Nandini Saxena MSW, RSW
Nandini is a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, and has over twenty years of experience in policy research, public engagement, knowledge mobilization, and health system improvement. Prior to joining the NCCDH in 2021, Nandini held a variety of staff and management roles in public health, mental health and substance use, public policy, and international development. Nandini is passionate about the design and implementation of meaningful and inclusive engagement processes grounded in diverse perspectives and ways of knowing that advance evidence-informed decision-making for policy and system improvement, and which aim to achieve equitable population health outcomes. Nandini has led the design and implementation of numerous knowledge mobilization and policy research initiatives on, for example, ways to address systemic barriers experienced by refugees and immigrants, understanding citizens’ value preferences on the long-term management of used nuclear fuel, and centering the voices of people with lived/ living experience of mental illness and addiction in service and system improvement work. Nandini holds a graduate degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University School of Policy Studies.