Our Team
We are your neighbours: Caring community members from across Algoma.
Staff
Desiree Gravel - Executive Director
Desiree is a dedicated leader passionate about community development, equity, and empowerment. Desiree has a B.A. in Psychology, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources. With over a decade of non-profit experience focused on mental health, addictions, and homelessness, she currently serves as the Executive Director of Algoma Community Foundation. Desiree’s leadership is characterized by her collaborative approach and strategic partnerships. She has found immense joy creating, building and working in programs to support youth, Trauma Informed Care, housing, mental health and addictions, neurodiversity, and 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Board of Directors
Tamanna Rimi - Director of Research and Data
Tamanna joined the Algoma Community Foundation in June 2020 as Treasurer. She is a researcher with a particular interest in community development and family financial well-being. Tamanna has lived and traveled in many different countries and places and enjoyed building meaningful connections with the people around her. She has found working for communities and having a positive impact on them is the most rewarding part of her career in academia.
Tamanna is thrilled to be a part of ACF and hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the community. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Iowa State University and holds an M.S. in Economics from Tufts University, USA. She is also a proud mother of a young boy.
Krista Bissiallon - Granting and Special Projects Director
Krista Bissiallon is French/ settler and Anishinaabe kwe from Bawaating (Sault Ste. Marie, ON), with roots in Mississauga First Nation. She is a graduate of the Community Economic and Social Development program out of Algoma University and continues to live in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
She has filled many community development roles, holding positions with Youth Social Infrastructure, Young Leaders Circle, and Northern Lights Collaborative. Currently, she is co-chair of the Algoma Community Foundation, and a Program Manage with the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
As a facilitator and dreamer, Krista has spent the last several years in various avenues of community development, with a strong focus on supporting young people doing positive change work in her own community, across Ontario, and in some contexts across Turtle Island. Krista is inspired by the good work of young Indigenous folks in her region. She brings her passion for people, learning, social justice and community development to her own practices in pursuit of just futures for all.
Lauren White - Treasurer
Lauren White joined ACF Board as Treasurer in 2024. She brings 8 years public accounting experience and now works at OLG in Vendor Management. Lauren was raised in Sault Ste. Marie and went to Carleton University where she graduated with a BA Degree in Sociology and a Minor in Psychology. She then went on to earn a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Resources from St. Lawrence College. After graduating, she moved back to SSM where she worked in banking and went back to school once more to earn both a Certificate in Business and a BA Degree in Accounting from Algoma University.
Outside of her passion for accounting, you can find her most weekends with her husband and Australian Shepherd Mabel on the shores of Lake Superior at their tiny off-grid cabin or enjoying some camp time on St Joseph’s island.
Krum Dochev - Director of Governance
Krum joined the Board of Directors of ACF in 2025. He brings a decade of experience to the role as a lawyer, primarily working in litigation in the civil, criminal and family justice systems, in both the private and the public sectors across all 3 levels of government. Krum was born in the Balkans and grew up in Bulgaria and the Middle East, before his family emigrated to Canada. He holds a Bachelors degree from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, and a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall.
Krum brings a keen understanding of how systems operate, and is passionate about ensuring that vulnerable individuals have a voice and can pursue justice – particularly members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, new Canadians and diaspora communities, low-income individuals, and members of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities.
In his free time, Krum enjoys spending time with his partner and their families, travel, running and weight-training, and reading fiction, particularly from diasporic voices. He is fluent in 4 languages.
William Elliott - Director of Fund Development
William was born and raised in Elliot Lake, Ontario. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from York University, an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Applied Research from Georgian College.
As a Certified Economic Developer, he brings more than 25 years of experience supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses and creating opportunities for community development. He is a long-time member of the St. Joseph's Foundation of Elliot Lake, serves on the hospital board, and is a founding member of the Elliot Lake PRIDE Committee. He has dedicated 25 years to serving the community as a volunteer firefighter and remains actively involved in numerous local clubs and organizations. He enjoys having a plan, making lists, and getting things done.
Kaitlin Kazmierowski - Director of Community Engagement
William was born and raised in Elliot Lake, Ontario. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from York University, an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Applied Research from Georgian College.
As a Certified Economic Developer, he brings more than 25 years of experience supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses and creating opportunities for community development. He is a long-time member of the St. Joseph's Foundation of Elliot Lake, serves on the hospital board, and is a founding member of the Elliot Lake PRIDE Committee. He has dedicated 25 years to serving the community as a volunteer firefighter and remains actively involved in numerous local clubs and organizations. He enjoys having a plan, making lists, and getting things done.
Robin Sutherland - Director of Community Partners
Robin Sutherland is a creative and visionary serial social entrepreneur, business owner, professor, artist and writer who is passionate about helping build more caring communities through the arts, social justice, social innovation, community development and sustainable tourism. She is skilled in visioning, developing and leading heart-led organizations that value collaboration and centre equity and community care. She brings over a decade of experience in Executive and Leadership positions of local, regional and national non profits and charities in the arts, philanthropic and environmental sectors, most notably as Founder of Thinking Rock Community Arts and Founding Executive Director of the Algoma Community Foundation.
Robin is a acutely aware of the important role that community foundations can play in the health and vitality of rural communities, having played a central role in the formation of the Algoma Community Foundation as a member of the original Leadership Team and then as Founding Co-Chair of the first Board of Directors. As Owner and CEO of Northern Skies Resort, Robin is currently leading the rebranding and expansion of her fourth generation family-owned cottage resort to embrace and enact the values of sustainable tourism including: being a responsible steward of the land; in good relations with Indigenous and rural communities; and an active supporter of local artists and makers. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Algoma Kinniwabi Travel Association, is a member of the Northern Marketing Committee for Destination Ontario, and is on the Product Development Advisory Team for Destination Northern Ontario.
Robin holds an MSc in Health, Community and Development from the London School of Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation from the University of Waterloo, and a BA in Theatre and Arts Management from the University of Toronto. She is currently working toward her Certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. She has taught at Algoma University in the Community, Economic and Social Development program. Robin's greatest loves are a cup of tea, a good book, creative writing, and spending time with her family on the land and waters of Algoma, home of the Anishinaabe people.