ABOUT YELENA

I am a full-time working mom of two very active boys, so like many parents, I understand the realities of balancing work, family and a busy schedule of extracurricular activities.

My husband and I live in Davenport, where we are raising our family. Our children have been attending École élémentaire catholique du Sacré-Cœur de Toronto since 2019, making French Catholic education an important part of our family's daily life and our community.

I grew up in Montreal, where I attended the French Catholic school La Dauversière. In 2000, I moved to Toronto to pursue my studies in Economics at York University's Glendon Campus (bilingual), to ease the transition to an English environment. 

French-language education has therefore been part of my life from childhood through to raising my own children. As a parent, I understand how important our schools are—not only for our children's education, but for preserving our French language, building strong communities and creating a sense of belonging for our families.

I bring over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector and currently serve as a Director of Operations at a financial services firm, where my responsibilities include corporate policy development, compliance, operational oversight and organizational effectiveness.

Earlier in my career, I spent 13 years with one of Canada’s five largest banks, where my experience included financial analysis, bank-wide compensation program development and implementation, and departmental design and operational effectiveness reviews.

Throughout my career, I have developed the ability to analyze financial information, evaluate how organizations and processes are performing, ask difficult questions, identify problems and hold people accountable for results.

These skills are directly relevant to the role of School Board Trustee—particularly when it comes to financial oversight, responsible management of public funds, governance, policy, accountability and ensuring that decisions serve the best interests of students and families.

Dropping off 150 student-made Christmas cards for seniors at the retirement home, Les Centres D'accueil Heritage. One of the Christmas initiatives of Givingback that I organize at our school. 

Giving a speech to our grade graduates.        

My approach has always been to listen first, bring people together and turn ideas into action. I have built strong relationships with parents, teachers, administrators and community partners while creating more opportunities for families to participate and volunteer.

I have earned the trust of our community by showing up, doing the work and standing up for parents and students. Commitment, transparency and accountability have guided my leadership on the Parent Council—and they are the same values I will bring to the role of School Board Trustee.

My son’s first communion.

BUILDING A STRONGER SCHOOL COMMUNITY

I have been an active member of the Parent Council at École élémentaire catholique du Sacré-Cœur de Toronto since 2019 serving as President for three years. Throughout that time, I have focused on three principles: listening to parents, creating opportunities for students, and promoting transparency and accountability.

When parents told us they felt disconnected from the school, I created and led the Renforcement des liens avec les parents committee. We surveyed families to better understand their experiences and priorities and used their feedback to drive meaningful change.

That engagement led to initiatives that have strengthened our school community, including:

  • Community-building events such as Games & Math Nights, Neon Dance Nights, schoolyard gatherings and our year-end Fête de la Famille.

  • Parent class groups for every classroom, helping families communicate, support one another and become more involved in school life.

  • A free five-day-a-week morning snack program, ensuring all students get a healthy start to their day.

  • A broader portfolio of French-language extracurricular programs, including soccer, karate, visual arts, chess, robotics, gardening, science, video creation, Rubic’s cube, and many more. Parents can opt for free or for a pay-what-you-can option so that no child is left behind, regardless of parents’ financial situation. 

  • Successful fundraising initiatives that have helped fund educational resources, activities and opportunities for students.

Coming out of COVID, I believed strongly that our children needed opportunities to reconnect, develop new skills and rediscover their interests. At a time when Sacré-Cœur had no extracurricular options, I worked to build a diverse and accessible program that continues to grow today and is part of the school's identity.

In 2025, Sacré-Cœur was selected by the Ontario Ministry of Education, through CSC MonAvenir, to host a delegation of German educators studying Ontario best practices in student well-being, inclusion and school-community partnerships—an important recognition for our school community. In that our school was recognized as being more than a place where kids learn, but a place where they grow and develop new skills.