Senior Executive Team

Daniele Zanotti

President & CEO

Daniele Zanotti was named President & CEO of United Way in June 2016. With more than 20 years of experience in the public and non-profit sectors, he has earned a reputation as an accomplished, strategic, and energetic leader.

From 2007 to 2015, Daniele served as CEO of United Way York Region, where he led an evolution to transform the charity from federated fundraiser to convener, mobilizer and agent of community change.

In 2015, Daniele was the catalyst behind a merger between United Ways in York Region and Toronto. He helped establish a new regional organization to tackle issues on both sides of Steeles Avenue and stewarded the first-ever United Way Toronto & York Region campaign to an historic achievement of $100 million for United Way’s agencies, programs, and initiatives. United Way’s record-breaking annual campaigns and community investment have continued, and the charity has applied an increasingly regional lens to its work.

Under his leadership, on April 1, 2018, United Way Toronto & York Region merged with United Way Peel Region. As United Way Greater Toronto, the organization is now able to use its bigger scale to strengthen a region-wide strategy to fight local poverty and address and advocate on complex social issues. Crucial to that work is the contribution of donors and volunteers across the region. To harness their time, talent and treasure, United Way is innovating to provide digital tools and a regional infrastructure that will welcome and support the engagement of 1 million people in its efforts by 2025.

Before joining United Way, Daniele served the community through organizations like the Rexdale Community Health Centre; The Regional Municipality of York; Family Day Care Services; and Villa Charities Foundation. He is also deeply involved outside of his professional career, volunteering his time as a member of CivicAction’s Board of Directors and the City of Toronto’s Partnership to Advance Youth Employment (PAYE) and Toronto’s Resilience Steering Committee.

Daniele has a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto and Bachelor’s Degree from York University. He lives in Vaughan with his wife and two children.

Michael Cheong

Chief Financial & Operating Officer

Michael Cheong is United Way’s Chief Financial & Operating Officer. Michael leads the Strategic Finance, Controllership, Operations & Analytics and IT-Technology Solutions teams for the organization.

Michael has extensive experience in finance leadership, controllership, planning and analysis, policy and compliance, enterprise resource planning, and various finance transformation projects, with a focus on increasing efficiency of the organization’s processes and procedures to enable corporate strategic objectives. Michael’s primary mandate is to support strategic development and to plan the future growth of United Way from a financial perspective.

Before joining United Way in June 2019, Michael served as Chief Financial Officer of York Region Rapid Transit Corporation (YRRTC), where he led the strategy and execution for all aspects of corporate and project finance while maintaining the organization’s strong reputation for transparency, accountability and financial reporting related to public funds. Michael has also spent over a decade developing new business strategies and financial models in telecommunications that led to exceptional financial and operational results for the organizations he then worked for.

As a strong advocate for social responsibility, Michael has served in the Executive role of Treasurer for the 360Kids Board of Directors from 2017 to 2019.

Michael holds an MBA, Strategy and Finance from the Schulich School of Business-York University, an Honours BA in French Literature and Mathematics from the University of Toronto, and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. He has also completed his Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy Executive Program from the Sloan School of Management-MIT and the Executive Leadership Program from the Rotman School of Management-University of Toronto.

Nation Cheong

Vice President, Community Opportunities & Mobilization

For the past 20 years, Nation has dedicated his professional and personal time to community development strategies with a particular focus on supporting young people in communities across Toronto. He has played many roles throughout his career that has led to social, cultural and systemic impact. He is a respected partnership builder, community animator, artist, musician, teacher, and social change agent.

Nation served the Regent Park community for eight years through various youth, and homeless strategies and the revitalising of Canada’s first social housing project. Nation went on to become Director of Community Engagement and Grants helping to lead the Youth Challenge Fund (YCF), a 46.6-million-dollar investment in youth-led/youth-driven initiatives across Toronto’s inner suburban communities. The work focused on the needs of the city’s most underserved youth and led to the investment of 111 initiatives across the inner suburbs, including 17 legacy initiatives.

As United Way’s Vice President of Community Opportunities & Mobilization, he currently oversees the implementation of United Way’s Youth Success Strategy working with the provincial and municipal government, private sector partners, technology innovators and community agencies to tackle the employment challenges that over 80,000 youth face in the GTA. Additionally, he oversees the development of United Way’s Indigenous Collaboration Framework which will guide United Way’s work related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action.

Ruth Crammond

Vice President, Community Investment & Development

Ruth Crammond is the Vice President of Community Investment & Development with responsibility for a broad range of United Way investments and agency partnerships in Community Services, as well as the place-based work in our Building Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy. She joined United Way in 2014 as the Director of Community Services and Capacity Building. In that role she oversaw the transformation to a new investment model for United Way for the largest portion of United Way investments in the community.

Ruth has many years of experience working in the community services sector in Toronto. She began her career with United Way-funded agencies, working as a summer camp counsellor at Central Neighbourhood House, and a drop-in worker in a program for homeless people at St. Christopher House. She has held several senior management roles in United Way-funded agencies, including Executive Director at Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre and Director of Housing and Shelters at YWCA Toronto.

Ruth holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. 

Nicole McVan

Vice President Philanthropy & Marketing

Nicole McVan is a strategic non-profit leader with 20 years of experience in Canada and abroad. Their experience spans many areas including corporate philanthropy, individual and community-based giving, volunteer development, national event management, and alumni giving. They joined United Way Greater Toronto in 2017 as the Director of Corporate Donor Relations to lead the team in modernizing the workplace giving model and expanding strategic philanthropy and engagement opportunities to drive mutually beneficial impact for communities and donors.

As Vice President Philanthropy & Marketing, Nicole has primary responsibility for our evolution from a centre of excellence in workplace giving to a centre of excellence in philanthropy. Embedding equity in all aspects of the team’s work, they will be responsible to build on the successes of our workplace model and accelerate the cultivation of mission-focused, donor relationships and experiences.

As a white, able-bodied, transgender & non-binary person, Nicole uses an anti-oppressive lens in building philanthropy and marketing plans to work with and for communities. Nicole regularly speaks and writes on the topic of equity, privilege, and power dynamics for fundraising publications and at conferences and learning events.

Nicole volunteers their time in the community, including on the Board at Inside Out Film festival – an organization committed to the promotion and exhibition of film made by and about LGBTQ+ people of all ages, races and abilities. They hold a master’s degree in Non-profit Marketing and Fundraising from City University of London and are currently working on a certificate in Community Engagement, Leadership and Development at Ryerson University to build their knowledge of how to work with and for communities for lasting change.

Joan Taylor

Vice President, People & Culture

Joan Taylor is the Vice President of People & Culture at United Way Greater Toronto. In this role, Joan leads the human resources, organizational culture, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and internal communications functions.

Joan is passionate about effectively and efficiently translating business needs into integrated HR solutions for people management, employee capability and organizational development. She champions the talent agenda to attract high caliber talent, foster an engaging culture and enable United Way Greater Toronto to tap into the highest potential of its people. Joan’s primary mandate is to support the development and execution of organizational strategy with a focus on human capabilities and a positive organizational culture.

With more than fifteen years of experience in the retail, quick service restaurant, entertainment and logistics and distribution industries, Joan has held a variety of progressive HR leadership roles and understands the importance of establishing strong relationships, providing great guest service and exceeding employee and client expectations. She has initiated and led several transformational HR programs, including an innovative performance management system and a comprehensive leadership development program that led to multiple culture and talent development awards for the organizations she then worked for. She has deep expertise in employee relations, and talent, succession and change management.

Joan holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Management and Economic Theory from the University of Toronto and is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL). She lives in Toronto with her husband André and dog Winnie.

Anita Stellinga

Chief of Staff and Corporate Secretary

Anita Stellinga is an accomplished not for profit professional with over 25 years of experience in the sector with a focus on strategy development, management, governance, public policy and partnership development.

Anita has enjoyed a progressive career with United Way since joining the organization in 1995. Currently she holds the roles of Regional Executive, GTA Integration, and Corporate Secretary at United Way Greater Toronto. In 2017, Anita was appointed the Interim President and CEO of United Way of Peel Region, during which time she led the organization through a successful merger with United Way Toronto and York Region in partnership with a talented team of staff, board members and volunteers dedicated to improving the quality of life of individuals and families in Peel Region. Prior to this, Anita was the Vice President, Community Investments and in this role, she led the development of progressive investment strategies focused on poverty reduction, equity and inclusion, government relations, multi sectoral partnerships and evaluation.

Before joining United Way, Anita was a member of the management team of Poly-Cultural Immigrant & Community Services where she had responsibility for community based programming, settlement and language instruction programs, and supports for newcomer and immigrant families.

She is currently the co-chair of the Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee. As a dedicated volunteer, she is the Chair of the Board of Directors for STRIDE, a mental health agency serving Halton/Peel Region. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Anita has a rich bi-racial background of Polish and South Asian heritage and is fluent in Polish and Hindi. She lives in Milton with her husband Robert and two children.