Governing Board

Suzy Yehl Marta, Founder and President, began Rainbows in 1983. Since then, Rainbows has helped more than 1,900,000 youth in 17 countries around the world. Suzy has been the recipient of many awards, including the 2002 Mercedes Mentor Award, a 2001 Jefferson Award from NBC-TV in Chicago, and has written a book titled Healing the Hurt, Restoring the Hope.

Carol Bertram, is a member of the National Registered Director Training Team, is a retired Elementary School principal who piloted one of the first Rainbows sites in the Simcoe County District School Board in Ontario. After becoming a Registered Director in 1993, she helped to train over 60 school and community sites in the area. Carol received an Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario in 2001 for her work on behalf of the teachers in the province. Carol served as the National Director of Rainbows Canada from 2004 - 2009.

Thelma Cockburn, Founding National Director, and member of the National Registered Director Training Team, introduced Rainbows into the Simcoe County District School Board and the Barrie area in 1991. She trained as a Rainbows Registered Director in 1992 and helped to train and designate more that 40 school and community sites in her area. After retiring from teaching in 1995, she served as the first National Director in Canada. For her service and efforts with children and youth, Thelma has received the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Barrie Rotary Club, a Certificate of Merit from District 17, Simcoe Central Unit, of the Superannuated Teachers of Ontario, a Community Achievement Award from the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce and a Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Anniversary medal.

Linda Halsey, a member of the National Registered Director Training Team, is a retired teacher with the Durham District School Board. Since she trained as a Registered Director in 1991, Linda has helped to train more than 90 school sites for her Board.

Stacey LePage is a bilingual teacher at the Barrie Adult Learning Centre. She and her husband plan conferences for youth to discuss issues related to War-Affected Children. Annual conferences are held at the Ontario Legislature and bi-annual conferences at the United Nations in New York.

Jonathan Pearce is a Vice President and Equity Partner of Avison Young (Toronto), Ltd., a national commercial real estate organization. Jonathan brings considerable expertise in Marketing, Leasing and Governance and Compliance. As well, he is very willing to support children and families who have experienced life-altering losses.

Suzanne Poole, Secretary and member of the National Registered Director Training Team, trained as a Registered Director for Rainbows in 1993. Before she retired from teaching as a French Immersion teacher in 2001, Suzanne helped to train and support more than 90 sites in the Durham District School Board. Suzanne is the francophone liaison between the National office and the francophone sites.

Jackie Ramler is a Chartered Financial Planner (CFP), Financial Management Advisor (FMA) and holds her Master in Business Administration (MBA). She is a dedicated, passionate and highly-respected Financial Advisor. Jackie assists Family Mediators and Collaborative Practice Simcoe County. With the contribution of 52 divorce professionals from around Ontario, Ms. Ramler has recently published The Joy of An Ex and you can learn more about this book at www.divorcechoices.com.

Nathan Reeve, Treasurer is Director of Accounting at Ontario Power Generation. He is a Chartered Accountant in England, Wales and Ontario and currently serves as Treasurer. He brings to the Board an accounting and finance background and a keen interest in the grief experience of children of divorce.

Diana Scahill, Chairperson and member of the National Registered Director Training Team, is a retired Consultant for Family Life Education with the Durham Region Catholic School Board. She trained as a Registered Director in 1989 and she has trained more than 40 school sites and several community sites in her area.

Honouary Board

Douglas John Cameron, a Juno 2000 nominee, has been entertaining children and their families across Canada for more than 10 years as a composer, singer and children's entertainer. His show, 'Ants in Your pants" is a staple of Treehouse TV and introduces young listeners to a wide spectrum of musical styles. Douglas' composing credits include theme music for several Home and Garden TV shows. To honour the 20 th anniversary of Rainbows programming in Canada, Douglas composed and recorded the song, "I Need a Rainbow". His earlier CD, "Rainbows", is used with preschoolers in the Rainbows program.

Craig Kielburger, is the Founder and Chair of Free The Children, a unique organization which has built more than 500 schools throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America, providing daily education to more than 50,000 children. Since its founding in 1995, when Craig was only 12 years old, Free The Children has become the world's leading youth-driven charity.

He is author of Free the Children and the co-author of national bestsellers Take Action!: A Guide to Active Citizenship, Take More Action, the New York Times best seller Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World and the recently released book 'The World Needs Your Kid'. Together with his brother Marc Kielburger, Craig is a syndicated columnist carried by the Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun and Huffington Post, as well as for Canada's most widely-read women's magazine, Canadian Living.

Craig has been awarded many National and International awards for his work, including The Roosevelt Freedom Medal, The World Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child (known as the Children's Nobel Prize) and he is one of the youngest recipients of The Order of Canada. Craig's work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show (he will be on the show May 26, CNN, 60 Minutes and The Today Show and in People, Time and The Economist.