About Ottawa Victim Services

Position: Chair
Pronouns: (he/him)

Matt joined OVS in 2007, working first as a volunteer Victim Support Worker and then later as a Team Lead. After finishing his post-secondary studies, Matt continued working in youth mental health, youth justice and community social services programs.

Matt currently works at the City of Ottawa where he helps clients access benefits and financial and employment assistance through the Ontario Works program. In his professional and volunteer work, Matt remains committed to providing victims with the best support possible.

Position: Vice-Chair
Pronouns: (she/her)

Meagan O’Hare-Gordon holds a Masters of Arts degree from the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. She has worked for the government and nonprofits, and has supported clients on the frontlines. Meagan deeply values community partnership and collaboration. She has held various positions within Ottawa’s Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres to help support and connect her community.

Meagan lives in rural Ottawa, where she’s eager to apply her passion for community building, civic engagement, health promotion and equity. She currently manages a project which advocates for increased investment in mental health programs and services for youth in Ottawa’s rural villages. She takes an intersectional feminist approach to research, evaluation, program development and project management.

Position: Treasurer
Pronouns: (she/her)

Harpreet has served as Treasurer at OVS since September 2022. She also works as a Senior Financial Analyst at the Ottawa Police Service, which is an active community partner of OVS.

Harpreet’s Canadian journey began when she was 19: she took a life-changing decision to fly solo from India to study Business Administration in British Columbia. She received her CGA, CPA accounting designation in 2016 while working with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation in Kamloops. In 2017 she moved to Ottawa, where she lives today.

As a part of a minority group in Canada, Harpreet wants to represent her community and use her experience to guide people who are struggling with societal hurdles and hardships. Harpreet shares our commitment to compassion and community service. Her goal with us is to provide board guidance and ground-level support so that our selfless volunteers and victim support workers can keep doing their amazing work.

“Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering” – Dalai Lama.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (he/him)

Jooris started a movement speaking out against gun violence after his son, Looris Tyson Nndongozi, was shot and killed in Lowertown simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The nonprofit is named in his son’s memory: Tyson’s Dream.

Tyson’s Dream advocates for positive youth, children and family engagement in order to deter the growing gun and gang problems in Ottawa. Jooris, whose family immigrated from Burundi, works with many newcomer families to ensure they feel supported to openly discuss challenges they see in their communities. He hopes that no other families will have to suffer the loss of a child to senseless acts of gun violence.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (she/her)

Heather has been a police officer for 28 years, starting with the Ottawa Provincial Police (OPP), and joining the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) in 1999. She worked hard to advance through OPS, working in various roles including Patrol, Community Policing, Human Resources, and the Partner Assault Unit.

Heather now works as a Critical Incident Commander in the Professional Standards Unit, Training Section, and as an Inspector in Specialized Investigations. She is also the Acting Superintendent of Criminal Investigations Directorate.

Heather is passionate about her work and committed to using her senior role to improve things for all members in her police service, with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion. Heather leads the Violence Against Women portfolio and works closely with the Victim Support Unit and community advocates to improve services for victims.

Heather is married with two children. Fitness is a big part of her life and she loves to be active.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (she/her)

Sarah holds an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and Public Policy from the University of Guelph, and a Master of Arts in Political Science with specialization in Women and Public Policy from York University. Her research interests were in feminist political economy, intersectional analysis, and social welfare policy.

Sarah has more than 10 years of experience working in the public sector on policies and programs related to victimization and the criminal justice system. She has worked with the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics and has held roles in policy development and analysis with the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime and Public Safety Canada. She also led the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, and the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking.

More recently, Sarah has taken on a management role in the federal public service with responsibility in human resources and people management analytics.

Sarah lives in the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people, also known as Ottawa. She has two children and a rescue dog called Ruby.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (she/her)

Sandy Wooley has been a Director at OVS since October 2022. She has a degree in Education from McGill University, and in Business Administration from Carleton University. Sandy founded and led the creation and operations of her own business for over 10 years. She also served as Executive Director of the Nepean, Rideau, and Osgoode Community Resource Centre (NROCRC) from 2008 to 2020.

While at NROCRC, Sandy led a team of 50+ full and part time professionals, as well as hundreds of volunteers. She helped the NROCRC team strengthen the community by providing services to thousands of Ottawa residents, including:

• Community development
• Counselling
• Newcomer support
• Sports and recreation
• Social programming for children, youth and seniors
• Elder abuse prevention
• Housing support

Sandy joined OVS because she values our mission and accomplishments, and wants to continue to give back to the community in her retirement. She brings her extensive experience and knowledge to the OVS Board of Directors. This includes her first-hand experience in leadership, operations, innovation, strategy and board governance — as well as her experience of working with vulnerable populations and managing funding from local, municipal, provincial and federal sources.

Sandy is retired and has two adult children. She’s enjoying spending her retirement traveling, swimming, running, skiing, mountain biking and reading.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (she/her)

Meghan holds a B.A. in Criminology with a concentration in Psychology from Carleton University, as well as a diploma with honors in Police Foundations from Algonquin College.

Meghan worked as an armed close protection officer to the Prime Minister until a traumatic car accident left her living with chronic pain. She was the first female to hold the position in six years. She now works as a Committee Assistant for the House of Commons, where she’s responsible for providing specialized administrative, logistical and publishing services to Procedural Clerks, and to standing, legislative, joint (Senate), special and subcommittees of the House of Commons.

Meghan is a survivor of domestic violence, and takes a strong interest in advocating for herself and other survivors. After receiving direct assistance from OVS over the last few years, Meghan found it was her calling to give back to an organization that helped her and her children so much!

Meghan is the author of a self-published inclusive children’s lullaby book, ‘My Bedtime Song’, which is illustrated by her two young daughters. Meghan wants her book to help every child feel comfortable and confident about their unique family makeup — whether this be a family within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, or one that has experienced a separation.

Meghan also has a strong passion for supporting and collaborating with locally owned businesses in Ottawa and surrounding areas. A portion of her book sales are donated to local charities that support victims of domestic violence.

Position: Director
Pronouns: (she/her)

Jill Broadbent is a Director at OVS. She retired in 2018 after spending over 30 years working in the nonprofit sector of developmental services in Ottawa. She has experience with board governance as well as developing budgets, maintaining accountability, and liaising with community partners and funders.

In January 2005, Jill’s son was killed while out celebrating his 22nd birthday. In the following 12 years, Jill and her family spent huge amounts of time in and out of court during a lengthy preliminary hearing, trial, and appeals. It was a long and exhausting experience. Putting her pain to purpose, Jill has volunteered for several committees to ensure victims’ and survivors’ voices are heard.

For two years Jill was a member of the Victims Advisory Committee to Ontario and Nunavut Region, where she advocated for enhanced victim services and rights through active participation and discussions with Federal Corrections and Parole officials. Jill has also participated in activities with the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime.