Julie Bessant Pelech

Principal at Bessant Pelech Associates Inc.

About Julie

Julie Bessant Pelech is a consulting gerontologist and principal of the health and social planning firm she established 30 years ago. She works exclusively in elder care across the continuum of services and accommodations with a focus on people, programs and places serving vulnerable older adults. Julie has served over 400 elder care organizations, in urban, rural and northern locations across Canada. While based in Mississauga, Ontario, Julie works across Canada with project experience in eight of the 13 provinces and territories. The diversity of her work with boards and leadership teams spans not-for-profit, charitable and for-profit organizations to those committed to culturally specific and faith-based missions. Julie’s professional dedication to improving quality of care and quality of life in long-term care is driven from personal experiences as a family caregiver to her father and two grandparents. Her expertise is applying resident- and family-centred principles and an age-friendly/dementia-friendly lens to planning and implementing new program models, services and care practices, technologies and buildings that result in successful organizational growth and change. Committed to gerontological education, Julie coordinated postgraduate programs in gerontology at Sheridan College and addresses elder care issues as national and international guest lecturer and keynote speaker. Julie holds an Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies, Graduate Certificate in Gerontology and Master of Arts in Sociology and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo.