Our Team

Role at Santis

Shay is a strategic communications expert at Santis Health, where he leads digital and creative services for clients in the health and life sciences sector. With deep experience in multimedia design and production, Shay specializes in creating diverse content for clients, including websites, video production, social media content and graphic design. Shay takes pride in his design acumen and branding expertise, which have played a pivotal role in shaping the visual identities of several national health care organizations and campaigns. By working closely with Santis’ cross-functional teams, Shay implements innovative communication and design strategies, blending creativity with strategic thinking to drive results.

Experience

Before joining Santis, Shay amassed a wealth of experience in digital marketing and communication, holding roles across various organizations in Ontario and British Columbia. His career is marked by a consistent ability to bridge the gap between business objectives and creative execution, driving measurable success through innovative strategies and content.

Most recently, Shay served as the Manager, Creative & Digital Marketing for a start-up tech company, where he was instrumental in shaping the company’s voice and led all digital marketing activities. Prior to this, Shay worked for the Canadian Tire Corporation, where he played a critical role in transforming the company’s digital experience through a new online ad format. By developing and implementing cutting-edge digital marketing strategies, Shay pushed the boundaries of traditional marketing, integrating emerging technologies and creative content to deliver a seamless and compelling customer journey.

Volunteerism and Education

Shay holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Production with a minor in Marketing from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). He is also certified in Front End Web Development from Lighthouse Labs.

EXPERIENCE

Hayley has produced/directed commercials and video content for companies worldwide. She works with a senior filming team, using state of the art cinema equipment to capture the highest quality results to showcase your story on screen.

Her production resume includes videos for: Volkswagen, Honda, Mitsubishi, Audi, Microsoft, HP, Canadian Tire, BDO, TD Bank, BMO, PartyCity, and the Government of Ontario. She has directed medical ads through Canada and America, including a Pharma campaign that aired on CNN in 2022. Her team’s health care work includes production for Women’s College Hospital, Mount Sinai, Wounded Warriors Canada, Niagara Health and The College of Family Physicians of Canada among others.

EDUCATION

Hayley holds a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in media production from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University).

Role at Santis

Hannah is a multi-skilled communicator with a keen ability to evaluate and craft communication strategies that resonate with target audiences. She has played a pivotal role in building the Santis brand from the ground up, creating platforms that empower clients to achieve their communication goals. Drawing on her extensive experience in the health care sector, Hannah oversees Santis’ communications practice, delivering complex messaging effectively through corporate communications, media relations, and crisis communications.

Experience

At Santis, Hannah has led high-impact communication initiatives for a wide range of clients, including hospital networks, national associations, MedTech companies, and over 20 long-term care facilities across the province. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her work focused on leading crisis communications related to outbreaks in long-term care and timely access to COVID-19 testing in key communities.

Prior to joining Santis, Hannah worked at Corus Entertainment where she supported the Global Television publicity team with internal and external communications, event management and media relations. Following her time at Corus, Hannah joined the Movember Foundation, handling their media monitoring and reporting during the height of the campaign.

Volunteerism and Education

Hannah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in media information and technoculture from Western University, a diploma in radio broadcasting from Fanshawe College and a public relations postgraduate certificate from Humber College. She also recently completed her Digital Marketing certificate with BrainStation.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Nancy is a senior communications leader at Santis, renowned for her expertise in strategy, campaign development, media relations, issues management, and corporate communications. She has a unique ability to see the big picture, forge connections, and inspire teams to push the boundaries of what’s possible. At Santis, Nancy spends much of her time on campaigns to support government relations objectives, helping clients develop their story to spark conversation and change. Of particular interest, Nancy enjoys working on innovative concepts like social prescribing and health technology.

EXPERIENCE

Before joining Santis, Nancy led health practices at two Canadian PR agencies, where she played a pivotal role on many files during the pandemic, including in launching TELUS Health’s virtual care services and spearheading awareness campaigns for mental health, drug shortages, and physician burnout. Her groundbreaking work, including the world’s first drone-delivered human lung transplant, has garnered global media attention and recognition from the Canadian Public Relations Society.

Nancy also spent nearly a decade at the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), where she managed communications during critical negotiations and crises while elevating physicians through branded content and marketing. During this time, she developed a deep passion for uncovering untold medical stories, particularly in end-of-life care. Earlier in her career, Nancy held key roles in the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Environment.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Nancy is dedicated to volunteer work with Wellspring, where she supports cancer patients with non-clinical care. She holds a Social Science degree from Western University and a Public Relations Certificate from Toronto Metropolitan University.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Morgan Davidson is a strategic marketing and communications leader with more than a decade of experience advancing public awareness, stakeholder engagement, and policy impact across Canada’s health care and pharmaceutical sectors. At Santis, Morgan provides strategic oversight for communications programs spanning corporate communications, media relations, digital marketing, and patient engagement. She is known for her ability to craft compelling, human-centered narratives that drive conversation, build trust, and influence change.

EXPERIENCE

Before joining Santis, Morgan led national communications campaigns for top health care and pharmaceutical organizations, with a focus on patient advocacy, access to treatment, and the introduction of innovative therapies. She has held senior leadership roles at the Canadian Liver Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Canada, where she helped integrate communications with fundraising and public affairs strategies – expanding reach, strengthening stakeholder relationships, and elevating the patient voice. Morgan is especially passionate about working with patient communities to surface real stories that connect public policy to lived experience. She believes storytelling is a powerful tool for empowerment and for driving meaningful change in the health system.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Morgan holds an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations from Durham College, and has completed professional certifications in Digital Marketing Management from the University of Toronto and Indigenous Canada from the University of Alberta.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Avis Favaro is an acclaimed medical journalist with decades of experience. As a Senior Advisor at Santis Health, Avis leverages her extensive background in uncovering and reporting health stories that matter to Canadians to help bolster our media training program.

EXPERIENCE

Based in Toronto, Favaro was Canada’s longest-serving television Medical Correspondent, having started this beat for CTV News in 1992. She continues to contribute to the news programming as a freelance contributor. She is also a host of The CHIP – a podcast by the Canadian Institute for Health Information

Favaro has been recognized with a multitude of awards for her work, and holds an honorary PhD from McMaster University. She also has an honorary membership to the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. She is a graduate of Western University where she earned a Master’s Degree in Journalism.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Valerie is an experienced health care communicator with expertise in strategy, data-driven campaign development, reputation management and corporate communications. She is solutions-oriented and brings a systems mindset that shows crucial connections between context, priority areas and stakeholder impacts. At Santis’ Toronto office, Valerie provides strategic communications planning and counsel and mentors the communications team to create valuable outcomes and cultivate relationships.

EXPERIENCE

Before joining Santis, Valerie developed strategic communications programs in a variety of health system roles, such as leading the proactive COVID-19 response at Peel Public Health, advising on hospital corporate communications, issues management and special projects at Headwaters Health Care Centre, and piloting a data-driven practice to measure physician communications engagement at the Ontario Medical Association.

Earlier in her career, Valerie was accountable for regional government external communications projects, housing issues management and member communications, digital innovation marketing communications products, and multimedia storytelling in a variety of sectors. Her diverse experience underscores an audience-centric approach to communications management.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Valerie is trained as a Master of Communications Management (MCM) with a research interest in AI systems transformation and communications innovation. She is a former journalist and holds an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in anthropology and linguistics. Passionate about mental health, she volunteers with Strong Minds Strong Kids, a national charity championing proactive children’s mental health with educators, parents and psychologists.

Role at Santis

At Santis, Yvan serves as a writing lead and has worked on multiple projects for member associations and hospitals. Much of his work involves collaborating with senior managers, subject matter experts and marketing teams to help build the essential written elements of their communications projects.

Experience

For over 15 years, Yvan’s work has focused on health care writing projects. As a consultant for the Ontario Hospital Association, he has written and assisted with the development of more than 20 OHA publications including a 400-page guide for perioperative supply chain management that became the seminal resource for Ontario hospitals, as well as a number of guides and toolkits related to health human resources.

As a corporate communications writer, he plans and develops complex messaging projects including annual reports for eHealth Ontario, work that grew from his experience with a Fortune 500 company producing annual reports, web content and speeches. He also serves as a technical writing consultant for a medical device manufacturer where he organizes information and learning, and helps to devise and implement content marketing strategies.

Volunteerism and Education

Yvan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and English Literature from the University of Ottawa and a diploma in journalism from Sheridan College.

Role at Santis

At Santis, Patrick helps health care organizations adapt to the changing health care environment, influence government policy and improve their engagement with members and stakeholders. Patrick has expertise in strategic communications, government relations, public affairs and board governance.

Experience

Prior to joining Santis, Patrick served as the Executive Director of Public and Corporate Affairs at the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the voice of the province’s 34,000 physicians. Over almost ten years, he led the OMA through several strategic communications campaigns, a comprehensive governance review, as well as a major rebranding of the organization. Under his tenure, member satisfaction with the OMA doubled to a record high and, over the course of a five-month advocacy campaign, the profession witnessed a remarkable 12 per cent increase in public trust.

Patrick also worked in senior communications roles in the Ontario government, as an aide to Ontario’s Minister of Health and as Director of Communications to the Minister of the Environment and to the Minister of Education.

Volunteerism and Education

Patrick served as Past-Chair of the Board of Directors at ALS Canada, following eight years on the Board of Directors and as Co-Chair of the Client Services Advisory Committee and Chair of the Governance Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors at the Pine River Institute which helps treat adolescents with addiction and mental health challenges. He has also served for six years on the Board of Trustees at the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, the largest children’s mental health treatment facility in Toronto. During that time, Hincks-Dellcrest presented him with an Award of Appreciation for his work in receiving additional funding from government to support mental health services for kids. Since 2014, Patrick has also served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants.

Patrick also coaches rep baseball and basketball in West Toronto.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Gabriel plays a key role in driving creative strategy and execution at Santis, developing visually compelling assets that elevate client communications. From presentations and infographics to social media content, slide decks, web design elements, and promotional materials, he ensures every piece is both visually striking and strategically aligned.

Beyond design execution, Gabriel collaborates closely with teams to shape visual communication strategies, bringing clarity and creativity to complex ideas. His work not only enhances brand consistency but also strengthens client messaging, ensuring impactful engagement with target audiences.

EXPERIENCE

Before joining Santis, Gabriel worked at a design studio and a content agency, collaborating with brands such as Ford, Interac, Bamboo, AMGEN, JP Wiser’s, and KPMG. His expertise spans brand identity systems, website and mobile app UI design, marketing campaigns, experiential design, and marketing collateral.

Notably, Gabriel was part of the design team that developed promotional materials and ad campaign assets for Interac’s From Dollar One campaign, which won Gold for Best B2B Campaign at the 2024 International Content Marketing Awards. His ability to articulate design thinking, combined with a strong collaborative approach, ensures impactful and results-driven creative solutions.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Gabriel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Nigeria and has completed numerous certifications in project management and design, with a focus on user experience, visual design, branding, and art direction.

He also volunteers his time to support design efforts at a non-profit organization geared towards empowering young minority people.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Lucy is a public relations, strategic communications, and media relations expert at Santis.
She brings a track record of creating communications and PR strategies for brands across health and wellness, B2B and B2C SaaS, consumer technology, and fintech. With over 10 years of experience as an in-house strategist, she is adept at creating programs that bolster brand awareness and drive business objectives.

EXPERIENCE

Prior to joining Santis, Lucy established and led the in-house PR and communications function at a venture-backed Canadian health software startup with over 140,000 practitioner users across Canada and the U.S. She created an organic thought leadership program, identified and trained new spokespeople, and secured the company’s first MedTech Breakthrough Award. Prior to this her efforts increased the industry visibility of a digital identity verification startup. She successfully secured coverage across media outlets in Canada, the U.S., and the UK, positioning company executives as thought leaders in the fintech space.

Lucy also led global PR strategies across five product lines for a leading consumer software provider. Earlier in her career she launched an online magazine for a program that helps Canadian SaaS entrepreneurs scale their startups. She led brand development, determined editorial strategy, and produced podcast segments featuring interviews with software industry influencers. A former journalist, her work has appeared in publications like VentureBeat and BetaKit.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Lucy is proudly involved with the Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) Mentorship Program. As a mentor, she facilitates conversations about defining career goals and navigating the workforce. She earned a Bachelor of Journalism from the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Role at Santis

Haylee is a digital communications coordinator at Santis, helming many of Santis’ internal marketing efforts to help Santis’ brand identity shine through. She also leads digital and marketing projects with a variety of clientele and organizations. Primarily working in web and graphic design, social media strategies and analytics as well video and podcast production for clients and internal development, Haylee brings a creative and innovative approach to content development, thinking outside the box and exploring unique and thought provoking ideas. She thrives bringing a creative voice to client projects, helping make people comfortable in a variety of settings and connecting with professionals across the country. Some of her favorite projects to work on include video and audio production, live event organization and web design and development.

Experience

Prior to joining Santis, Haylee spent time in a variety of roles with major companies across Canada including working as a production manager at StoryBook Theatre, Canada’s largest volunteer driven theatre for young audiences as well as producing on various festivals, live events and podcasts. She also works with Canadian Traffic Network as both an airborne and ground reporter, working with dozens of radio and television companies across Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver to write, produce and record news hits.

Volunteerism and Education

Haylee is a recent graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) with a Bachelor of Arts in media production and minor in digital marketing. She also recently completed a certificate in Web Development from Lighthouse Labs. In her spare time, she teaches theatre classes for inner city youth and continues to report evening and weekend traffic on radio stations around the GTA.

ROLE AT SANTIS

Nalyn supports a wide range of communications projects at Santis, helping organizations tell their stories with clarity and impact. Nalyn contributes to client projects by drafting essential communications content bringing a clear, compelling voice to every piece. She conducts media pitching and outreach, supporting media relations efforts and helping secure coverage in key outlets across Canada. Additionally, she develops and implements social media strategies that drive engagement, strengthen brand presence and connect with audiences across platforms.

EXPERIENCE

Prior to joining Santis, Nalyn built a diverse portfolio across some of Canada’s most respected media outlets, including Chatelaine, BlogTO, CBC Toronto and The Eyeopener. She has produced and edited stories spanning politics, lifestyle and culture, often under tight deadlines and with a focus on thoughtful, ethical storytelling. Growing up in rural Alberta, she developed a deep appreciation for community-driven narratives, something that continues to guide her work today.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Nalyn is a recent graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Journalism, where she was recently awarded the CAJ Student Journalism Award Of Excellence. Nalyn is also a former member of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, in which she advised the Prime Minister directly on issues facing young Canadians including mental health and pharmacare. In her spare time, she sings in a choir and spends time with her pet cat Timothy.