Daily Bread Leadership Team
Talia Bronstein
Vice President, Research and Advocacy
Talia Bronstein is an experienced policy researcher with a passion for social change. As VP Research & Advocacy at Daily Bread Food Bank, Talia is an outspoken advocate for income security and affordable housing to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. Having worked in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, Talia brings a unique perspective to building collaborative relationships with community members, partner organizations, and government to tackle complex systems-level policy issues. Talia holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto and was honoured to receive the Frances Lankin Inspiring Leadership Award in 2021.
Samantha Cooke
Vice President, Philanthropy
Samantha Cooke is a forward thinking, driven fundraising executive with over 15 years experience building donor, volunteer and partnership support for physical and mental health causes. An inspiring leader and doer – Samantha brings a positive presence to organizations and promotes an inclusive and collaborative culture. At work Sam is known for building strong teams inspiring people to bring their whole selves to work and achieve results they can be proud of. Samantha cares deeply about her community and neighbours and will apply her fundraising leadership capabilities and robust fundraising expertise to address food insecurity and issues of poverty here in the GTA and make a meaningful impact here in our community. Sam will work to enhance the Daily Bread Food Bank’s current strengths and introduce new programs to lift philanthropic achievements and reach new heights to end hunger in our City.
Gretchen Daniels
Chief Financial Officer
Gretchen Daniels is a finance professional with over fifteen years of progressive experience in the accounting field. Gretchen started her career in the assurance and advisory group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where she worked with clients in the technology, not-for-profit, manufacturing and distribution industries. After leaving PricewaterhouseCoopers, Gretchen spent a number of years working as a Controller, VP Finance and consultant, focusing on controls improvement, regulatory compliance, board, management and investor reporting. For the past three years, Gretchen has served as the CFO of Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services. Gretchen is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the state of New Jersey, and holds an MBA in Professional Accounting from Rutgers University.
Neil Hetherington
Chief Executive Officer
Neil Hetherington joined Daily Bread Food Bank as CEO in January 2018. Neil began his career in project management at Tridel Construction, Canada’s largest condominium developer. In September 2000, he made a career change by joining Habitat for Humanity Toronto, at the time as the youngest CEO of a Habitat affiliate in the world. Neil’s non-profit experience includes 16 years as CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Toronto, and then New York City, and two years as CEO of Dixon Hall, a multi-service agency with 240 staff serving thousands of people in Toronto through its social programs, shelters, seniors’ programs, youth initiatives and community revitalization efforts. Neil holds degrees and certificates from the University of Western Ontario – Huron College, Seneca College, Harvard Business School, and the University of Virginia – Darden Business School. He obtained his MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School in 2013. He is an active pilot and sailor. He enjoys furniture making and in his spare time plays tennis terribly, snowboards poorly and bikes slowly.
Charles Jergl
Vice President, Programs and Services
Charles Jergl is the Vice President of Programs and Services at Daily Bread Food Bank. Charles became involved in food security issues in 2005, when as a food bank client, he participated in a Community Based Research Project on poverty organized by Daily Bread. This led to him volunteering in the Advocacy Program at Daily Bread in 2006, where he provided information and referral, informal counselling and other supports to food bank clients. In 2008 Charles was hired by Daily Bread to manage several food bank locations across the GTA. Subsequently he has served as the Manager of the Agency Relations department, and in his current role oversees training, program support and development of around 170 food programs including meal programs and food banks. Charles also oversees Daily Bread’s commercial kitchen which produces prepared meals. Charles’ focus has been to increase the quality and nutrition of foods distributed by Daily Bread, as well as developing a rights-based, anti-oppressive approach to programs and services.
Eva Molina
Vice President,
Marketing and Communications
Eva Molina has been in the communications and marketing field for over 12 years, contributing to prominent media outlets such as The Toronto Star. Deeply committed to food security and equity, Eva is now contributing her skills to eradicating hunger and impacting long-term change in the city. Since joining Daily Bread Food Bank in 2018, she has led several initiatives to increase brand awareness and strengthen communications with the organization’s supporters through media relations, social media, email marketing and content creation.
Heather Valentino
Vice President, Operations
Heather Valentino joined Daily Bread Food Bank in February 2022 as VP, Operations. Her career spans 28 years of supply chain leadership roles in CPG with great Canadian companies such as P&G, Kraft, Maple Leaf Foods, Indigo, and Spin Master. Heather’s extensive experience in local and global supply chains, make her an impactful leader for our Operations, Production and Supply Chain teams as we deliver best-in-class services to our member agencies and clients.
Jeff Wong
Vice President, People and Culture
Jeff Wong is the Vice President, People and Culture at Daily Bread Food Bank. Many years ago, Jeff graduated from Ryerson with a B. Comm specializing in Hospitality & Tourism Management and Human Resources. As a professional, he spent several years working in market research before deciding to switch careers and follow a lifelong passion for food and food issues. The switch resulted in Jeff volunteering at several non-profits across Toronto and finding his community at Daily Bread. Jeff volunteered in the kitchen and on-site food bank before being hired as a Kitchen Assistant coordinating volunteers and preparing food. From there, he became the Volunteer Coordinator, then Volunteer Manager and most recently in September 2018 took on his current role. Jeff is a lifelong Torontonian, avid disc golfer and a strong believer in that strong community involvement educates the young and helps strengthen us all.