MONTREAL, April 19, 2012 /CNW/ - The Graham Boeckh Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of James D. Hughes as President. The Foundation's principal focus is to improve the lives of those suffering from mental illness. Mr. Hughes brings a wealth of experience in the field.
James previously served as Deputy Minister of New Brunswick's Department of Social Development. With a budget of over $1 billion and nearly 2000 staff under management, the Department of Social Development is responsible for a wide range of programs and services in the province including child protection, early childhood development, income assistance, disability support and senior care. Mr. Hughes played a central role in the development of the province's trailblazing Poverty Reduction Strategy.
From 2004 to 2008, James served as the Director General of the Old Brewery Mission (OBM), Quebec's largest centre serving homeless men and women and the second largest in Canada. Under his leadership, the OBM was transformed from a traditional provider of basic services into a Canadian leader in the reduction of homelessness. Fully funded programming for homeless people in the areas of supportive transition to housing, social housing, and mental health services were all introduced during this period. Hundreds of men and women have successfully moved out of homelessness on a permanent basis because of these new initiatives. The OBM received the Award of Excellence in the 2009-2010 year from the Quebec Department of Health for its innovative programming in support of vulnerable people.
Mr. Hughes was the founding President of Youth Employment Services, now the premier Montreal based non-profit provider of employment and entrepreneurial services. He has served on the boards of various local and national organizations including the National Council on Welfare, Social Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) and Portage Addiction Services.
James Hughes is a lawyer by training. He practiced law in the areas of commercial and civil litigation, commercial transactions, real estate and bankruptcy. He has degrees from Queen's University (B. Commerce), University of Cambridge (B.A. Law) and McGill University (B.C.L). He is fluently bilingual.
About the Graham Boeckh Foundation
The Graham Boeckh Foundation established a chair in schizophrenia studies at McGill University and the Douglas Hospital in 1996. It has also created partnerships with the NIHM in Washington, CIHR in Ottawa, Alberta Innovates in Edmonton, the NIHR in the UK and RAND Europe to study the payback from mental health research dollars. These will help to inform funders on ways to improve the process of funding to supporting research in order to create faster cures and better outcomes for patients. The Foundation has also partnered with the Mental Illness Foundation in Quebec to extend its school outreach program that promotes prevention and early treatment of mental illness among adolescents.
Graham Boeckh Foundation Symposium - A Unique Mental Health Event
The Next Frontier in Mental Health: From Research to Patients
April 24, 2012
MaRS Discovery District, 101 College Street, Suite 100, Toronto, ON
Early detection and recovery - Risk for psychosis - Preventing teen depression - Child and youth mental health - Therapeutic change in the developing brain - …..and much more
Registration: Please visit www.grahamboeckhfoundation.org. Event is free.
J. Anthony Boeckh
Phone #: 514-904-0551 ext. 221
Email address: [email protected]
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