Board Of Governors

She practiced general family dentistry for 33 years before her retirement in 2019. She taught part-time in the faculty of dentistry for many years and remains associated with Dalhousie as a long-time member of the Dalhousie Dental Alumni Committee. For many years she contributed to her profession by her involvement with committees for the Nova Scotia Dental Association and the Halifax County Dental Society. She serves on the Board of Governors of STFXU.

In 1993 Dr. Abbass founded Isaiah House Special Care Society, a not-for-profit group which operates a small group home in Dartmouth, NS to care for her handicapped brother and two other men. Presently she continues to oversee the operation of the home and serves as Chair of the Board of the Society.

Mr. Bassil is a sought-after thought-leader and speaker at offshore wind industry events and M&A conferences. He is focused on providing strategic and financial advisory services to accelerate the global energy transition and the shift to a net-zero carbon economy.

A Managing Director and Head of Global Offshore Wind M&A at NORTHGREEN CAPITAL, Mr. Bassil is a former founding member and Advisory Board Member at Business Renewables Centre Canada at the Pembina Institute in Calgary, Alberta and was the head of Marathon Capital in Canada.  Mr. Bassil works closely with offshore wind developers globally and pension funds, insurance companies, as well as other institutional investors and infrastructure funds focused on accelerating the energy transition.

Mr. Bassil earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Computer Science with the Electrical Engineering Stream from TUNS. He has completed Level 1 and 2 of the CFA designation, the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and the PDO.

She completed her undergraduate education at St. Francis Xavier University and then taught in both the public and private sector for 17 years. In 1975 she entered the Society of the Sacred Heart and subsequently completed a MA at Boston College in Pastoral ministry.

In 2011, Sr. Anne-Marie Conn returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia to reside at Barat Residence where we have now established a small spirituality centre.  From 2013-18, she was a member of the Provincial Leadership Team of the United States–Canada province of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Prior to this she lived and worked for 5 years in the United States, following the15 years on the leadership team in Canada.

The beginning of her time in the USA was spent at Sprout Creek Farm, an educational learning center based on sustainable living. In 2009, Anne-Marie left there to study in Oakland, CA at Holy Names University. In the late 80’s, she worked at Anishinabe Spiritual Center in Espinola, ON and since then, has had a growing interest in an earth-based spirituality. This was enhanced while Anne-Marie was at Sprout Creek Farm and led her to enroll at Holy Name University in the MA Culture and Spirituality program. While there, Anne-Marie was engaged by the Cosmology program at Genesis Farm, based on the writings of Thomas Berry.

Her journey has now led her back to Halifax, where she collaborates with others around the work of Spiritual programming and Accompaniment in which she has been working since 1991 in a variety of settings.  She currently serves on the Facilities committee of Sacred Heart School in Halifax. She is an avid gardener and enjoys oil painting.

She completed her specialty training in Ob/Gyn at the University of Alberta and MFM subspecialty training at Dalhousie where she remains a faculty member and clinician at the IWK. Her passion is medical education and enjoying the outdoors with her family, including Olivia (SHSH Class of 2023) and Zoë Jolin (SHSH Class of 2026).

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1980 for the Diocese of Grand Falls where he served as pastor and in a number of other responsibilities, including Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor. In 1991, he obtained a Doctorate in Canon Law from Saint Paul University (Ottawa) and soon after became a lecturer in the Diploma Program for Theology and Ministry at the Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax (1992-1999).

Beginning in 2002, he served on the faculty of St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario, and became Dean of Studies at the seminary until 2008. During this same time, Bishop Dunn also served as a lecturer in the Faculty of Canon Law at Saint Paul University (2003-2004 & 2007). He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sault Ste-Marie in 2008, Bishop of Antigonish in November 2009, and Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth in April 2019.  He became the Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth in November 2020.

Jocelyne specializes in Artificial Intelligence and has over 20 years of industry and academic research experience. Prior to joining the public service, Jocelyne held academic roles at Saint Mary’s University, Saint Francis Xavier University, and Dalhousie University. Jocelyne lives in Dartmouth with her husband, Joseph Daniel, and their sons, Jonas and Jordan, who both attend Sacred Heart.

Dennis previously held roles responsible for capital planning and campus development at the Nova Scotia Health Authority and Dalhousie University. He is an avid runner and enjoys playing the fiddle. He lives in Halifax with his wife Isabelle and their three daughters Caroline, Moira, and Alice all of whom attend Sacred Heart.

She has been a member of the Board of Trustees at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri since 2003, where she is a member of the Finance, Investment and Audit Committee. Sr. Gruner recently completed nine years on the Sacred Heart-Greenwich Board where she was a member of the Committee on Trustees and the Audit Committee. She has also served on the Boards of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, MO, and the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. Prior to her current ministry as the Canonical Treasurer of the Antilles Province (Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba) of the Society of the Sacred Heart, Sr. Gruner was the business manager for Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, NY from 2016-2020. She served as assistant to the Provincial Bursar for the Society of the Sacred Heart’s Uganda-Kenya Province from 2010-2013. Before that, Sr. Gruner was the assistant treasurer and accounting manager for the Society of the Sacred Heart’s U.S. Province (1997-2008). She has held positions within the Network of Sacred Heart Schools: Josephinum High School in Chicago, Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, and Doane Stuart School in Albany, NY.

A graduate of Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, she went on to receive a master of divinity degree from the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. In 1995, she received a master of business administration with a concentration in management accounting from DePaul University in Chicago. She joined the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1980.

In 1982, she came to teach at The Convent of the Sacred Heart and worked there until 1988. She then went overseas to the Philippines to do mission work, and founded the NGO “Imagina”, which is still in operation today. Kim returned to Sacred Heart School in 2010 and taught various grade levels until 2020, when she retired from the classroom.

Kim is a mother to four children, two of which attended Sacred Heart School. Her daughter Cassandra is a graduate of Sacred Heart, and her son Jericho attended the elementary school and Fountain Academy. Kim continues to tutor students privately and works part-time at Adsum House. In her spare time, she enjoys horseback riding and learning to play the harp. Kim is pleased to have the opportunity to serve on the Board and to share her career and life as a Sacred Heart educator.

Rebecca received her Queen’s Counsel designation in 2022. In addition to her involvement with Sacred Heart, Rebecca is a part-time instructor at the Schulich Faculty of Law at Dalhousie University, a Life Director of the Neptune Theatre Foundation, having served as Chair for four years and on the executive for ten, and is a 28-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. Rebecca lives in Dartmouth with her husband Mitch LeBlanc and their son Luc, who has attended Sacred Heart since Junior Primary.

Maria teaches courses in fintech, risk management for financial institutions, and corporate finance, engaging with students in both the regular and executive education programs. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania, an MBA from the University of Nantes, and a Ph.D. in Finance from HEC Montréal. Beyond her academic roles, Maria is the Treasurer and a Board of Governors member at the Atlantic School of Theology, serves on the Board of Directors of Fintech Cadence, and is the chair of the Finance Council at Saint Benedict Parish.

With a dedication to assisting her clients through a comprehensive, personalized approach, Danette focuses on goal-oriented planning to safeguard, grow, and pass on wealth for future generations. Danette holds a BA in Economics from Memorial University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School in Scotland. She lives in Dartmouth with her husband Chris and her daughter Charlie, who has been a proud student at Sacred Heart since Primary. Danette thrives on adventurous pursuits such as skiing, boating, and exploring different cultures through international travel. Danette is honoured to have been nominated to the Board of Governors and to serve as the co-chair of the Engagement Committee.

In addition to volunteer work at Sacred Heart, Vurain serves on the board of Camp Kidston and is an occasional liturgical assistant at Fort Massey United Church. Vurain lives in Halifax with his wife, Clarissa Sit, and their sons Vurai and Kushinga, both students at Sacred Heart.