Community Foundations of Canada, the national network of 191 community foundations. For the past decade, he has worked to build meaningful cross-sector partnerships to enhance community wellbeing and advance domestic and international development outcomes through professional and voluntary roles based in North America, Europe and Africa.

Prior to joining Community Foundations of Canada, JP helped drive the partnership development and communications efforts for North Star Alliance, a public-private partnership founded by the United Nations World Food Program and TNT Express, and recognized by UNAIDS, the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Economic Forum as a best practice on how business, governments and civil society can combine forces to rapidly scale up access to healthcare.

He has a Master’s degree in Development Studies from York University and his professional interests include sustainable development, public-private partnerships, global health and arts and culture. He’s been an Impact Hub member since 2014.

Catherine is the executive director of CitySHAPES a national nonprofit organization working to make Cities healthier, greener and more vibrant. As a former Ottawa city councillor, Catherine cares deeply about equity through affordable housing & ending homelessness, climate action, transit & active transportation, trees & green space, and how we build our cities so everyone can thrive in them.