Save the Children announces the appointment of new Board of Directors Members and Vice Chair

Toronto, September 11, 2023 – Today, Save the Children is pleased to announce the addition of five new Members to its Board of Directors: Michael Ajise, Yasmin Farah Peer, Paula Pereira, Janti Soeripto, and Stanley Zlotkin. Additionally, the leading child rights organization also welcomes the appointment of Jill Zelmanovits as Vice Chair of the Board.

“The board is thrilled to welcome these five new members who bring a diverse and highly qualified combination of experience and expertise that will work to further elevate the governance of Save the Children,” said Richard Stursberg, Save the Children Board Chair. “We look forward to working together to continue to support the critical child rights work of the organization through its programs both internationally and here in Canada.”

“Having served on the board of Save the Children for the past three years, I am honoured to have been appointed the new Vice Chair. I strongly believe in Save the Children’s mission to support every child’s right to survive and reach their full potential. I look forward to continuing my work with the board and especially welcome our new members onboard,” said Jill Zelmanovits.

“The challenges for children across the globe are immense—with the combination of conflict, climate change, rising costs and COVID-19 putting children’s rights to protection, health, education and the opportunity to thrive at great risk,” said Danny Glenwright, Save the Children President and CEO. “As we continue to work to realize our 2022-2027 bold and ambitious strategy for children, the expertise and oversight of these new board members is most welcome.”

“As the only youth member of Save the Children Canada’s Board, my vision is to be the voice of the future, a beacon of advocacy for the rights and dreams of every child. Together, we’ll light pathways to education, equality, and empowerment, shaping a world where children’s potential knows no bounds,” said Yasmin Farah Peer.

About Save the Children’s new Board of Directors members:

Michael Ajise has more than 20 years of experience across multiple industries including financial services, management consulting, healthcare, public sector, and telecommunication. He is a seasoned business and information technology professional with expertise in strategy and planning, risk management, wealth management, banking and finance. With an executive MBA from the Kellogg- Schulich School of Business, Michael uses his knowledge, experience and network to help organizations integrate business and technology solutions with a focus on achieving results with high business value.

Yasmin Farah Peer’s values and skills closely resonate with Save the Children and she brings experience from her work with Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada and a background in Political Science and Human Rights. Her deep commitment lies in spaces dedicated to the rights and well-being of children. Fueled by her passion for driving positive change, Yasmin took the initiative to establish Lives For Literacy (L4L), a youth-led, non-profit organization. As the Executive Director of L4L, which is committed to advancing literacy among marginalized children, she has had the privilege of championing literacy and education within underserved communities.

Paula Pereira is a partner in the consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and she has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and leads the Operational Effectiveness practice for banking and capital markets, with specific responsibility for business banking, consumer lending and banking operations solutions. Paula focuses on the design of business solutions for retail and commercial banks. Her experience includes business model transformation, multi-channel customer strategies, customer segmentation and technology solution selection. Paula has led business transformation engagements across many of the large Canadian banks as well as regional financial institutions.

Janti Soeripto is President and CEO of Save the Children US. She assumed this role in January 2020, after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer since May 2019. In this position, Janti had oversight for setting agency strategy, ensuring all parts of the organization were well managed, staffed, aligned, and operated as effectively as possible. Strengthening accountability for results, and overseeing, integrating and coordinating divisional activities also fell within her scope of work. Prior to joining Save the Children US, Janti worked for eight years as deputy CEO of Save the Children International, where she was responsible for market growth and development, global strategy development, communication and venture partnerships. Before her work with Save the Children, Janti spent nearly 20 years in the corporate sector at companies including Kimberly-Clark and Unilever. She has masters degrees in Economics and Finance. Janti is half-Indonesian, half-Dutch, is married with two children, and is based in Connecticut.

Stanley Zlotkin received his medical training at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, paediatric training at McGill University in Montreal, and obtained a PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He has worked as a clinician-nutritionist and research scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) since 1980. He is a professor in the Department of Paediatrics, the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He is past Head of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Medical Director of Nutrition Support for SickKids. Currently, he is the Inaugural Chief of the Centre for Global Child Health at SickKids.

About Save the Children’s new Board Vice Chair:

Jill Zelmanovits is passionate about the social change that results from youth development and she has dedicated more than 20 years of her career to supporting non-profit organizations create social change for young people through grass-roots programs and advocacy in Canada and around the world. She is currently the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada, which enables life-changing mentorship relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people. Previously, Jill was the CEO of Girl Guides of Canada, the largest organization for girls and young women with 75,000 members across Canada. As a lawyer who practiced in the private and public sectors, Jill’s expertise informed previous Board Roles with Save the Children Canada and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts including chairing Governance, Advocacy and Membership Growth Committees as well as being a member of Audit & Finance and Strategy & Risk Management Committees. Jill started her career as a lawyer and was a commercial litigator at a Bay Street law firm before working for Legal Aid Ontario representing clients and leading advocacy coalitions for critical policy changes. She also worked as a Development Executive supporting non-profit organizations in Europe and was a Legislative Intern at Queen’s Park. She has lived, travelled, volunteered and worked around the world and across Canada. She currently resides in Toronto with her husband and two teenagers and loves current affairs, travel and running.

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