A New Chapter for HOPE: Welcoming Mandie Abrams as Executive Director

After 17 years as an all-volunteer organization, HOPE (Helping Other Parents
Everywhere) is proud to mark a significant milestone in our evolution: the
transition to staff-led operations with the appointment of Mandie Abrams as our
new Executive Director.

HOPE is powered by a skilled and dedicated team of volunteers — parents
supporting parents through parenting challenges. These volunteers lead peer
groups with care and compassion and have also developed and refined HOPE’s
model and materials, building a purposeful, evidence-informed approach
grounded in best practices. Their peer work creates a trusted, nonjudgmental
space where parents and guardians can connect, grow, and support one another
with confidence and dignity.

For more than a decade, Leanne Page Lewis has served as HOPE’s volunteer
Executive Director, working in close collaboration with this exceptional team of
volunteers who have grown the organization, expanded its reach, and deepened
its impact. The move to a staff-led organization reflects the maturity of HOPE’s
values-driven foundation and our commitment to significant long-term growth and
strengthened sustainability.

“This is an important and natural next step for HOPE,” says Leanne Page Lewis,
Board Chair. “Mandie joins a strong and compassionate community — one
rooted in lived experience and mutual peer support where parents from all
backgrounds, parenting journeys, and family structures and sizes come together
to support one another. Our model is grounded in best practices in parenting
approaches and peer group facilitation — and Mandie’s experience and
leadership will be transformative in strengthening our offerings and deepening
our impact as HOPE evolves to meet the substantial and growing need for our
services."

Reflecting on what brought her to this role, Mandie shares:
“HOPE is an exceptional organization that has deeply supported my family —
offering compassion, understanding, and a sense of community during a time of
struggle. It is a true honour to be selected as HOPE’s new Executive Director. I
am excited to build upon the incredible work of the Board and staff, and to help
expand HOPE’s reach and impact. HOPE is essential. HOPE makes a
difference. HOPE matters.”

Mandie Abrams brings 25 years of non-profit leadership experience across
Canada and internationally. For the past decade, she served as the visionary and
impactful Executive Director of the award-winning Hospitality Workers Training
Centre, where she led strategic growth, developed community-driven programs,
and built cross-sector partnerships. She holds a master’s degree in public

administration from Rutgers University and has completed advanced studies in
strategic leadership and business intelligence at the Schulich School of
Business.

Mandie will officially begin her role with HOPE on July 21, 2025.
We are thrilled to welcome Mandie and to celebrate this next chapter in HOPE’s
story — one that honours the strength and professionalism of our volunteer roots,
while embracing the opportunity to advance HOPE in reaching its full potential,
serving even more parents in need at a time when the demand for accessible,
evidence-based support continues to grow.