Our Team

It’s nice to meet you! We have a passion for helping kids become and stay active in the Peel community. 

Alyson Beben

Project Manager, Play in Peel

Physical Literacy Project Manager & Education and Curriculum Specialist, Peel Public Health

Peel Public Health works towards improving health and quality of life, decreasing death and disease, and reducing health inequities among population groups. Our programs focus on health protection and promotion as well as disease prevention. Our strategic priorities include a vision in which Peel residents live in a community that supports healthy eating and active living.

Collaboration with local Peel community partners is a cornerstone to advancing public health strategic priorities. Our interventions are most effective when done in partnership with community organizations. We focus on interventions with the greatest potential impact across a population where an increased number of people benefit. The Play in Peel physical literacy project aligns perfectly with these strategies and goals. The Leadership Team at Play in Peel is comprised of experts from key community partner organizations. Their collective knowledge will guide the creation of a strong network of advocates – educators, teachers, recreation leaders, parents, and caregivers – who will help children develop the fundamental movement skills to be active for life.

Lisa Boyce-Gonsalves

Partner Lead, Play in Peel

Manager, Program Delivery, City of Mississauga, Recreation

In the City of Mississauga, Recreation’s mission is to keep Mississauga residents healthy, active and connected in partnership with the community. We encourage more people to connect more often through programs and services that reflect our community’s needs. Our service delivery goals include positioning recreation as essential to quality of life and improving resident physical literacy and active lifestyles. The Play in Peel Project supports these goals.

The City of Mississauga values the work of our partners; the collaborative approach of this initiative enhances the goals of community wellness. Through this project, Mississauga will strengthen the working relationships with our community partners in Peel while improving quality programs, specifically through the inclusion of physical literacy programming for children and youth. Recreation promotes physical activity at every stage. Through this project, education, and the promotion of physical literacy at an early age will become a stepping-stone to lifelong physical activity.

Joe Grdisa

Partner Lead, Play in Peel

Coordinator Health and Physical Education & Extracurricular Athletics, Peel District School Board

We inspire success, confidence, and hope in each child. At the Peel District School Board, we are committed to inspire the smile within each child. Everything we do is designed to help each child achieve to the best of their ability. Our collective, daily efforts make a positive difference in the lives of our students, their families, and the world. Our schools are alive with diversity which enhances the school experience. The Peel District school board is committed to support anti-oppression and the naming, disruption, and dismantling of anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination. We look to lessen the disparities in educational outcomes for marginalized students, particularly those who identify as Indigenous, Black, African, and Caribbean. Educators must understand it is a learning journey and to impact conscious and unconscious bias, systemic oppression, and racism, each of us must reflect personally and professionally and take appropriate, meaningful action. We are committed to the well-being, safety, and success of all our staff and students. The Play in Peel collaborative project will help our staff support the development of physical literacy in all our students.

Tenneil Dhaliwal

Partner Lead, Play in Peel

Quality Initiatives Manager, CDRCP

Habiba Mahmood

Partner Co-Lead, Play in Peel

Quality Initiatives Supervisor, CDRCP
Child Development Resource Connection Peel (CDRCP) is a multi-service, non-profit charitable organization providing information, resources and professional learning opportunities to the Peel community. As the lead professional capacity building organization for the early learning and child care sector in Peel, CDRCP is dedicated to ensuring that all early learning professionals have access to timely, responsive and high-quality professional learning opportunities. The Play in Peel collaborative project will allow CDRCP to support early learning professionals and children 0-12 years of age with understanding the importance of physical literacy, the developmental benefits, skill enhancement, and create a larger network of informed and knowledgeable community members, who can extend the reach of the project in different early learning settings.

Drew Mitchell

Partner Lead, Play in Peel

Senior Director of Physical Literacy, Sport for Life
The Sport for Life Society is recognized as global experts on the Canadian Sport for Life Movement and the Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity framework. The purpose of Sport for Life is to be a catalyst to improve the quality of sport and to increase the development of physical literacy for everyone. Sport for Life, as a social enterprise, links sport, education, recreation, health, and governments to align community, provincial/territorial, and national systems and programming. Sport for Life is pleased to provide technical support and work with cross-sectoral partners at Play in Peel to increase physical activity in the community through the development of physical literacy.