Food Banks Canada Announces New Board Members
Douglas Muzyka and John Peellegoda to serve as board directors
TORONTO, June 26, 2026 /CNW/ – Food Banks Canada’s board of directors welcomes Douglas Muzyka and John Peellegoda to serve as new board directors.
Douglas is a business leader and board chair with more than 40 years of experience in science, technology, manufacturing, and innovation. Prior to his career as a corporate director, Douglas spent more than 30 years with DuPont, culminating in his role as Chief Science and Technology Officer and gained extensive international leadership experience. He currently serves as Council Chair of the National Research Council Canada and Chair of the Biologics Manufacturing Centre and serves as Chair of Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund and as a board member of Stella-Jones. Douglas is committed to advancing Canada’s economic resilience, health security, and innovation capacity, and believes that access to nutritious food is fundamental to health, dignity, and opportunity.
John is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy at the Toronto Port Authority, where he leads finance, strategy, commercial development, and long-term planning. Prior to his current role, John held senior leadership positions at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and began his career at PwC Canada. With more than two decades of experience in corporate finance, infrastructure, risk management, and strategic business planning, John brings deep financial expertise, strategic perspective and a commitment to strong governance and community impact.
“With food bank usage in Canada remaining at the highest in Canadian history, strong leadership and diverse expertise have never been more important,” shared Kirstin Beardsley, Chief Executive Officer, Food Banks Canada. “We are pleased to welcome both Douglas and John to the Food Banks Canada Board of Directors. Their guidance and business acumen will help strengthen our collective efforts as we work towards our vision of building a future where no one in Canada goes hungry.”
We are grateful for the continuous support from Food Banks Canada’s Directors:
- Chair, Peter Singer, Chairman of Thomas, Large & Singer Inc.
- Vice Chair, Ryan Bahadur, Interim President and VP of Finance at Keurig Dr. Pepper, Canada
- Board Secretary, Barbara Gosse, Managing Partner, Not-for-Profit Services at The Osborne Group
- Board Treasurer, Simon Laroche, President of Kraft Heinz Canada
- Ilya Bahar, retired PwC partner
- Vince Barletta, President and CEO of Harvest Manitoba
- Linda Beairsto, Partner at McCarthy Tétrault and President of MT>Align
- Marjorie Bencz, Executive Director of Edmonton’s Food Bank
- Tony Chow, President of Coke Canada Bottling
- Dany Hétu, Executive Director of Moisson Rive-Sud
- Mary-Jo Hewat, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Facilities at Sagen MI Canada
- Simon Laroche, President of The Kraft Heinz Company
- The Honourable Percy P. Mockler, Retired Canadian Senator, The Province of New Brunswick
- June Muir, Chief Executive Officer of UHC – Hub of Opportunities
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Daman Thable-Rayat, John Bayliss and Rosemary McCrie who have completed their 9-year commitments to Food Banks Canada. Food Banks Canada is grateful for their invaluable time, support and dedication to helping us work to find solutions to hunger in Canada.
About Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the leader in addressing food insecurity in Canada. Our mission is to provide national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast to coast to coast. For over 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping people living in Canada with food insecurity. Over 5,500 food banks and community organizations come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours, who — this year — made close to 2.2 million visits to these organizations in one month alone, according to our HungerCount report. Since 2010, Food Banks Canada has shared over $1.2 billion in food supports and over $292 million in funding to help strengthen the food bank network to meet demand and improve access where it’s needed most–while, backed by leading research, advocating for meaningful actions from governments to counter hunger and its root causes. Our vision is clear: to create a Canada where no one goes hungry. Visit foodbankscanada.ca to learn more.
SOURCE Food Banks Canada
