Aparna Kajenthira is the Senior Manager of Health Equity, Community Engagement and Inclusion at The Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health at SickKids (GH-CCMH). In her previous role as Manager of Intensive Services of Youth (ISFY) with GH-CCMH, Aparna worked with her team to redevelop service offerings to better meet the needs of youth and families with intensive mental health needs across the city.
Aparna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at Western University and a Master of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University. Aparna has spent the past 15 years working with and for youth in community health, mental health and philanthropic settings and proudly serves as a Board member at South Riverdale Community Health Centre.
Aparna, rooted in her experience as a racialized settler, works from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive framework and aims to surface and address issues of equity, marginalization and power in her work. From her experience as a frontline worker to progressively senior leadership roles, she has focused on developing accessible services that center the needs of those who experience the greatest barriers to care.