CMHA Ottawa warmly welcomes Alison Cunningham as new Director of People and Culture

Apr 13, 2024

The Ottawa branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA Ottawa) is thrilled to announce the arrival of Alison Cunningham, MIR, the agency’s new Director of People and Culture.

Alison brings to her new role more than 30 years of experience as a human resources leader, including 20 years at the helm of MultiNexus, an Ottawa-based boutique executive coaching and strategic HR consultancy practice, where she advised leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors and from a range of industries, including social services.

Her experience includes contract and project-based roles with many of our community non-profit organizations, including the Ottawa Food Bank, The Ottawa Mission, Cornerstone Housing for Women, Catholic Family Services Ottawa, Service Coordination Support, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the Canadian Paralympic Committee as well as volunteer work with Ottawa Community Housing,

“My heart is in this community,” says Alison. “It is a privilege to serve the people who work at community agencies like CMHA Ottawa; making sure staff have the best possible workplace supports, so they can continue to do great work in the community.”

Most recently, Alison worked with the Métis Nation of Ontario as Strategic HR Advisor to the President and CEO. Her mandate was to modernize the MNO’s HR function, its workplace culture, and the supporting HR systems as they transitioned from a non-profit to a merit-based public service. Alison worked directly with senior leadership to identify challenges and opportunities, recommend options, and implement solutions to build a healthy and productive workplace and to mitigate risk.

This recent experience put her in an ideal position to join Dr. Susan Farrell, the new CEO at CMHA Ottawa, at the executive leadership table to continue to strengthen the workplace culture and three Ps at the agency: processes, policies and programs, as it grows and transforms. 

“I’m delighted to be here,” says Alison. “I’ve received such a warm welcome and I’m really looking forward to continuing to dig into the opportunities and the challenges.”

“CMHA Ottawa is so fortunate to have Alison joining our team at this time,” said Dr. Farrell. “Alison’s experience, skills and values are a wonderful match to the investment we are placing in the people and the culture in our organization.”

“It is often said that attracting a talented person to work with you is like a ‘feather in your cap’—with Alison I think we have added an entire peacock’s tail! She will add to this vibrant organization and support our team in their delivery of evidence-based care within strong community and regional partnerships. We are excited to evolve into the future together.”

Leaving private practice was not an easy decision for Alison to make, but Dr. Farrell made a compelling case, and the opportunity to work with Dr. Farrell and be a part of an organization focused on improving the mental health of some of the most marginalized members of our local community was not one she could pass up.

“Mental health is something that affects absolutely every single one of us,” says Alison, “either directly, or indirectly, through our friends and family. It touches every single one of us, and I don’t think there’s anyone who’s immune from mental health challenges over their lifetime … Not everybody has an easy path in life and if we can help them navigate some of the challenges life throws at them, then that’s really important.”

Alison is a values-based leader who is committed to creating safe, diverse and inclusive workplaces. Her passion is organizations where the HR function is still maturing and there is an appetite to continue to make improvements by engaging all levels of employees. 

“I’m a huge advocate for fairness and transparency and the importance of good relationships,” she says. “Another big driving factor for me is equity and inclusion and making sure that people feel able to bring their whole selves to work.”

Additionally, Alison is passionate about mentoring and developing the next generation of human resources professionals. She has volunteered with the Human Resources Professionals Association and served on the Board of the Ottawa Chapter as Director of Membership. She taught for ten years at Carleton University’s Sprott Professional Programs Division in the Management Certificate Program, and at Queen’s University’s Industrial Relations Centre (iRC) professional programs. 

Alison holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen’s University and is a Co-Active trained leadership coach. 

In her time away from work, she enjoys being active (running, walking, cycling), hanging out with her rescue pets (currently three cats and a horse named Hershey), and travelling. Alison doesn’t drink coffee—she is a chai latte person.

Alison is excited to continue to meet the staff at CMHA Ottawa, strengthen the relationship with CUPE—the agency’s valued partner—and continue toward becoming one of the best employers in the mental health and substance use health sector.

“We’ve got some really exciting things in the works,” she says. “Including collective bargaining, a new system implementation, and strategic planning happening, so I’m very excited about all of that.”

Welcome to CMHA Ottawa, Alison. We’re thrilled to have you as part of our leadership team.

The Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch (CMHA Ottawa), is an independent, community-based non-profit organization that provides services for eligible individuals in the Ottawa area with severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorder, many of whom are experiencing chronic homelessness or are vulnerably housed. CMHA Ottawa is dedicated to promoting good mental health, developing and implementing sustainable support systems and services, and encouraging public action to strengthen community mental health services and related policies and legislation.