Board of Directors

BOARD CHAIR

Hon. Kevin Flynn

The Honourable Kevin Flynn brings 33 consecutive years in elected public office, including service as Ontario's Minister of Labour, to his role as Board Chair. As Minister, he championed major advances in health and safety legislation, including mandatory falls-from-heights training, presumptive legislation for first responders under Bill 163, the landmark Mines Safety Review, and fair wages and healthy working conditions for Ontario's most vulnerable workers. He also chaired Ontario's Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions, whose watershed report brought mental health to the forefront of the provincial agenda. Today, Mr. Flynn advises organizations and businesses on productive interaction with governments. Holding an MBA and combining an entrepreneurial outlook with a strong social conscience, he views the world of work through legislative, moral, productivity, and performance lenses. He believes CISWP positions Ontario to further its strong tradition as a world leader in workplace health and safety.

PRESIDENT & CEO · BOARD SECRETARY

Dr. Amin Yazdani

Dr. Amin Yazdani is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of CISWP, which he established and led to its independence as a research institute. His academic training, from undergraduate through doctorate, has been entirely in work and health — a rare continuity of focus in the field. Under his leadership, CISWP has secured substantial operational, infrastructure, and research funding from federal and provincial agencies to build its laboratories and research programs. Applying a field-to-lab-to-field model that integrates anthropometry, exposure assessment, and large-scale field data collection, his work transforms how workplace injury and disability are prevented across Canada. He has spearheaded the development of multiple Canadian standards and national guidelines and chairs CSA technical committees. He serves as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, as Chair of the Research Ethics Committee at Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences, and on ICOH's Executive Scientific Committee on Work Disability Prevention and Integration. 

DIRECTOR

Mary D'Alton

Mary D'Alton is an executive and community leader whose career spans the hospitality, nonprofit, and public service sectors. She is the Executive Director of The Cowan Foundation, leading strategic philanthropic initiatives that foster long-term community impact. Her leadership and board service covers economic development, education, health, and the arts. Ms. D'Alton is a past Chair of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, past Vice-Chair of the Board at Wilfrid Laurier University, and past Chair of both Smart Serve Ontario and the Ontario Service Safety Alliance, now Workplace Safety and Prevention Services. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Institute of Corporate Directors for Southwestern Ontario, Board Chair of the Women Presidents Organization for the Southwestern Ontario and Waterloo Region chapters, and a Director of the KW4 Ontario Health Team. Her earlier board service includes Waterloo North Hydro, the YMCA of Three Rivers, and St. Mary's General Hospital. 

DIRECTOR

Rajesh Uttamchandani

Rajesh (Raj) Uttamchandani has served as an executive leader and board member for public and private entities across a range of industries. He has a proven track record of increasing business performance and value through strategic planning, human capital, governance, and innovation. An executive and management consultant, Mr. Uttamchandani has strategized and executed pivotal transformations for global public organizations and steered small and medium-sized businesses and unicorn technology companies through periods of hyper-growth. His strategic insight and hands-on approach have consistently led to substantial business advancement and value creation. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer at MaRS Discovery District, North America's largest urban innovation hub, committed to advancing companies during their prime periods of growth. Raj holds a BSc, an MBA, an MIR, a JD, and an LL.M. He is a lawyer called to the Bar of Ontario and holds the ICD.D designation. 

DIRECTOR

Laura Kobsa

Laura Kobsa is a communications and public affairs leader in Toronto, where she heads the stakeholder relations team at a Canadian public sector pension plan. Her career spans corporate and public sector roles, including government relations at the Insurance Bureau of Canada and senior policy service with the Government of Ontario. She served as a key advisor to several cabinet ministers on communications, policy, stakeholder engagement, and the Ministerial Appointments process. Her policy work in the office of the Minister of Labour helped advance provincial initiatives including presumptive PTSD legislation for first responders, the Closing the Gender Wage Gap strategy, and the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review. Ms. Kobsa holds a HBSc from the University of Toronto and a BASc from the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Occupational and Public Health. She also volunteers with Camp BUCKO, a camp for young burn survivors in Ontario.