Leadership
The Stop’s Board of Directors are an engaged group of community-minded volunteers. They come from diverse professional backgrounds, and bring expertise in law, human resources, public health, fundraising, community services, and advocacy—to name just a few.
Interested in learning more? Contact us.
Steve Thuringer, Vice Chair
Steve Thuringer is a facilities specialist who has been the Executive Director of Upper Canada College for over 20 years. He is a resident of the St. Clair and Christie neighbourhood and lives around the corner from Wychwood Open Door with his family.
Charles Yu, Treasurer
Charles has been a volunteer with The Stop since he first moved to Toronto nearly a decade ago. Looking to find a sense of community Charles began volunteering every other Saturday at our year-round Farmers’ Market and most recently as a member of the Board’s Finance Committee. As the Manager of Corporate Development for Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality, Charles brings a wealth of strategic and analytical financial expertise to the Finance Committee and management team. Charles looks forward to joining the Board of Directors to ensure that The Stop continues to provide others with the same sense of community that it has given him.
Julia Croome, Director
Susan Hoyle-Howieson, Director
Susan brings over 30 years of leadership experience in the public and community sectors, with a deep commitment to fostering inclusive, engaged communities. Through both professional roles and volunteer service, Susan has led large organizations, navigating complex HR, management, and organizational development challenges, particularly within unionized environments. A champion of progressive hiring and employee engagement strategies, Susan has been an early leader in diversity initiatives and mentoring programs aimed at supporting the advancement of marginalized staff.
Beyond her professional contributions, Susan has extensive governance experience, having served as Board President of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto, a member of the United Way Allocations Advisory Committee, and President of her local residents’ association. Her dedication to community involvement extends to hands-on volunteering, right here at The Stop in various programs – a truly engaged community members. As a Board member of The Stop, Susan seeks to leverage her governance expertise, leadership experience, and passion for social impact to further the organization’s mission.
Margot Lackenbauer, Director
Monty Laskin, Director
Monty has been following The Stop for many years while building a food support program in Caledon modelled after many of its programs. He is presently the Chief Executive Officer at Caledon Community Services where he has worked for the past 17 years. In this capacity, he had a hand in securing the capital and developing a multi-service model called The Exchange, a community hub that uses food to engage the broader community to partake in numerous social justice initiatives supporting marginalized individuals and families. Prior to this, he spent a number of years in the Ontario Public Sector as an Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General where he had the opportunity to oversee programs and services in the Province that supported victims of crime. He has also held a number of leadership positions in child welfare and children’s mental health. He is a long-time resident of Toronto where he lives with his wife, two children and a very rambunctious dog. Monty has been an active volunteer on numerous Boards and other community-focused initiatives and he is delighted to be joining the Stop’s Board.
Koel Loyer, Director
As Principal and Wealth Advisor at Stonegate Private Counsel, Koel brings extensive experience in managing the financial affairs of business owners, professionals and other Canadian families. Koel holds an MBA from the Michael G. Degroote School of Business at McMaster University and an Honours degree in Commerce from Queen’s University. Most recently, Koel has been awarded the coveted Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI) designation, placing him in the top five percent of all financial advisors in Canada. Koel resides in Toronto’s Little Italy community. During his spare time, Koel is involved with The Family Enterprise Exchange, The Stop, and serves on the ROM’s Executive Board for its Royal Patrons’ Circle.
Carmen Martinez, Director
Carmen is a passionate, innovative, and solutions-oriented leader in the retail, e-commerce, entertainment, fashion, and cosmetic industries. She has global expertise in sales, marketing and licensing in leadership roles at leading multi-national companies, including Viacom, Mattel, Bandai, L’Oréal and Bata.
Carmen currently works as a sales and marketing consultant at the Toronto Fashion Incubator, advising Canadian fashion designers on how to expand their businesses domestically and globally. Carmen formerly served as the Chair of the Board of Directors at The Toronto Fashion Incubator and she was also appointed to the Advisory Board of Canadian International Fashion Film Festival (CANIFFF) where she contributes on the global strategic direction to integrate fashion and film content sponsors. Carmen has been actively involved at both Upper Canada College and Havergal College fundraising campaigns, as well as supporting The Stop Community Community Kitchen’s program.
Jessica McQuoid, Director
Jessica is a former investment professional who followed her love of food to become a Chef and Registered Holistic Nutritionist, running her small business Whole Health Kitchen. Her love of food and community drove her to become a volunteer at The Stop, and her time there inspired her to become an advocate for Food Justice and a student of Food Security. She recently completed Toronto Metropolitan University’s Food Security Certificate program and helped rewrite the course, Gender and Food Security; with her sections of the course focusing on the intersections of race, gender and food security. Jessica is an avid urban gardener, former NCAA basketball player and proud mom.
Bronwyn Underhill, Director
Bronwyn Underhill (MPH: Health Promotion) is a local resident and past volunteer of The Stop breakfast drop-in and community events. She has worked in Community Health Centres for the past 14 years, and is currently the Director of Health Promotion and Community Engagement at Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre. Her passion for food security led her to be one of the founders of “The Oriole FoodSpace”, for which she was awarded the Toronto Food Champion award in 2013. She has been a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council and was recently on the Board of Directors for Davenport Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre. She is a mom of two and spends her spare time in her veggie and pollinator garden.
Sabina Vohra-Miller, Director
As a first-generation racialized Canadian who has experienced food insecurity firsthand, Sabina looks forward to bringing her voice and platform to further the mission of The Stop. As co-founder of the Vohra-Miller Foundation, Sabina works to make systemic, sustainable and meaningful changes to improve the health of the planet and its people. Throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, Sabina has used her background in pharmacology and toxicology to support health equity through the dissemination of vaccine information with groups across the city including the South Asian Health Network.