Montreal, Canada—Hope & Cope is delighted to announce the appointment of Barry Pascal as Chair of its Board of Directors. Pascal has previously served as Chair of the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal, Campaign Chair of Federation CJA, and co-Chair of the Goodman Cancer Research Centre Gala. Pascal is a partner at Bell-Pascal Insurance Services, where his practice focuses on estate planning and planned charitable giving.
Pascal will lead an Executive Committee that includes Nan Lassner (Vice-Chair), Ian Weinstein (Treasurer), Bev Kravitz (Secretary), and outgoing Chair Suzanne O’Brien, under whose leadership Hope & Cope has thrived for many years. Other Directors include Sheryl Miller Adessky, Sharon G. Druker, Eden Polansky, Maxime Robert, and Evelyn Wajcer. Serving in an ex-officio capacity are Segal Cancer Centre Director Gerald Batist, Jewish General Hospital Foundation CEO Bram Freedman, and Hope & Cope Scientific Director Carmen Loiselle.
“It’s a privilege to have been asked to lead Hope & Cope at this critical moment in its evolution as one of Canada’s leading cancer-support organizations,” said Pascal. “Hope & Cope’s peer-based service model is based on the insight that people who have experienced cancer play a unique role in the delivery of psychosocial support to those who are recently diagnosed or undergoing medical treatment and their families. Over four and a half decades, we have provided caring, personalized, research-backed support to our clients. And as anyone whose life has been touched by cancer knows, that kind of support is irreplaceable.”
Recalling the recent passing of Hope & Cope’s founder, the late Sheila Kussner, outgoing Chair Suzanne O’Brien said, “Sheila would have been so proud to see this exceptional group of individuals assume the leadership of our organization. Sheila’s focus was always to ensure that Hope & Cope had the capacity to sustain itself, both financially and, equally critically, through the renewal of our board and officers. I look forward to working alongside Barry and Hope & Cope’s incoming leadership team.”
“Sheila Kussner left a remarkable legacy,” Pascal concluded. “I am honoured to have been entrusted to steward it into the future, together with our remarkable board and volunteers.”
