Purnima Sundar (PhD) is the executive director at the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions (the Knowledge Institute).

With almost 25 years of experience doing community-based, participatory action research, evaluation, implementation and knowledge mobilization in the areas of child and youth mental health and race and equity, Purnima sets the vision and strategy for the Knowledge Institute. She was educated in the fields of psychology and social work, with a focus on community development and social planning. Purnima is also adjunct research professor in the School of Social Work at Carleton University.

Since joining the Knowledge Institute in 2008, she has worked with government partners across ministries, as well as agency leaders, young people and families throughout the province to ensure high quality, evidence-based mental health and addictions services for Ontario’s children and young people.

Melissa Jennings (she/her) is the director of special projects and operations at the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions (the Knowledge Institute).

Melissa holds a master’s degree in child studies and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Early in her career, she was involved in a range of program evaluation and community-based research initiatives in the areas of school-age childcare, early years, social-emotional learning, violence against women and programming for seniors. Melissa joined the Knowledge Institute’s leadership team in 2012 and has led the evaluation support program, the knowledge broker team and most recently key internal planning- and performance-related activities.

Melissa oversees the Knowledge Institute’s operations.

Amy Porath (PhD) is the director of research and knowledge mobilization at the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions (the Knowledge Institute).

Amy holds a PhD in psychology and is an alumna of both the University of Ottawa and Carleton. She has more than 22 years of experience conducting and leading substance use research and knowledge mobilization activities. An internationally recognized subject matter expert, her savvy has been sought out by the Government of Canada, parliamentary committees and the World Health Organization. Amy is also a peer reviewer for several journals and a longtime member of the editorial board for the Canadian Journal of Addiction.

Amy leads the Knowledge Institute’s efforts to identify and respond to the knowledge needs of the child and youth mental health and addictions sector and others who shape policy and practice in this area. This includes advancing and mobilizing knowledge through applied research initiatives, evidence resources and quality standards.