Founders
Meet our Founders and Past Presidents
CALMS has had passionate and great leaders in its history and we would like to highlight them as they move on in their medical journeys as clerks and physicians! Pablo Gonzalez (University of Toronto Class of 2026), Monica Rivero Gutierrez (Schulich Class of 2026), and Sebastian Lopez Steven (UBC Class of 2026) are the co-founder of CALMS. They started CALMS after recognizing the contrast between Canada’s large Latin American population and the limited physician representation, a gap that created barriers to equitable healthcare in their communities. Through mentorship initiatives and collaboration across their medical schools, CALMS grew into a national organization with ten chapters across Canada. Monica, Pablo, and Sebastian continue to support their ongoing work and are interested in extending similar mentorship and advocacy efforts to residents and physicians in the future.
Founding
CALMS was founded in 2023 by medical students across the country, looking to make a positive change in their communities and to increase Latin American representation among healthcare providers in Canada.
Pablo Gonzalez
Co-Founder of CALMS National
As the son of a Cuban political refugee, Pablo Gonzalez has close ties to the Latin American community in Toronto. He was a leading executive of the Organization of Latin American Students at York University, where he completed his undergraduate degree. Starting medical school at the University of Toronto in 2022, he quickly realized how underrepresented his community is within medicine. Within one year, he founded the Hispanic Medical Students Association, and reached out to Latin medical students at Western and UBC to found CALMS, a national organization to advocate for the Latin community. Pablo is excited to pursue further training in paediatrics and continue to advocate for Latino children and their families.
Monica Rivero Gutierrez
Co-Founder of CALMS National
Monica Rivero Gutierrez (Schulich Class of 2026) is the co-founder of CALMS. Originally from Colombia and raised in London, Ontario, she started CALMS after recognizing the contrast between Canada’s large Latin American population and the limited physician representation, a gap that created barriers to equitable healthcare in her community. Through early mentorship initiatives and collaboration with a parallel group in Toronto, CALMS grew into a national organization with chapters across Canada. Monica continues to support our ongoing work and is interested in extending similar mentorship and advocacy efforts to residents and physicians in the future.
