Our Team
Working at the Société Santé en français (SSF) means going out and meeting people in Canada’s Francophone and Acadian French-language minority communities. It means being part of a dynamic, passionate team and movement. It means taking challenging stances to make a positive difference. And it means working together to make our vision succeed.
The SSF team consists of motivated individuals who have decided to help make change happen when it comes to health care in French. These people work collaboratively in a positive environment and push the boundaries to produce lasting, tangible changes that will improve access to health services in French in Canada.
Together, the team members have chosen the following values that guide their professional activities:
Integrity – Solidarity – Collective intelligence – Impact – Continuous improvement
The team of Société Santé en français
Antoine Désilets
Antoine Désilets has been working for the SSF since 2011. As Manager, Government Relations, Partnerships and Governance, he directly supports SSF’s Chief Executive Officer.
Born in Saint-Nicolas, Quebec, Antoine has been living for nearly 10 years in Ontario, where he has developed a passion for Francophone life and culture throughout Canada.
Antoine has interdisciplinary experience in governance, public policy, international policy and communications. Before joining the SSF, he worked for the federal government and for the University of Ottawa, while also carrying out a wide variety of volunteer assignments.
Antoine holds a bachelor’s degree in applied policy studies from the Université de Sherbrooke and a master’s degree in public and international affairs from the University of Ottawa.
Julien Gravel
Julien takes care of all of the SSF’s financial functions, such as cash-flow management, financial statements, payroll management, accounts payable, employee benefits, information technology management, and management of contribution agreements.
He earned his professional titles (Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Accountant) in Montreal.
As a big fan of Star Wars, Julien uses the Force to carry out his job and provide the best possible financial information to the SSF’s CEO, board of directors, creditors and French-language health networks.
Julien is proud to be working at the Société Santé en français, proud to be speaking French in his workplace and proud to be working in the health field. In addition, to keep healthy himself, for more than three years now, he has been going out for a run at lunch hour almost every day, summer and winter alike.
Cynthia Faubert
Cynthia comes from the National Capital Region and has been working for the SSF as a management and communications assistant since 2015. After completing her studies at La Cité college and the University of Ottawa, she worked in administration and communications for a variety of not-for-profit organizations.
Since 2007, she has also belonged to the Optimist Club of Aylmer, where she does volunteer fundraising to support community activities for youth and children.
Cynthia adores music of all kinds, from the Classical period to the Beatles, the many famous bands of the 1980s, and more recent big names such as the Foo Fighters. But David Bowie has a very special place in her heart and always comes at the top of her many playlists.
Gabrielle Lepage-Lavoie
Gabrielle is a Franco-Albertan from the Peace River region and has lived in Saskatchewan for the past 23 years. She has worked in the Francophone community for her entire life. She is the proud mother of three daughters to whom she has imparted a love of lifelong learning, and all of them are now attending university. Gabrielle has studied political science, administration and project management. She had the honour of managing the megaproject Départ Santé /Healthy Start with the Réseau Santé en français de la Saskatchewan (RSFS) for seven years.
An administrator and project manager with over 15 years’ experience at the RSFS and as Executive Director of the Association des parents fransaskois, Gabrielle is passionate about community engagement, Francophone culture, working with partners, communication and, of course, promoting healthy lifestyles. In her spare time, she is physically active, enjoying curling, yoga and hiking. She lives the motto, “You have to walk the talk!”
Gabrielle is delighted to be joining the SSF team and continuing to contribute to the national movement aimed at improving access to health services in French in Canada. For Gabrielle, being able to make a small difference in people’s daily lives—whether they are recent immigrants, senior citizens or young children—and improve their quality of life is what motivates her to meet the daily challenges for health in French.
Nathalie Sombié
Ève Laframboise
Ève is a communication specialist. She applied her expertise in the fields of culture and education before joining the Société Santé en français in 2016. She has always worked with Francophone communities, usually in minority settings. The greatest satisfaction of her career has been to give these communities a voice and help them to assert their rights and their needs.
As a communication and knowledge mobilization officer, Ève makes sure that information and knowledge circulate. She is skilled at expressing ideas and concepts clearly so that they are easy for non-experts to understand. Her job is first to find out what has to be communicated, to whom, and why, and then decide how to communicate it. She loves asking questions with the members of her target audience in mind, because that’s who she’s working for!
In her time away from work, Ève likes to recharge by connecting with other people, and to keep a smile on her face, she goes out swing dancing socially.
Nathalie Boivin
Nathalie joined the SSF team in September 2019, motivated by her strong desire to ensure that everyone can secure the information they need and apply it to guide their intervention methods.
Nathalie has worked in the fields of health promotion, community health and health literacy, as well as teaching and doing research at the university level. She is involved in organizations such as the Mouvement acadien des communautés en santé du Nouveau-Brunswick [New Brunswick Acadian movement for healthy communities] and the Conseil pour le développement de l’alphabétisme et des compétences des adultes du Nouveau-Brunswick [New Brunswick council for Francophone adult literacy and skills development]. She also sits on the New Brunswick Health Council.
An avid runner and triathlete, Nathalie has participated in several Ironman competitions and Boston Marathons. Her dream is a world where everyone can find their place, occupy it fully, and contribute to creating living environments that promote health and wellness for everyone.
Sérivanh Phonekèo
Sérivanh assists the SSF team in general and the Programming team in particular. Her duties involve organization, logistics, writing documents and filing documents electronically. She feels honoured to hold this position and wants to keep improving her skills so that she can keep improving the service that she provides not only to the team, but most importantly to the French-language health movement as a whole.
As an undergraduate, Sérivanh studied to teach chemistry at the secondary-school level in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos); she then taught for seven years. In 1989, she moved into administrative support. Since 2009, she has proudly served not-for-profit organizations working for the benefit of Francophones throughout Canada.
Her favourite saying: “Neither for nor against—quite the contrary.”
Shanelle Landry
Albert Frealle
Originally from France, Albert is a communication specialist.
Before joining the Société Santé en français in 2020, he worked for the culture, energy and scientific research sectors. His credo: to inform, share, value with the ultimate goal to act positively on civil society.
As a communication and knowledge mobilization officer, he ensures that information and knowledge circulate freely. His day-to-day work consists of knowing what needs to be communicated, to whom and why, in order to find ways to make ideas and concepts clear and easy to understand for his target audiences.
Curious by nature, he is interested in many subjects, but combat sports and travel are his greatest passions.
Hamdi Souissi
Hamdi Souissi joined Société Santé en français in March 2020, previously worked on various projects from 2017. Through his social implications and professional background, one can note a passion for the defence of human rights, particularly of minorities, and a champion of cultural diversity.
As a project officer, he actively participates in the development and implementation of the organization’s main activities. His inquiring mind and versatility ensure that he is always eager to embrace his next challenge.
In his spare time, he enjoys discovering unlikely dishes, encouraging local artists and nurturing his budding passion for mycology. He is also crazy about everything that has anything to do with Jean-Claude Van Damme.