Sushila Samy, President

Sushila was formerly employed in Education Programs at the Canadian and later the Alberta Human Rights Commission.  She started and managed Samy Consulting, a human resource consulting business, specializing in human rights, diversity, and equity. She holds a Certified Human Resources Professional designation, as well as a degree in political science and economics.

Her areas of interest include seniors, newcomer seniors and isolation, and overcoming systemic barriers faced by seniors.   

Sushila currently volunteers with the Seniors United Now (SUN) Steering Committee in the South Edmonton Chapter, and as a board member with Edmonton Seniors’ Coordinating Council (ESCC). She has also served on several provincial and municipal committees and boards. 

Debbie Steadward, Vice-President

Debbie Steadward has always been passionate about volunteering. She has been secretary and president of the Paralympics Sports Association, and secretary for Friends of Rosecrest. As well, she was the board chair and president of the Mill Woods Society of Community Living, a non-profit organization that supports and advocates for individuals with multiple disabilities in their home and their community. Debbie has 45+ years working in and advocating for individuals in acute and long term care facilities. She is looking forward to bringing her expertise to the MWSA board, as well as assisting with enhancing programs and services for seniors.

Sharon Semeniuk, Treasurer

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Sharon is still a Roughrider fan. She moved to Alberta in the early 80s.

Sharon completed an Honours Degree in Business. She worked for the Government of Alberta Information Services, in Student Finance and Tax and Revenue Administration. She operated a business from home doing fuel tax rebates; then taught preschool classes and was doing marketing and merchandising. Sharon also worked as a Finance Manager for the College of Medical Laboratory Technologists and Fiegel Investments as an Office/Property Manager.

Sharon volunteers at MWSA as a Greeter and has been on the Fund Development Committee for the last year.

Barb Ward, Secretary

Barb Ward is a retired Federal Government employee who enjoys volunteering – that is how you get to experience doing things you like! When her children were younger, she volunteered with the community events they were involved with.  She has lived in Mill Woods since 1987 and participated in different roles for different causes.  She volunteers for MWSA most recently as a member of the Gala committee and at special events.  As an MWSA Board Member, she hopes to ensure the centre continues improvement on programs and services for all members and social needs.

Ratna Basappa

Ratna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Economics, Political Science, and Public Administration. She also holds an Accounting Diploma and is certified as a Systems analyst from NAIT. Her work experience of 35 years includes 27 years with the Legal Aid Society of Alberta in their Information Technology department as a Manager-system Analyst. 

Ratna has been volunteering since she was 12 years old. Currently, Ratna is Vice-Chair of the Edmonton Seniors Coordinate counsel board (ESCC), the Board of directors of the South East Edmonton Seniors Association (SEESA – completing the term end of March 2021). The Age-Friendly Edmonton (AFE) – is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Hub and, is on the board of directors of the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society (AAMS).  

More recently she served on the Board of the ICWA as Director and as two-term President, Ambassador for the Age of Wisdom Project.  4 years on Mill Woods Seniors Association (MWSA), two years of which as the Board Secretary also served on the Council of India Societies of Edmonton for 8 years.  

She dedicates her time and enjoys working with seniors, and with women who are experiencing domestic violence, especially with newcomers. Awareness is critical and must work on reaching as many seniors as possible and always looking for gaps in the system so that we can provide better services to make seniors' life comfortable in every area. She is a project-oriented person, not just a planner but a doer to make sure the job gets done.  

Merle Linton

Merle came from Trinidad and Tobago in 1972 and has lived in Mill Woods for over 40 years. Worked with the Provincial Government for over 40 years with a background in finance, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, Volunteers for the MS Society, Edmonton Food Bank, Santa Anonymous, and Coats for Kids.

Current Member at Large of the Human Resources Committee.

As a new Board Member at MWSA, she looks forward to learning from the current board members and contributing as well.

Reddy Marri

Reddy has extensive experience in the field of technology having worked at Converges, Dell Canada and Paytel Canada

Reddy was a computer instructor for Action for Healthy Communities for 6 years and for 5 years at CLISA

He is currently the volunteer instructor for digital literacy at MWSA

Sahil Paul

Sahil is a tech-savvy professional with comprehensive experience in the private, public, and non-profit sector. Sahil is skilled in creating policies, procedures, and processes.

Sahil’s board experience spans across being a Director on a condo board, Trustee at a church and President/Director at a cricket club. 

Sahil has supported Alberta’s second-largest Seniors Center for their Technology needs as a contractor since 2010 before moving to Edmonton 

Patti Szkwarok

Before settling in Edmonton, Patti and her husband, Michael spent twenty years in the Arctic. While in Alberta, Patti retired from the government of Canada. Much of her career was spent advancing community economic development in the Northwest and Nunavut territories, with the latter years consulting with Aboriginal peoples on major resource projects.

Patti has been a member of the MWSA for almost two years and has spent this past year as a member at large in the MWSA Finance Committee. She continues to enjoy the fitness classes, café and the welcoming nature of all the MWSA members and staff.

She looks forward to serving on the MWSA Board of Directors.