January 2023

In our ongoing commitment to the health, well-being, and student success of our Halton Catholic children and families, the HCCF Board of Directors continuously updates not only our policies and objectives, but also our ongoing vision and approach to fundraising. The integral role that the Board plays in creating and realizing our policies and fundraising objectives is due entirely to the dedication, initiative, and creativity of our Board members to engage and inspire our community.

Board leadership, therefore, is integral to HCCF’s ongoing success, and we have been extremely fortunate for the past 2.5 years to have had Marvin Duarte as our HCCF Board Chair. Under his leadership, HCCF launched a new three-year Strategic Plan in January 2021 in order to double the number of students HCCF helps each year. Marvin’s passion for and dedication to helping HCDSB students in need succeed in school will be sorely missed as he steps down from the role of Chair, HCCF Board, and completes his second three-year term on the HCCF Board in June 2023.

“It has been my pleasure to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors of HCCF for over 2.5 years and as a Director for over 5 years. Over these years, we have embarked on an ambitious strategic plan and achieved our year 1 goals. We are on target for year 2’s objectives as well. All this could not have been achieved without the deep commitment and involvement of every Director on the Board working as one team. I would like to wish our new Chair James McInnis all success in taking the Foundation to the next level while I continue to stay on as a supportive Director of the Foundation until the end of my term.”

Marvin Duarte

Our newly elected Board Chair and Vice-Chair, James McInnis and Lina Giammarco respectively, have already started their work towards realizing the balance of HCCF’s three-year strategy.

James has been on the HCCF Board of Directors since June 2018, and volunteered for HCCF at the school level prior to joining. Most recently, James has been the Vice-Chair of the HCCF Board of Directors, Chair of the Allocations Committee, and Co-Chair of the HCCF 24 Hour Fast Fundraiser, and member of the Evening with Bishop Crosby Committee, and the Governance and Nominations Committee.

Lina started on the HCCF Board of Directors in June 2019 and has been a very active member of several committees including Co-Chair of the Evening with Bishop Crosby, as well as being a key member of the HCCF 24 Hour Fast, Allocations Committee, and the Governance & Nomination Committee.

“It is an honour to be elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation. Over the past few years, the HCCF has helped over 800 students to have equitable opportunities at school, regardless of financial barriers. As we approach our final year of our 2021-2024 Strategic Plan (beginning April 1^st), we will continue to work towards our targets of doubling the number of students supported financially each year while increasing our fundraising program to ensure we can meet the growing need. I look forward to working with our Board of Directors, Vice Chair Lina Giammarco, Executive Director Marc Clare, as well as our donors, volunteers, and stakeholders to ensure that we can continue to say “Yes” to students and families in need in our Halton Catholic community.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our outgoing Chair, Marvin Duarte, for his leadership and service to the Foundation over the past two and a half years. While navigating through uncertain times during the global pandemic, a time where many charities faced unprecedented strain, our Foundation has continued to meet our fundraising targets. We also started many new initiatives including our student bursary, the HCCF Graduate Award, and our Back-to-School campaign, to name a few, and focused on improving our Board governance and operational processes. We’re grateful to Chair Duarte for his guidance and wish him all the best.”

James McInnis

“I am honoured to take on the role of Vice Chair of the HCCF and continue to serve the students and families of HCDSB who are faced with financial barriers. As an educator in this board, I have seen first-hand how students in need face challenges meeting with success at school. Every child deserves an equal opportunity to grow and flourish in our system and the Foundation strives to provide families access to the resources they need to support this growth. I am excited to continue to work alongside my fellow Directors and with this generous community in service of HCDSB families.”

Lina Giammarco

Please join us in welcoming James and Lina to their new roles on the HCCF Board. We look forward to our ongoing success in serving the Halton community.