Sara Collyer

Sara Collyer joined Compassion Society of Halton as Executive Director in October 2026. She brings more than 20 years of nonprofit leadership in community services, food security, fundraising and regional partnerships, much of it here in Halton and the Hamilton area.

As the first Executive Director of Open Doors Community Hub in Burlington, Sara brought a collection of programs together into one integrated community hub. She co-founded the previous Feeding Halton Collaborative, which brought agencies together to coordinate food security work across the region, and she has served on the boards of REACH Niagara and St. Matthew’s House.

Sara describes herself as a strategic leader, fundraiser and care-giving advocate. Her own experience as a cross-generational caregiver shapes how she leads: she believes empathy, humour and resilience matter as much as strategy, data and systems, and that leadership is an act of care that builds trust, nurtures potential and creates the conditions for people and communities to thrive.

She holds a Non-Profit Leadership Certificate from Mohawk College, is studying at the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Leadership, is trained in trauma-informed organizational leadership and is a member of Rotary.