Leadership Team

Laura Syron

Laura is the President & CEO of Diabetes Canada, the country’s largest national charitable organization working to end diabetes. In this role, Laura leads a $35M organization with 100 staff across Canada focused on preventing, caring for people living with, and curing diabetes through investments in education, advocacy and scientific research.

Prior to leading Diabetes Canada, Laura had the privilege of steering and managing high-performance teams for three well-known not-for-profits over the past 20 years including the Arthritis Society, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Before her work in the NFP sector, Laura worked in the for-profit sector at consumer packages goods leader Procter & Gamble, holding senior marketing positions in the Canada business until her move into NFP.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She has two teenage boys and enjoys golf, yoga and cooking. In addition to her family and her professional career, Laura is a life-long volunteer.

Shane Green

Shane stepped into the role of Diabetes Canada’s Senior Vice President of Mission in June 2025. In this role, he drives the development, implementation, and evaluation of the organization’s mission strategies, with a focus on health equity and communities disproportionately affected by diabetes. His work encompasses research, advocacy, and initiatives to educate and engage both individuals living with diabetes and healthcare providers.

Shane brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in social impact, strategy, and innovation across the non-profit, global health, and public sectors. Prior to joining Diabetes Canada, he served as Vice President of Programs at Jack.org, a national youth mental health charity, where he led equity-centred initiatives and guided transformative organizational change.

With a PhD in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto, Shane began his career as a scientist and research ethics advisor and later held leadership roles at organizations such as Ontario Genomics and Grand Challenges Canada. Throughout his career, Shane has built high-performing teams, secured major international funding, and championed initiatives in global health innovation, youth mental health, and biomedical research ethics.

Brendan Robinson

Joining Diabetes Canada in 2021, Brendan is the Senior Vice President, Development, leading the organization’s philanthropic fundraising efforts in support of Diabetes Canada’s research, education and community programs.

Brendan has been working in not-for-profit fundraising since 1993, including executive leadership roles with organizations such as the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, the Calgary Health Foundation, the BC Cancer Foundation and STARS Air Ambulance. The majority of Brendan’s career has been in health fundraising because he is passionate about using philanthropy as a means to help people, families and communities improve health outcomes and quality of life. To date, teams under his leadership have raised in excess of $600 million.

When not at work Brendan enjoys family time with his wife and two daughters, travelling to warm places during our long, cold winters, and riding his bicycles in and around the city.

Kim Fletcher

Kim leads the strategic direction of marketing and communications at Diabetes Canada. Her brand, communication and digital marketing teams are working to raise awareness, advocate and support the raising of funds for a world free of the effects of diabetes.

Kim’s passion is to aid purposeful brands in connecting with their communities in authentic, innovative ways and to elevate talent in reaching their aspirations. She has 30 years of experience in brand management, product marketing, fundraising and customer experience.

Her leadership and marketing skills were honed at industry-leading organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and KPMG and her not for profit experience at foundations, education institutions, and a global INGO.

In addition to her business degrees from Laurier and Schulich School of Business, she holds professional designations in marketing, agile, and project management. Kim has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations over the past 20 years and is currently on the board of Tyndale University, a member of the Canadian Marketing Association Not For Profit Council and is a frequent judge for the Canadian Marketing Annual Awards.

Tim D'Souza

Tim D'Souza has 30 years of finance, consulting and leadership experience, helping a wide range of organizations improve what they do. He started his career working in international development, assisting small NGOs develop and execute improvements.

Tim then spent 18-plus years in the private sector, working with companies like IBM, Sun Life and Pet Valu–engineering changes that helped improve strategy and/or operations. He returned to the non-profit world in 2018, serving as the COO of Children Believe (formerly the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada). During his time at Children Believe, he reduced costs, improved revenue and enhanced efficiency.

Tim joined Diabetes Canada as the Senior VP of Finance and Business Operations in 2021. In April 2026, he moved over to lead NDT on an interim basis until a new permanent CEO is named. A trained accountant, Tim holds three university degrees, including an MBA from Yale. He serves on several boards of directors and teaches part-time at three post-secondary institutions.