Who we are
Up With Women is a growing registered charity dedicated to helping recently homeless and at-risk women to build sustainable, prosperous careers and businesses with the aim of permanently exiting poverty. We serve eight regions in three provinces (GTA, Ottawa, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Vancouver and Montréal).
What we do
Up With Women clients undergo a year-long intensive program of career and entrepreneurship-based one-on-one customized coaching, in-depth personality and emotional assessment tools, group-support sessions, and soft-skills development. We partner clients with International Coach Federation certified professional coaches for bi-weekly career coaching, who are then trained to serve our clients. All coaches provide their services at pro-bono, thereby allowing Up With Women to deliver high quality service at a very low cost.
Who we work with
Why we do it
Harmeet Toor is an energetic, positive and compassionate individual. Her lived experience and struggles with mental health inform her everyday work and interactions. In seeking a way to contribute to society, she has worked her way through corporate, financial, and health service organizations and finally the not-for-profit sector. She has a unique perspective on the process of changing careers, struggling and charting a new course.
Cheryl Keates, ACPC, PCC, 
Ellen Malcomson (BA Hons), ACC Ellen Malcolmson is the Principal of Ellen Malcolmson Executive Coaching Inc. and a Senior Associate Consultant with Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions. Ellen’s coaching practice is grounded in her extensive senior leadership experience and her passion for partnering with her clients build their confidence in their own unique strengths and capabilities. Ellen coaches from a truly unique perspective; she brings an understanding of the corporate world from her experience as a senior executive in one of Canada’s largest companies, an appreciation for the challenges of both operating and governing in the public sector from her work as both CEO and Board Chair at a large Ontario hospital, and the delicate balancing of multiple stakeholders required to be a successful CEO in the not for profit world. In 2010, Ellen made the transition from operational leadership to strategic consulting and executive coaching.
Eman Hamzeh Alsmady, BSc, ACC
Loretta White BASc (Hons), CPC
Jennifer Collins BASc, CEC, PCC
Shieh-Chi Chen (pronounced Shee-Tzu) is the President and Owner of 2Sisters Consulting Inc. is a skilled executive coach, facilitator and organizational development consultant and has worked in Canada and internationally for Fortune 500 Companies. Shieh-Chi combines her world view with a passion for valuing differences, by delivering thought provoking and results-oriented programs. She works with women, minority leaders, business owners and change agents who want to make a leadership contribution to their organizations and the world around them. She has worked with for-profit and non-profit organizations as well as three levels of government, from small and mid-sized companies to multi-nationals.
Kimberly Niles, Project Manager, migrated from the Caribbean in 2011. Prior to migrating Niles has several years of experience as a Customs Office with the Customs & Excise Department. She holds a BBA In Information Technology, Associate Degree in Business Administration and Diploma in Network Administration. Hopes to commence her Masters Degree in ‘New Media Studies’ in the near future.
Sydney Blum is an expert in non profit strategy, scaling, evidence-based program design and fund development.
Rubina Havlin
Lai King Hum, Principle, Hum Law Firm / Deputy Judge, Superior Court of Justice, Toronto Small Claims
Anekie Nembhardis an upcoming innovative and passionate Human Resource Professional specializing in the area of Learning and Development.
Jacqui Allard is Senior Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, Performance and Enablement with RBC Personal & Commercial Banking (P&CB). She leads teams responsible for developing strategies that support and integrate lines of business while ensuring the alignment of the P&CB project portfolio across the enterprise.
Leah Archambault worked for a number of years as a research associate in Social Epidemiology and Oncology with Cancer Care Ontario, the Ontario Breast Screening Program and the University of Windsor. Later, she worked in non-profit and patient advocacy with Colon Cancer Canada. Leah has lived experience with homelessness, while attending University in Toronto, and feels blessed and inspired to be working for Up with Women.
Program Manager Althea Mercury is a social worker with a BSW from Ryerson University. She began her career as a crisis counsellor at Scarborough General Hospital helping adults with mental health difficulties develop coping skills to reintegrate into the community.. Althea deepened her assessment and counselling skills during her seven year tenure with mental health services provider Three Springs in Alabama where she was, most recently, Director of Admissions.